PEASANT RESISTANCE OF BERGAMA
 |
AND ANARCHISM |
 Eurogold (a
multinational company formed by Canada, Australia
and Germany) came to Turkey as a result of
invitation by Ex-president Turgut Özal (Turkish
version of Thatcher and Reagan) in order to
search for gold mines on Bergama (a town settled
in the west coast of Turkey--see map) region. The
company would use cyanide for extracting gold
from earth and thus damage their natural
environment. Peasants have realized what will
happen to them if they would let the company
operate after watching a documentary from New
Zealand on TV. And then started their early
resistance moments.
BERGAMA, A SELF-ACTIVITY EXPERIENCE The resistance of the peasant people in Bergama is a symbol for many reasons. We can start with this: Bergama is, in Turkey and in the world, a symbol of self-activity. The ones, who are right, decide themselves to fight for their rights, designate their fighting method by themselves, and put it into practice by themselves. One of the main terms of postmodern sociology, "the decline of representation", has overflowed from the space which the central sociology designed for the term. Furthermore, the completely opposite orientation against the one designed by the central sociology is drawn in practice by the peripheral movements. Center, which does not want any focal point of power except its unique dominance on the whole world wants to liquidate all possible focal points of power by abstracting them from their representation capability. But the (in both geographical and theoretical means) periphery has a tendency of collapsing the center's world system beside the local power. This tendency is shaped by the spontaneously activities of the periphery. And this activity sometimes appears as spontaneously violence and sometimes appears as spontaneously justice. The peasants of Bergama firstly comprehended the harms of "gold rush" -it is said that this started when they watched a "gold rush" experience, which took place in New Zealand and discussed the harms. Global neo-liberalism is got caught on the communication networks and fixed on the screen... To exploit the natural wealth of Third World countries is an old principle of colonialism and is still very widespread. In many texts about Bergama, examples from Venezuela, Bolivia, South Africa and other similar places are put forward. Bergama is also a symbol, for similar exploiting projects in Turkey and equal in law and culture means. By now, in Turkey there are more than 500 multinational company projects that received mine searching permission from the government. Some of them have started to operate and to damage nature and people. But because of the Bergama resistance, most of them stopped or slowed down their operations and are waiting to observe the results of the events. The peasant people of other regions also state in every opportunity that they are following the news coming from Bergama. However, we can't say that there is an effective solidarity between Bergama and other regions. Bergama lives the nature of spontaneously violence and spontaneously justice, which are intertwined, again 'spontaneously' and 'naturally'. Their activities are progressing on three branches: the first is struggle they carry on to close down the gold mine by legal procedures (With the use in Subcomandante Marcos's communiqués from Mexico-Chiapas EZLN as 'justice'1). The struggle in the Turkish court was successful and the court sentenced to close down the gold mine. In spite of the judgement the mine is still open and probably relies on multinational company's justice, which is valid in the neo-liberal era. This forces Bergama people to perform some marginal actions at their legal struggle. Once, as a part of their legal struggle they walked to the Turkey's capital Ankara city and tried to talk with party authorities in the assembly and could not manage to talk with all of them, now (December 1997) peasants proclaim that they decided to bring a suit against the president Mesut Yılmaz since he has not applicated the Turkish court's sentence and they decided to demand for compensation. The second branch, in which their activities progress, is the "cultural struggle" (With the use in Subcomandante Marcos's communiqués from Mexico-Chiapas EZLN as 'democracy'): when the peasants made a demonstration as half-naked they took the attention of media and public opinion as they aimed. They first went to Ankara, which is the political center of the country and then went to Istanbul, which is the cultural center and made a civil disobedience action there. In Istanbul, on a bridge that connects Asia and Europe, in the middle of an Istanbul traffic jam, they made their demonstration and they partially closed the road. They waylaid eurocentrism on a point that it was spreading to periphery, on the Bosphorus Bridge. They tied themselves to the bridge columns. just like blocki,ng up Europa's throat (in order to prevent) swallowing a mouthful of gold-food. This kind of civil disobedience actions really had arroused an echo on media. In fact, civil disobedience actions in Turkey had a very creative and political style on countless employee, worker and peasant movements. Bergama was one of them. Amongst the news, there was an interesting anecdote. Women in Bergama which constitute separate committees and separate gatherings, reached to a decision that their husbands were not active enough on the demonstrations. And, they threatened their husbands with sexual diet since they get active. In the following months, a similar declaration came from Colombia. A