Communist and workers’ parties participating in the European Communist Action (ECA) met by teleconference in September for a discussion entitled “The EU, NATO, and other imperialist alliances: ‘Security providers’ or frameworks for deeper military involvement at the expense of the people?” The meeting was hosted by the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), with the opening speech delivered by its General Secretary, Kemal Okuyan.
The meeting brought together the Party of Labour of Austria, Communist Workers’ Party for Peace and Socialism (Finland), Revolutionary Communist Party of France, Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Workers’ Party of Ireland, Communist Front (Italy), New Communist Party of the Netherlands, Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE), Communist Party of Sweden, Swiss Communist Party, Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), and Union of Communists of Ukraine. The discussion centred on the sharpening international rivalries, NATO and EU militarisation, the war economy and the growing involvement of European states in imperialist conflicts.
Okuyan: Turkey becoming more deeply integrated into NATO’s military structure
Opening the meeting, Kemal Okuyan focused on Turkey’s changing geopolitical orientation following the NATO summit. He argued that the rapidly expanding Turkish defence industry is becoming increasingly integrated into NATO’s European military-industrial structure, through cooperation with Spain, Italy, Poland, Romania, Germany and Britain, as well as partnerships between Turkish and US companies. He also pointed to Ankara’s military cooperation with Ukraine and changes in its energy relations with Russia as indications of a broader shift in Turkish foreign policy.
Okuyan stressed, however, that Turkey is not simply acting on instructions from Washington. Turkish capitalism has its own ambitions, expressed particularly through what he described as Neo-Ottomanism and Ankara’s attempts to exploit Russia’s weakened position in the region. He linked this strategy not only to Syria and Iraq but also to the Turkic-speaking populations of the former Soviet republics. At the same time, he argued that rivalries between Turkey and other regional powers — including Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Greece — continue to develop within a broader framework strongly shaped by US and British strategic interests.
The TKP General Secretary also warned that Turkey’s increasingly pronounced position against Russia and Iran could lead to more direct involvement in regional military conflicts. Addressing the Kurdish question, he argued that the PKK had lost whatever revolutionary character it may once have possessed and warned that Kurdish nationalism could increasingly be incorporated into the Turkish bourgeoisie’s wider regional strategy.
KKE: NATO and the EU protect capital, not the peoples
In its contribution, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) directly rejected the claim that NATO, the EU and capitalist interstate alliances constitute a “protective umbrella” for the peoples. According to the KKE, such alliances exist primarily to defend “capital’s investments and profits”, secure markets, energy resources, transport routes and investments, and reinforce bourgeois power against the working class.
The KKE pointed particularly to the experience of Greece and Turkey, arguing that their simultaneous NATO membership did not eliminate antagonisms between their ruling classes or secure peace in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. It also highlighted Greece’s growing participation in military operations and preparations connected with Ukraine and the Middle East, the use of US-NATO bases, arms shipments and deployments of Greek military personnel abroad. According to the party, this involvement turns ports and other infrastructure into components of war planning while resources are diverted from wages, healthcare, education and other social needs toward armaments and the war economy.
The KKE also rejected choosing between competing geopolitical camps. It argued that neither the US-NATO-EU bloc nor capitalist Russia, China and emerging Eurasian formations offer a progressive alternative for workers. Instead, it called for an independent working-class struggle against capitalist monopolies, Greece’s disengagement from imperialist wars and alliances, the closure of US-NATO bases and the return of Greek forces deployed abroad.
The contribution concluded that lasting peace cannot be guaranteed by competing capitalist alliances, but requires the strengthening of the workers’ struggle against capitalist exploitation and imperialist war, with the perspective of workers’ power and socialism-communism.
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