Greece and Turkey in the Maelstrom of Imperialist Rivalries: Event Held in Athens

• Koutsoumbas: The cause of the tension or a potential crisis—a heated incident for which the peoples are already being prepared—is the intensifying rivalry between the Greek and Turkish bourgeoisies to enhance their position in the region.

• The KKE is steadfastly committed to fostering friendship and internationalist solidarity between the two peoples. Together with the Communist Party of Turkey, it defends the position of “not changing the borders or the treaties that define them.”

• Only the KKE can consistently guide the people in their struggle for their own interests and for the resolute defence of their homeland.

Image via the KKE

A large audience attended the event held in Athens on October 12, 2026 by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), on the topic: “Greece and Turkey in the maelstrom of imperialist rivalries. The way forward for the peoples”, with Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE, as the keynote speaker.

At a time when events are unfolding rapidly in a world set ablaze, the event addressed the complex issue of Greek-Turkish relations, calling on the people to be vigilant and take action for their own interests, and for the prospect of a way out of the vortex of imperialist rivalries, wars, and exploitation.

In his speech, D. Koutsoumbas emphasised that “the world is set ablaze from one end to the other; even international law has now become a dead letter, and the call for a new “security architecture” sounds like mockery to the people (…) The fundamental trend in these developments is one of escalation, convergence, and generalization of the conflicts over control of markets and wealth-producing sources and the division of the world, in a race for primacy in the global capitalist system led by the confrontation between the U.S. and China and between the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian blocs.”

The GS of the CC of the KKE referred to the interests of the Greek bourgeoisie, its ambition to strengthen its role, and its demand for a larger share of the spoils, noting that: “This means transforming the country into an energy and transportation hub with cables, pipelines and drilling, as well as the import, storage and distribution of exorbitantly expensive American LNG to the Balkans and Eastern Europe via the Vertical Corridor—plans for which the people are already paying dearly through energy poverty.”

The New Democracy government is serving this strategy, with the support of PASOK, Tsipras’s party, SYRIZA, Velopoulos, and others. To this end, they are forming and backing strategic alliances with the U.S., France, and the murderous state of Israel.

All recent governments and parties of the system are complicit in the expansion of U.S. military bases, which play a pivotal role in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the shipment of weapons to Zelenskiy, the strengthening of strategic relations with Israel, the deployment of Greek frigates to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to serve the interests of shipowners, and so on.

These alliances and moves are presented to the people as measures to “shield” the country and ensure their own security, but the truth is that they are the very factors causing the greatest insecurity and risks to the people. This is demonstrated, among other things, by the direct threats from Russia and Iran that the relevant infrastructure in every country—and thus in Greece as well—is a target for retaliation. This is also demonstrated by the fierce rivalry between Turkey and Israel, which nearly resulted in war this past summer, with Greece entangled in this dangerous maelstrom as well, all for the sake of its strategic alliance with the State of Israel. (…)

As KKE, we oppose the policy that transforms Greece into an energy and transportation hub, serving the interests of large monopolistic business groups, and which has nothing to do with the interests of the Greek people, who bear the cost in many ways. (…) The marine parks and undersea cables, which are the subject of much discussion, are linked to maritime borders and to the sovereign rights of the country and its people.(…) However, any discussion of changing borders brings the possibility of a military conflict—whether minor or major—even closer, in the context of competition among the imperialists. In the face of all these dangerous plans, the peoples have the power and must shape developments by fighting for their own interests.

The KKE, which is steadfastly committed to fostering friendship and internationalist solidarity among the working classes and peoples of Greece and Turkey, has built close ties with the Communist Party of Turkey. The goal is to strengthen the anti-imperialist struggle of the workers’ and people’s movements in both countries, against the bourgeoisie and the participation - involvement of Greece and Turkey in imperialist plans, for the inviolability of borders, and for their disengagement from imperialist organizations and alliances, such as NATO and the EU, which are a constant source of painful consequences for the peoples.

Of great significance is the position defended by the KKE and the Communist Party of Turkey—which they reaffirmed once again in a joint statement last month—calling for “not changing the borders or the treaties that define them.”

This joint position of the communists of both countries serves as a sharp response to the nationalist forces on both sides, who stir up hatred between the two peoples while being at the beck and callof the major interests for which these rivalries are being provoked, and while remaining silent about NATO and the “powerful allies” who are “pushing” them toward painful compromises.

This position forms part of the joint struggle against the bourgeoisie of both states, bourgeois parties and imperialist alliances, by concentrating forces for the final overthrow of dangerous and rotten capitalism and the construction of a new society—socialism—as outlined in the actions and joint statements of the two Parties.

We firmly believe that only on this basis will it be possible for maritime zones to cease being a sourceof enrichment of monopolies, a source of controversies, crises, and armed conflicts, and instead become a source of satisfaction for people’s needs and the prosperity of neighboring peoples. This is the qualitative difference. The communists are fully aware of this great responsibility as they intensify their struggle. (…)

Our Party defends the country’s sovereign rights from the standpoint of the working class and the popular strata, as an important element related to the struggle to overthrow the power of capital. Under current conditions, these cannot be guaranteed by bourgeois governments and imperialist alliances, nor by their institutions. (…)

We call on the people to stay alert and defend their interests as part of their struggle to become masters in their own land. They must organize their counterattack against the barbaric system, which, as long as it exists, imposes “peace” under the threat of a “hot incident”, and breeds war, poverty, exploitation, and displacement.

The way out—the path to a definitive solution for the benefit of the peoples on both coasts of the Aegean, so that they may live in solidarity and true peace—can only be opened through a common struggle against imperialism, for a different society based on workers’, people’s power, and central planning—Socialism.

This struggle in our country will be led by the KKE and guided by its Program, which, among other things, makes it clear that: “...The struggle for the defence of the borders, the sovereign rights of Greece, from the standpoint of the working class and the popular strata is integral to the struggle for the overthrow of the power of capital. (...) It does not have any relation with the defence of the plans of one or the other imperialist pole and the profitability of one or the other monopoly group.. (...)

The new power, depending on the international and regional situation, will seek to develop inter-state relations of mutual benefit between Greece and other countries and peoples who are fighting against the capitalist system that gives rise to wars.”_