Colombian officer from top, speaking to the wives of revolutionary male guerrillas, proposed them to start a sexual diet to their husbands till they put down their guns (!??) While EZLN was arranging international solidarity meetings against neo-liberalism with the "Enough is Enough" slogan; Bergama peasants were opening "Enough is Enough" placards. While EZLN was organizing a referendum with Chiapas peasants to decide what to do, Bergama peasants were organizing a referendum to decide what to do against Eurogold by themselves. May be, although Bakunin was against the parlementerist solutions, why he insistently emphasized to universal suffrage which will be applicated on communes and provinces was because of this. The both referendums, the one Chiapas and the one in Bergama were, a good example for making decisions not on the top but on the base. It is also important that the Eurogold officer declare that Bergama peasant's referendum is out of law. The law comprehensions of transnational companies do declare the native people's universal suffrage as out of law and put it outside. Seems like two laws are conflicting each other. A very important event about this conflicting-laws was seen when the Bergama people were trying to go to Balya just to see the nature destruction a foreigner company made through a mine searching. There was no legal crime element during this visit, it was not a demonstration without permission, and they were only trying to see another region, which suffered from the same mining disaster. But the gendarme stopped their bus on the Balya entrance, they were manhandled, they were beaten with butts of riffles, put back in their buses, they could not accomplish their visit and send back. This attack made to a completely legal visit, was in Eurogold's justice scope and explains why the local referendum made by peasant people of Bergama was illegal for Eurogold. On one side they are protecting Eurogold and trying to legitimate cyanide, on the other side police pours the false cyanide on pavements. Real cyanide to man and nature, false cyanide to street stones!.. The comprehension, which sees the cyanide in Eurogold hands harmless but the cyanide in people's hands harmful, is of course harmful for the people and harmless for Eurogold. Like EZLN, Bergama peasants were pulled at both ends by different politics after they put their struggle on the right track. All the two movements were extremely legitimate for they directly indicate living rights and because of their working style. To add 'done/ripen' legitimate movements in themselves and increase their own legitimacy was a basic weakness of leftist politics. Just like the way EZLN was possessed by a wide range from Maoists to central leftists, from anarchists to marxist-leninists and shown by some as a part of their politics; Bergama peasants were possessed by and shown as a part of some politics. Central left parties like CHP (Republic People Party) and ODP (Freedom and Solidarity Party) tried to be seen in the legal organizations in every occasion and seen as they have a pioneering role. Since the dogmatic marxist-leninists were not flexible enough for listening in itself movements, they found it more attractive to deal with developing their leadership. DHKP-C (Revolutionary People Liberation Party - Front) which is riding politics on People Councils on the last years practiced the same in Bergama. Although its source was the populism of the party, this approach seemed a little different because it was not taking its legitimacy from itself but from the base. The armed wing of Maoist TKP-ML (Turkey Communist Party-Marxist Leninist) TIKKO did, as we mentioned above, a bombing action. Maoist strategy of surrounding cities from rural areas and Bergama's direct struggle against imperialism justificated their entering the period although it was late. Their basic mistake was searching their legitimacy in their own professional revolutionaryness and in their authority of representing peasants. Turkish Power's words "if communism is needed we will bring it too" is now in a reverse representation "if there is a riot we will be its leadership". Look at some words from Subcomandante Marcos: "The left is very close-minded. The traditional left is very close minded. They say, "Well, these people don't draw from any of the known ideologies, so they must not have one. I will lend them one." Or they say, "they are good people but they don't know what they want. I am going to tell them what they want."...Of Trotskyites and Maoists, of all of the orthodox leftists and of the old dinosaurs they say, "Well, the EZLN is very good and what they have done is very good and all, but they lack a program, so here's a program. They lack a party, so here's a party. They lack a leader, so here's a leader." The alienation this produced could be seen in both in TIKKO's action communiqués and in the conversation they had with Bergama peasants after the action. For example, some Bergama peasants believed that Eurogold put the bomb to organize an impression like Bergama peasants are terrorists. But putting flowers to the bombed bureau was an extreme point and ties us with Tupac Amarus. When the Tupac Amaru guerrillas (MRTA-Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement) in Peru, militarily occupied the residence of the ambassador of Japan and has taken several political and business personalities and members of diplomatic corps as prisoners, some revolutionaries in Greece bombed the residence of ambassador of Peru in Greece, but Isaac Velasco (Eurepean representetive of MRTA) reproached