The struggle for re-construction, and a new general conference

In 1990-91 the workers' and working people's mass movement went through a period of mobilisation. This progress not only increased our organisations' activities but also strengthened the grounds for the struggle against the attacks of liberal legalist liquidationism (old middle-path defenders, revisionist, Trotskyist and civic society defenders) which claimed that "the working class has lost its importance", that "the need for the revolutionary class party no longer existed", and that a "united party of socialists was needed". It was of particular importance to isolate and liquidate the wave of legalism from the working class movement and the awakening youth. Therefore, our party, while renewing its work among the factory workers, trade unions and intellectuals, carried out a determined struggle against the "rising" legalist liquidationism, without excluding the struggle against petty bourgeois "illegality".

This struggle without any doubt could not prevent our organisation from using legal and open opportunities in the best way possible. Moreover, making maximum use of legal platforms, and the struggle against the influences of petty bourgeois illegality could not damage our organistion's illegal work and organisation. Alongside our party's line and perspective, the development of workers' mass struggle was presenting early warning indications with regard to both the illegal and open-legal fronts of organisation.

Our party, did not ignore the sudden break away of the workers from the system and the developments in the open mass movement. On the contrary, our party Central Committee insistently encouraged and drew attention to this development. The liberal "socialist" and anarchistic "socialist" currents as well as the currents of liberal reformist legalism and petty bourgeois "illegality" were now completely decayed and failed. Nor were they able to contribute to this development in any way, or embrace and organise it. Our party openly declared the necessity of the working class mass movement "organising as an open socialist workers mass party", and that it had become possible to achieve this and to unite the political workers' movement. Later on, it supported all the steps and initiatives taken in this direction. This is because, our party's interests are not different from the interests of the working class and the people.

Besides, the development in the workers' movement and the position of our party in this movement was a clear indication of the possibility of the workers organising as an open mass socialist party. This was something our party had struggled for since 1975 onwards, but which it could not achieve because of the low level of development of the workers' movement and the monopoly of revisionism within this movement. This was something which had not been on the agenda in the post-1987 period when the demarcation line was not yet very clear in the country, when our organisation had not yet obtained the necessary positions, and when the workers' movement had not yet become sufficiently mature. This was the task for our party "to become the organisation of the leading workers with strong ties with the masses, to become the body of revolutionary workers organisations, and develop into a revolutionary mass party of the proletariat" depending on the conditions.

It was natural that the Party Central Committee should make the necessary explanations and demands, drawing attention to the developments in the workers' movement. With a circular in November 1992, it also drew particular attention to the weaknesses in both legal and illegal work and organisation, to wrong understandings and practices, and also to the difference between our organisation's political influences in the movement and its organisational ones. It emphasised the consequences of those petit bourgeois wrong understandings and practices (e.g. considering illegality as an aim rather than an instrument, irresponsible and liberal approaches towards work, etc.), the weaknesses and shortcomings stemming from the above, and the losses these cause to the movement. This circular also called on our organisations to reposition themselves and to renew their work among the masses in accordance with developments in the open movement in every field, taking into account the tasks required by these developments.

Despite their still small numbers, the conscious workers were becoming more and more aware of the increasing possibility and the necessity of organising as an independent mass working class party, and orientating to take the necessary positions. Our organisations, on the other hand, tightly took on the responsibility of doing what was necessary, of renewing their work and positions, and of organising at the fore front of the struggle. Nevertheless, the effects of non-class traditions and liberal understandings in our circles were far deeper than we had estimated. The decline in the open workers' movement from 1992-94 clearly showed this. It was inevitable that the right and left non-class influence in our organisations' work and action emerged with more destructive results in a period of decline.

Our party was never daunted by these destructive results. It took the necessary decisions (in the 1994 General Meeting of the CC) and called upon all its organisations to change the situation and to hold on to the party line. Although our organisations had been through an ineffective period because of the hindrance of the liquidationist circle, they responded to this call and orientated towards an increasingly effective work with the aim of renewing their links with fresh forces. When the first steps were taken in this direction, despite our mistakes and shortcomings, there was evidence that workers and others were more than ready for it, and that in fact this step could have been taken earlier. Nevertheless, our party's platform remained a realistic and sound one.

Our party also decided to hold its Second General Conference in the same period. Due to technical reasons the Conference was delayed. It met after a period of shortcomings and wavering in our party and at a time when the second wave of liberal liquidationism had been influencing the weakest elements of the movement in our country for several years (The first wave after 1985 was characterised by the liquidation of the TKP-Communist Party of Turkey-; and the second by the emergence of the former DEV-YOL -Revolutionary Path- with a "new" line, and the organisation of the ODP-Freedom and Solidarity Party).

