Republicans Assembly convenes in Ankara

The 2026 Republicans Assembly, led by the People's Assembly of Turkey (THTM), convened yesterday in Ankara under the theme "Liberation and Foundation Once Again." Banners reading "Secularism against reactionism, equality against exploitation" and "Republicans on duty against NATO" were hung in the hall.

'REPUBLICS ARE FOUNDED THROUGH REVOLUTION'

The opening speech of the assembly was delivered by Erhan Nalçacı, a member of the THTM General Coordination Board. Nalçacı stated, "The republicans of this country have not been able to come together for many years and have even clashed at times. This assembly was held to break this cycle, and success has been achieved. We all know that republics are founded through revolution and destroyed by counter-revolution. We are currently going through this process."

'WE ARE ALL REPUBLICANS'

Following Nalçacı, a council was formed under the chairmanship of former Constitutional Court Rapporteur Ali Rıza Aydın. After the formation of the council, Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) General Secretary Kemal Okuyan took the floor. Okuyan said, "Our gathering here shows that we are in a historical unity. We have some prerequisites; we are all republicans, we defend secularism, we are absolutely against imperialism, and we defend equality. These unite us, and it is a good thing that they do. These are our commonalities."

'WE MUST ABANDON THE ONE-MAN RHETORIC'

Noting that there are differences among republicans alongside their commonalities, Okuyan stated, "We have been facing the same government for 25 years. But we have developed a habit of speech that we must abandon. The 'one-man' rhetoric hinders our struggle. Yes, this rhetoric is correct in many places; if you remove Erdoğan, there is nothing left of them. But the 'one-man' rhetoric reduces our struggle to fighting against just one person. In the last election, Ali Babacan and Ahmet Davutoğlu were turned into figures the opposition could not touch."

'IT PUSHES US AWAY FROM VIEWING EVENTS THROUGH A CLASS PERSPECTIVE'

Emphasizing that the ruling power has a class-based background and that calling it 'one-man' is therefore insufficient, Okuyan stated: "The 'one-man' coding pushes us away from looking at events through a class perspective. The 'one-man' coding turns into blinders and makes everything else seem unimportant." Referring to the Gezi Park protests, Okuyan said: "In 2013, we showed that there was a people. Over the past 13 years, those people have been sedated. The party where those people consolidated was the CHP. For this reason, the public does not speak out against Özgür Özel's meetings with Koç Holding and NATO. They cannot look at it from a class perspective. This is why the one-man regime cannot be toppled. In the current situation, the people are ceasing to be a people."

'WE STAND AGAINST THE ATTACK ON THE CHP'

Addressing the current process of the CHP, Okuyan said: "I have spent many years in political struggle. Since my childhood, everyone has tried to give the CHP their own color. We must stand against the current attack on the CHP; because it targets the fundamental right to vote and be elected. This is not up for debate." 

'MUSTAFA KEMAL'S GREATEST VIRTUE WAS NOT BEING EXPANSIONIST'

Stating, "As we establish this country and this republic, we must leave behind another taboo; when defining today's republic, we must not confuse it with the Turkey of 100 years ago," Okuyan expressed the following:

"While Mustafa Kemal and his friends were achieving the most progressive historical leap for this country, the bourgeoisie in this country was still in its infancy at that time. The greatest virtue of Mustafa Kemal and his friends was that they did not establish an expansionist republic. What we call a republic today is capitalist and tied to NATO. NATO will come to this country, and we must stand against it. Turkey is currently a playmaker within NATO as well. And it has deceived some Atatürkists and secularists by saying, 'We are developing this country.' This country will eventually defeat the darkness and reach enlightenment."

'ACTION MUST BE TAKEN FOR A NEW REPUBLIC'

Following Okuyan's speech, the congress program proceeded. In the session titled "A Program for a Laborer's Republic," speakers emphasized that the republic must be rebuilt through action by youth, women, and the public, focusing on women's rights, labor, and secularism.

'A SOCIAL POWER MUST BE ESTABLISHED'

In the convention's session titled "How will we protect our country from being dragged into an imperialist war?", speakers emphasized that they embrace a labor-oriented, anti-imperialist, and anti-NATO understanding of the republic, and that the Republicans' Convention is where this will gains weight. It was declared that a social power must be established for full independence.

'THE NATO RISK CONTINUES TO GROW'

Speaking at the convention, our newspaper Cumhuriyet's columnist Mehmet Ali Güller said, "America has no chance of leaving NATO. NATO is not ending, but it is currently undergoing a transformation. There is an iron curtain descending from the Baltic region to the Middle East. In this iron curtain, the responsibility for the Middle East lies with Turkey. This is a problem for us. The US currently wants to shift NATO to Asia. This transformation shows that the NATO risk for us continues to grow." Güller emphasized that the US is currently trying to draw Turkey into a new economic ground with Israel and ensure Europe's security, thereby using Turkey as a tool in imperialist partitioning.  Stating that "The Republic implemented a collective security model in its early years," Güller added, "'Peace at home, peace in the world' was the explanation of this model. Can we build a system that reconstructs this model? Of course, it can be created, and the conditions for it are actually emerging slowly. The fundamental thing that needs to be done is this: A Non-Aligned Movement. We currently have the chance to establish such a maneuver movement."

'THERE IS A TREMENDOUS REPUBLICAN ACCUMULATION IN TURKEY'

Delivering the final speech at the convention, Okuyan said, "The Republic was the result of an alliance. There were two lines during the War of Independence. Mustafa Kemal held one line, despite the contradictions within it, and it is a good thing he did. Politics cannot exist without alliances; the Soviets supported the establishment of the Republic, and the Republic supported the survival of the Soviets. This is a revolutionary alliance. There is a tremendous Republican accumulation in Turkey. This is why we criticize the CHP, because one leg of the alliance is empty. As a Communist, I want what is best for them. One wants the best for their ally."