the action telling that they don't support violence and they don't want a military solution. They were in pursuit of peaceful solutions. But they were all killed with a brutal massacre of Fujimori regime and all the peaceful solutions were suffocated in the water. Tupac Amaru's reproaching Greek bombers is very similar with the Bergama peasants reproaching Turkish bombers. May be the Fujimori massacre in the residence of ambassador of Japan at least proved one thing: so much peacefulness is illusion even as tactics. Let's imagine two imaginary communiqués: In one of them, may be the Tupac Amaru should have said: "Of course, to bomb everything in every place of earth which represents the Fujimori regime is legitimate. But the militarily occupying action of the residence of the ambassador of Japan is our self-action, and its responsibility must be ours. The initiative to use violence where and when our freedom struggle makes it necessary must stay with us. Although we thank to our Greek sisters and brothers for solidarity, from now on, we want all the world revolutionaries, not to do any action which will effect our orientation." And in the second imaginary communiqué, imagine Bergama peasants not putting flowers in front of the bureau but making an explanation like this: " Of course its correct to warn Eurogold to leave our country in every way. But the living rights struggle in Bergama is our own struggle, and any action, which is not a result of our self-decisions, is an alien to our struggle. We claim that interference from top and outside give damage to our struggle and we hope they won't be repeated." Although we are in Turkey, every night, we see and we hear Nestor Cerpa's soul getting up from his grave and walking around. That must not be forgotten! Bergama peasants last cultural struggle was their not letting the government to count them through census made last month (December 1997) in which the government declared prohibition of getting out to streets. The cultural extreme point which the tendency of breaking off the center reached was its "I would exclude you too" answer to center's "I will exclude you" threat. The laws in conflict are at the same time laws that exclude each other. The third arm of their (Bergama peasants) activities progressing was struggle that contains violence (With the use in Subcomandante Marcos's communiqués from Mexico-Chiapas EZLN as 'freedom'). Peasants firstly stopped the traffic of an autobahn, and then the big day came and they occupied Eurogold plant. (Of course it was a coincidence but it happened. The night peasants occupied the plant was the night of the day in which Fujimori regime killed Tupac Amaru's with a massacre: 22 April 1997), Some time after, plant was occupied again2, this time they burned some trucks which carry poison material, and the wedding house Eurogold made for the peasants (like saying don't occupy plants but marry in wedding houses."). Peasants were manhandled everywhere they went, some of them were arrested, they saw a lot of butts of riffles and beating. Here we are using Fanonist freedom and violence concepts. In this conception, a person can reach freedom if only he has given struggle for her/his freedom (for example, he can't be free if some others give struggle for him/her). And this road to freedom passes through his/her participating in using directly violence to the ones, which oppress him/her. For Fanon, the violence, when oppressed practice against oppressors is purifying. Saves the oppressed from lowliness complex, desperation and inactivity; brings his/her self-respect again. Hegel's Geist is now working as world capitalism and works with violence. Geist's gigantic Power, which finds its roots in euro-centerism, spreads out with neo-liberal, imperialist, multinational company nets and resides on completely hierarchy; entered 90's with ambition but also with tension. The oppressed are producing very justice based, devoted to destroy center, and disregarding hierarchy activities. And they start actions only when they are completely legitimate. Before 1992 Los Angeles Riot, the brutal beating of Rodney King by white USA cops was recorded with an amateur camera, but the court did not found cops guilty. Conflict of laws turn to conflict in the streets. Before 1995 Gazi people insurrection, a drive by shooting was made to the cafe of the place and a very loved old grandfather was dead on his chair with a bullet on the head. Before 1996 Kadıköy May Day demonstrations turned to a riot, three demonstrators were killed by the police before they participate in the demonstrations. Before 1997 Albania riot, a stockbroker crisis took place which created economical debris and injustice. First injustice then justice demand -and then clash. A similar process is seen in EZLN and Tupac Amaru's occupying the residence of ambassador of Japan. They clash first and then they gain the right to talk. When they loose the clash they loose their right to talk also. And the demand for talking is getting within the necessity to clash. Chiapas 94-98, Los Angeles 92, Gazi 953, Kadıköy 964, Albania 97, and Bergama 97 are natural holes opened in the world system.5 The end of 90' and 2000's will see the increase of bigger or smaller but similar holes. Now oppressed people in every corner of world are busy with opening/digging their own holes with their own struggles. Every oppressed element that wants the right to talk today, which demands for justice, will tomorrow, get its place in the clash 'spontaneously', and the ones clashing today will get the right to talk tomorrow.