The Soviet Union and the Eastern Block had collapsed. Socialist Albania had been destroyed, and the International Communist Movement had been going through an extreme process of liquidation. The CC took decisions not only with regard to the struggle in our country but also to international events and against the liquidators who were encouraged by these events. It responded to what was required by its responsibilities for the party. The party platform was the first formal party platform to meet after these internal and external events. Having approved all activities and decisions of the CC, the Party platform also became a combative platform against the attacks of the liberal currents of this second wave of liquidationism and the so-called "illegal" terrorist currents against our party.

This Conference analysed the facts and events in our country which had taken place since the First General Conference, as well as the situation both in the world and in our country. It drew political and organisational conclusions from them. These facts indicated that "our party has reached a turning point where it has to renew and develop its tactical line and all its work in all ideological, political, organisational and practical areas, eliminating its shortcomings".

After evaluating our organisational work, the Conference emphasised once again that "legal and illegal organisation and work are not mutually exclusive as claimed by the right and left wings of the "left" which are completely on a liquidationist platform. On the contrary, they are the unity of different aspects of a single task devoted to the same aim, complementing and strengthening each other". The Conference also emphasised that "by turning one's back on the present tasks set forth for the advancement of the workers' movement it was not possible to help the movement"; that "this would also impede the establishment of a sound and developing illegal organisation".

Considering Marxism-Leninism as a guide for analysing the facts and phenomena, drawing conclusions from them and for taking part in practical struggle, in other words, as a guide for changing the world; linking it firmly to life and concrete facts, using it in a creative way, and improving it by learning from the experience of life... all this was, for the party, part of the process of understanding M-L and implementing it as a guide to action. This process began in 1975 and developed throughout February 1980, and the 1990 and 1996 Conferences, gaining further depth in our Party's theory and practice. There is no end to learning M-L and improving one's ability to put it into practise. However, in this respect, we still have shortcomings and mistakes stemming from the idealist and formalist tradition, and it is unavoidable that these will be present in the future. However, it is undeniable that our party and organisations have become more experienced in mastering theory based on the proletarian class and in using it as a guide to action. One of the most obvious indications of this was the decisions taken in our final Conference on the question of organisation, decisions which reflected adherence to the workers' movement and a complete and courageous elimination of traditional narrow-mindedness.

The Conference set forth the most urgent tasks of the party: "giving maximum support to the open legal (economic-political) organisations of the working class and strengthening them; working in these organisations in an energetic way, and as part of this, supporting the open workers' press, one of the most influential instruments of organising and developing the struggle of the working class, strengthening it and using it effectively in daily struggle". Our Conference declared that unless these urgent tasks were achieved, it would not be possible to take any serious steps further in another task. (Quotes from the call for the Second Conference of the party in 1996)

The Second General Conference was the last turning point on the way to the Second Congress. The Second Congress was going to gather as a \lquote Congress of the revolutionary workers'organisations consisting of vanguard workers at the centre of the movement. In our organisational life and work we could not be indifferent to the tendencies and understandings which are alienated from the working class and which harm their organisation and prevent them form developing. Therefore, this Conference gave particular importance to political and ideological tasks as well as the question of the form of work and organisation which are related to these tasks. Despite our shortcomings, we had now learnt about illegal organisation and struggle. Now we needed to learn about direct legal struggle. In other words, the task was to correct the "upside-down" aspects of our illegal organisation, basing ourselves on the corrective experiences of open legal struggle and organisation; and renewing our understanding and practice with regard to combining legal and illegal work and organisation. The directives and calls of the Conference with regard to the form of work and organisation were briefly in this context. And this was a stance against petit bourgeois "illegality" as well as liberal legalism.

This had to be achieved because submission to the laxness of legalist liberalism and the narrow-mindedness of petit bourgeois "illegality" would not take us anywhere. And this could be achieved to the extent that our organisations changed their positions and opened themselves to learning from the dynamics of the workers' movement. It was not possible to take any steps further without destroying the paralysing prejudices in our circles caused by the "superstitions" of bourgeois "legality" and petit bourgeois "illegality" with regard to the forms of work and organisation.

The discussions at the Conference around work and organisational problems were productive. Its resolutions and calls received positive responses. The function of Devrimin Sesi (Voice of Revolution) became clearer. Although it began to come out less frequently, the issues after the Conference published articles containing the result of the debates around political and organisational problems. Other organs published articles benefiting from the discussions at the Conference. We witnessed the development of the reconstruction of our organisations, positioning themselves in the forefront of the struggle and reorganising their work among the masses learning from the workers. This development in work was the most significant characteristics of the post-Conference period.