No War but the Class War: Statement from NWBCW Turkey

The Only War Worth Fighting is the Class War

With the Russian occupation of Ukraine, the world has become an even more dangerous place for us, the working class. While the crisis of capitalism has already made life difficult for all of us, we now face the threat that it may drag humanity into a bigger war. On the one hand, Russia is trying to get back its lost lands under the pretext of clearing the Nazis from Ukraine; On the other hand, NATO uses Ukraine as a pawn to strengthen its hand against Russia. This is a war waged by the imperialists for profit, against the working class. They expect us to take sides, while the devastating consequences of war only affect the working class. Our answer is ready: Neither NATO nor Russia! This war points to a wider war. They have already made threats of a Third World War. But these will not remain just threats, because the spread of war is a consequence of the capitalist system. And we're closer to that conclusion than we've ever been before.

Over the years, capitalism has tried to find various solutions to its crisis: increasing exploitation (reducing wages, increasing working hours) and wars (devaluing capital followed by a period of reconstruction) to name but a few. While these solutions allow capitalism to hang on, they only deepen the crisis and place a greater burden on the working class. There are over 60 local wars today, and the only way to prevent the wider spread of wars is to overthrow capitalism. Wars are not caused by bad capitalist leaders, but by capitalism itself. When there is no other solution to the crisis, a more generalized war will be inevitable for the continuation of the system. Only an internationally organized working class can prevent this.

War means for us either death or more exploitation! The wars waged by the capitalists in many parts of the world either killed the proletarians or made them cheap labor for other imperialist countries. Syrian and Afghan proletarians, who are already used as cheap labor in Turkey, are also exposed to racism, where their lives are targeted with racist attacks. We are expected to take sides as if capitalism itself is not responsible for all these wars. They want us to sacrifice our lives so that they can increase their own profits. No! Capitalism only brings us more destruction and misery. While the capitalist system has brought us the climate crisis by destroying nature, now they are revealing their nuclear weapons. And this war is a more immediate threat to our planet than the climate crisis.

The system that drives humanity to barbarism expects us to believe the lie of "democracy". European media have made Zelensky a "hero of democracy". This same "hero" tolerates neo-nazis in his country, the very same forces that carry out torture on the streets. This same "hero" has banned male citizens aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. This hypocrisy is worthy of capitalists! The costs of their wars are being paid by proletarians. All the while, pro-Russian "communist" parties and so-called "independent" unions are supporting imperialist war by parroting Putin's excuses. Thus, they fulfil their duty as the left wing of capital!

The capitalists promote brutal war for their own interests! On the other hand, striking workers in Iran are issuing leaflets against the war. Airport workers in Italy also protested against the war and refused to load weapons sent to Ukraine in the name of "humanitarian aid". But simply being against war is not enough. Although capitalism overcame its previous crises with various tricks, it has come to the point where it is again faced with the option of an extended war. We are near the end of a cycle of accumulation. Unless they can find another solution to the crisis, war is the only option left to them. Since war is a natural consequence of the capitalist system, the continued existence of capitalism will only lead us all to barbarism. So, instead of a pacifist movement to oppose war, the working class of every country should aim to turn this war into a class war, aiming to abolish capitalism completely and build a classless society without money, private property and division of labor. Again, in Turkey, the workers must turn the strikes into schools of socialism and take an anti-war position, opposing the support given to the war, as in the case of Italy, to drive a wedge through the wheels of the imperialists.

For a long time, capitalism, unable to find a solution to its crises, has been playing the nationalist card. As the war spreads, nationalism will be presented more and more often as a way to divide the class. At this point, a choice awaits our class that we must overcome: nation or class? As Marx stated in the Communist Manifesto, workers have no homeland. Based on this, as workers scattered all over the world, we must accept that our interests are common and we must destroy this system. The working class has no homeland, but it has the power to organize. What will defeat this system is the power of our class. By refusing to be the victims of war, we must broaden the international struggle, and disrupt the game of capitalism that brings us misery.

"No War but the Class War" is our answer to the war in Ukraine and the threat of bigger wars to come. Our aim is to convey the internationalist message to the working class and its current struggles. We, the revolutionaries, will not choose any side in this war, we will not repeat the lies of democracy. In response to this war, we will defend the interests of the working class and fight to spread the internationalist message. We will respond to the capitalist crisis and its consequent wars and misery with class struggle. Contact us to fight together. Before it's too late - we have a world to save.

NWBCW Turkey
28 April 2022