Single-enlightmentist, single-progressivist, single-universalist world capitalist system is under the threat of a world revolution which will come through bigger or smaller on holes 'other's opened. World system sees the threat and rings a new alert every day, opens a new precaution package everyday. But the tendency to a multi-enlightmentist, multi-progressivist, multi-universalist, multi-cultural, equal and liberter world is preparing all the oppressed, all the others to revolution. This others-revolution is based upon a PURPLE FRONT, which is made by the hole diggers all over the world. All the others, oppressed people, and hard diggers are the creators of this PURPLE FRONT. The PURPLE in our flag connects us with this struggle. Anarchists got an additional task in this volunteer digging era: to leak viruses through the open holes in to the computerized system to lock hierarchy, make it can't work. Now it is known that, any attempt for revolution which does not depend on black-ethics (an anarchist, liberter ethic) will put the coming generations in a more difficult, an alternativeless oppressing-being oppressed world. Our virus that we will leak in is freedom ethics, liberter ethics; it's the black-ethics. The BLACK in our flag connects us with this BLACK-ETHICS. With the oppressed!... And with the black-ethics!... VINTAGE 'DECONNECTION' FESTIVAL IN BERGAMA6 'Hope and the future for me are not in laws and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps.' H. Thoreau7 Let's imagine a new urban myth to be sprouting in the Western metropolis; a myth about a vast phantom with hair shining like gold and revengeful eyes, appearing in the mirror and gutting his victims well from ear to there when one calls up his name "goldman" thrice as looking at the mirror. Some citizens has the courage of testing the myth for its truth and calls up the goldman. The myth is verified and the victims are gutted. Under his poor overcoat there is his "nude" body consisting of former rich fauna and flora of Bergama now destroyed by cyanide used for gold extraction. This story is an adaptation of the movie "Candyman"8; I think that this type of urban myths reflects that western conscience suffers from the experiences of colonialism and that western unconsciousness is disturbed by the possibility of occupation of the center by the oppressed. Calling up the name of goldman three times is the evidence of his conscience being really disturbed: he confesses his sins to his own image. Taking place of the confession in front of his own image is related with total seizure of other's nature by white man as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Authoritarians can get touch with nature only through their campaigns organised to conquer nature. Existential causes of authoritarian understandings (of state, corporate) are established on the exploitation of nature. As Kropotkin pointed out 'nature of human being loses its value in a society based on exploitation and slavery'. Human with his/her devaluated, exploited and impoverished nature is gradually increasing the conflict between nature and society, and experiences fragmentation both within themselves and between themselves. That people who lost their sense of self in turn lost their connections with nature strengthens the vicious circle gradually.
Bergama prove to be wrong of those who say that Discovery Age on The The Earth has come to the end and that conquering the space has been going on now. Just as in the case of the discovery of America by Columbus, in spite of native people's will the Earth is being rediscovered as privatization and markets. Eurogold that rushes into gold in Bergama is eager to incorporate the local geography together with its people into the Discovery Age. People of Bergama as the voice, consciousness and weapon of their nature have been resisting against this process. And the central government, which does not support this popular resistance, has many reasons that justify its attitude. The 'great explorer' Eurogold is part of a 'lofty' legal system that obligates the government on the international arena. This law, which in short we call global law, supports the global transgressions of transnationals while it charges governments to 'domesticate their nature. As Fanon indicated in the Wretched of The Earth, 'The resistance of forests and swamps against foreign occupation is the natural ally of native' and 'completely rebellious, hostile and severe nature in fact is being represented in colonies as bushes, mosquitoes, natives and malaria, and colonisation succeeds only when all resistant nature is domesticated at the end'. Transnationals, which are able to cope with bushes, forests, swamps, mosquitoes of nature, find it difficult to break down the popular resistance. While governments are in charge to domesticate 'wild', resistant nature and to construct gardens of rose without thorns, transnationals are obliged to confiscate the wealth of world. Great Discovery Age has not come to the end yet and been sustaining at all its speed. And scientists from outside of the West have adopted discourse of the Discovery Age and upheld the 'explorers' from inside: 'there is a new term for societies outside of civilisation, which Robert B. Edgerton, an American sociologist suggests: "sick societies"'9. Once uncivilised (non-Western) societies has been diagnosed as sick, Jesus Christ immediately summoned his twelve apostles and ordered them to cure the sick: 'he gave them power and authority to get rid of djinns and to cure the sick. Then he sent them to declare for kingdom of God and to cure the sick. They set off and travelled from village to village by spreading the gospel and curing the sick.'10 As the number of his apostles increased they turned into 'Forty Bandits'. The cure (namely christianisation) of 'uncivilised' people were associated with the plunder. Contrary to those of 16 cc, explorers of today do prefer to use the local and national values instead of universal values, e.g., those of Christianity (Eurogold have been making use of national values in newspaper adverts nowadays, because modernity enjoys myths very much). They have no longer taught the local people missionary position; instead, they have performed the opening of wedding hall, giving dinners for local people breaking their fast during Ramadan, use of the national flag and Atatürk in the adverts, all of which are very important in their traditional and national live. Bandits have abused all these traditional and national values for the gold. In another advert, they have habitually used the objectivity of university and its scientists. From former experiences of colonialism, we know that 'for the native objectivity is always against the native'11 . The term, development has also another problematical meaning concerning photography: the process of appearing an image on a film or photographic paper. From presumption that Western image as a universal one has found as undeveloped or underdeveloped in the non-western geography, it is 'violently' suggested that this image must be appeared by means of developing techniques determined by West. To realise the image presumed, capitalist relationships have been constructed, we observe that the space is getting increasingly abstract. And now in order to render image appeared, the transnational is offering us a developer of cyanide. People of Bergama know from other experiences on the Earth that this developer will damage the film irreversibly. And the people of Bergama are giving the signal of struggling against the Western invasion not to burn out their nature of which is perceived just as a scenery by the invader. They have resisted against both the neo-liberal imperialists that plunder their natural habitat and turn it into an abstract space (capitalist space) and the central government that plunders their bodies and souls and turn them into just a statistical abstraction (they refused to be counted at the population census). From the resistant behaviour of people against the abstraction of their natural habitat and their nature by authority and property, it is possible to say that a black (anarchist) ethic has been sprouting even though covertly. By undoing a tangled ball of thread in a sense they have found the ends of threads leading them to the way out of the labyrinth and experienced 'deconnection'. With their direct actions rendering the covert connections between transnational and government explicit, they have disclosed the campaign organised by transnationals cooperating with governments against people of the Earth on the global level. We have witnessed that unveiling the connections has been followed by decentralisation of power. Experiencing the decentralisation of power, they gradually begin to rely on their power. Decentralisation of power means the empowerment of individual and community together. Women get their share from the decentralisation and are becoming equal with men during the struggle (Turkish word for man is 'erkek' and it is etymologically related with power-comes from 'erk' which is similar to 'arkhe'-- ; man has therefore been subject to the decentralisation of power). Seeing the government at the side of the transnational during their rightful struggle, people of Bergama are searching to fend for themselves. Realisation of this search through popular initiatives has promising implications for an anarchist community. We observe that the oppressed all around the world have experienced the 'deconnection' and been inwardly got ready for the festival of decentralisation, the greatest festival. 'Purifying power, which rescues the individual from inferiority complex, hopelessness and inertia, renders him/her fearless and gets him/her regain his/her self-esteem'12, will be realized during the decentralisation and de-empowerment and at the place where we will arrive 'our souls will be crystallised, our perceptions and our lives will reach the light'13. As barrages are constructed to stop the flow running towards the moment of self-activity, the oppressed is searching to create eddies, whirlpools to demolish them. We emphasise that purification occurred during decentralisation will not be in form of "katharsis" but anarchistically and that it will be purified not from passions but by means of passions. CONCERNING MULTINATIONALISM, HEGEMONIES, REGIONALITY-LOCALITY Turkish state and power parties administrating the state; central right and central leftist parties and all the hypocritical determinism of the parliamentary system: are against the Human; are against the regional-local consciousness which is latent in this geography; are against accompanying this regional-local consciousness, are against being aware of the universalist-globalist pseudo consciousness, and are against to the struggle given to stop the all imperialist colonialist chain of the multinational companies which are insisting rather then offering and which put their existence as oppressors and exploiters; so, what they do support? In the countries like Turkey which are underdeveloped, on developing etc. And still standing in a Third Worldist perspective in economical and political means, because of the colonialism's nature which is oriented to destruct regionality-locality; 1. In Bergama-Ovacık village, as a result of the gold mining with cyanide in Ovacık gold mine by the multinational Eurogold mining company (a private enterprise in the context of multinational companies and in the system of colonization) which is open for 8 years, the being exposed of the Bergama-Ovacık peasants to the deconstructing effect of colonialist greed is seen. 2. As a foundation of the Turkish State, the institution Tekel14, which was converted from a French administration, which developed with the labor-produce of its workers from the first years of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey and as a state institution which became one of the 500 biggest industrial institutions in Turkey, the base of 3.5 million tobacco producers and factory workers is, with the accompany of free market doctrines and in the era of ex-president Turgut Özal's attempts for privatization which found an open path in the programs of making the state smaller, and with the accompany of American, English, French tobacco and cigarette industrialist imperialists and their Turkish branches, native owners of the capital (like philsa Philip Morris-Sabancı corporation) getting exposed to the deconstructing effect of colonialist greed. With a comparative evaluation: --- The court judgement for closing down the Ovacık gold mine of Eurogold is not putting on practice by the state and this puts the Eurogold company in a privileged position when compared with the Bergama-Ovacık peasants. ---The same is seen in Tekel's privatization, the responsible state minister is selling the Tekel against their own constitutions to British American tobacco, and this puts the Biritish-American tobacco in a privileged situation. The state's non practicing of its own
judgement against the Multinational Eurogold
mining company and British-American Tobacco, is
getting them privileged and what makes them
privileged is: the ending of nation-states after
the post-industrial era, the collapse of
representation, abandonment of the centralist
comprehension, and the state which is presented
as a state belonging to one nation (nation-state)
is in reality a Multinational State15
order which is connected to central imperialist
states, so every kind of jurisprudence, military
and economic structure moves in this direction
and ignores any regional-local orientation
(Bergama peasants, tobacco producers and Tekel
workers). According to the multinational companies secret rules and regulations; In the administrative corporations, the unity of the interests principle, in the relationships based on reciprocal self-sacrifice and in the sharing of the income, to the power of the company which has the majority part, the other collaborators has only the right to move on the direction of this power's dominant ideology and its orientations. That's the same in multinational states secret rules and regulations. The periphery states, which are under the hegemony of central imperialist state that has the majority part, and which try to set up their own hegemony in their own geography by getting a share from this central hegemony-, can move only on the direction of this central power's dominant ideology and its orientations. (See USA-Turkey-Israel multinational state corporation). In front of a singular human, or communities and peoples, that try to use their own regional-local sources coming from their own geography and that act with a regional-local consciousness; and that are against multinational states and multinational huge companies which are connected with multinational states or which work as a separate power (shell, ford, at&t and etc.) constituting centralist administration focal points all over the world, which are monopolizing the world system, that are against these power's cultural, political, economical and military hegemony(neither the central imperialist state is one nor their multinational state partners are one nor the multinational companies are one, so there is not a one dominant hegemony but a system in which more hegemonies are getting stronger with their inner conflicts), there are two choises: they would accept the hegemonies of ones which control the world system and realize its internalizing process or they will oppose the hegemonies and enter a dilemma which will inevitably drag them to collapse.16 In the struggle against the multinational states and multinational companiy's central adminitration focal points, and against their world wide hegemony, Zapatist National Liberation Army as a part of the revolt movement with the Chiapas peasants and under the administration(!) of citizen Marcos, is giving an armed struggle with the accompany of their own regional-local consciousness latent in their own geography. Zapatistas are a revolt against colonialism's, multinational Mexico state's greedy approach for destructing Zapatist struggle which has sources in regionality-locality; Zapatistas are an attemp for digging a black-hole against the absolute hegemonies. This century's single human being, this century's communities and peoples giving a struggle, are going to constitute a line with the black-holes they opened from periphery against central focal points of multinational states hegemony which acts with the imperialist capitalism's necesssities all over the world while stiffening colonialism.
Tobacco workers in their Akhisar demonstration wrote "Tekel belongs to people, it can't be sold" on a placard they carried. But, Tekel belongs to the state, it does not belong to the people. If people in Akhisar, and workers in Akhisar, like the Bergama peasant's self-activity, take tobacco factory's control both from tekel(state) and British-American tobacco(foreign capitalists) with their own confederations to a self-administration, there will be a black-hole in their struggle. "People is not dependent on state, state is dependent on people; people does not need companies based on multinational share certificate partnership and their factories, these shit capitalists need people; the aim of cops is not to protect people from guilty persons, bu to protect the the order of imperialist exploiters from people; people does not need justice, justice needs people..." Ulrike Meinhof18 1 Remember his communiques ending with "Democracy! Freedom' Justice!" 2 The tendency of peasants to occupy administration centers can easily be seen in our region; a recent example is the Greek peasants occupying a place of Agriculture Ministry and they teared documents to pieces in Trikala and Kardica on January 29 1998. Tearing govermnet documents is obviously related to anarchism... 3 Gazi, a ghetto of Istanbul. After a provocative drive by shooting to a coffee of the place, people opf the region started an insurrection directly against the local police-station and police. The cops killed 17 people during the insurrection, soldiers entered to stop the events. 4 On the May Day Istanbul demonstration which was held in Kadıkoy, after the cop's killing of three demonstrators in the morning, the demonstration turned to a riot at the end. people destructed every kind of city symbols; shop windows, civil and uniformed cops (some were beaten hard), traffic lambs, etc. 5 Now, Indonesia 1998 can be added. 6 This article was written in Turkish at first. In Turkish 'bagbozumu', the term used for vintage has an implicit meaning that connotes undoing string. I particularly used the term 'deconnection' correspondent with the implicit meaning (that it can be associated with the term 'deconstruction' is a richness in meaning as well). For different usage of 'déconnexion', see Samir Amin's books "La deconnection", "L'Etat et la developpement", "L'eurocentrisme, Critique d'une ideologie". 7 Walking', In the 'Selected Writings on Nature and Liberty' (ed. By O. Cargill) The Liberal Arts Press, New York 1952, p. 124. 8 A modern horror film directed by Bernard Rose, 1992. The scenario was based on the story 'The Forbidden' by Liverpudlian Clive Barker. The source-story was translocated from Liverpool to Chicago. In the film the body of black phantom is covered by bees, in other words bees feed on his body. Appearance of nature and the oppressed in the body of 'Candyman' as revengeful figure calls up the memories of black people and nature destroyed and plundered in the sugar plantations. 9 Said by a Turkish scientist in a meeting in 1994. 10 Bible 11 F.Fanon, The Wretched of The The Earth., 12 F.Fanon, ibid. 13 F.Fanon, ibid. 14 'Tekel' means 'monopoly' in Turkish. Tekel is also the name of the state corporation which has the monopoly of producing, exporting and selling most of the tobacco products and some alcoholic drinks. 15 Multinational state is not used to emphasize a state which has more than one nation's in itself but a state whose administration, with all political, economical and military aspects, is formed of more than one state, this is a multinationality like the multinationality seen in multinational companies. 16 The original statement taken from Fanon and transformed is like this: "...there was an alternative in front of the non-eurepean peoples: they would accept to get europianised (occidentalised) and realize its internalizing process or they will oppose europianisation and enter a dilemma whizh will inevitably drag them to collapse. See Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, translated to Turkish by Sen Suer Kaya, Socialist Press, İstanbul 1994. 17 Breaking off from Samir Amin by using "'self-activity' policy based on permanently-regional, self power" instead of "'self-centered' policy based on permanently-regional, self power", see Samir Amin, Imperialism and Unequal Development, translated to Turkish by Semih Lim, Kaynak Publications, Istanbul 1992. 18 Taken from Jean Genet, Open Enemy, trans.to Turkish by Sosi Dolanoglu, Metis Publications, Istanbul 1994, p.89.
(BERGAMA, A SELF-ACTIVITY EXPERIENCE)
(VINTAGE 'DECONNECTION' FESTIVAL IN BERGAMA)
(CONCERNING MULTINATIONALISM, HEGEMONIES, REGIONALITY-LOCALITY) KARASIN PHOTOCOPY PAMPHLETS IN ENGLISH-1 JUNE 1998, İSTANBUL |
