Ebru Çelik
The marches organised in September ahead of the LEFT Party congress to be held in the first week of October continued in İstanbul and Manisa-Akhisar. Hundreds of party members attending the rally in İstanbul gathered in front of the Kadıköy District building and marched to Kadıköy Pier. During the march, slogans such as ‘“Don’t beg Trump to keep your seat”, “Murderous Israel, colluding AKP”, “AKP to the grave, people to power”, “Rebellion, revolution, freedom” were chanted, while citizens living in Kadıköy supported the march by banging pots and pans from their windows.
At the end of the march, a statement was made: “AKP President Erdoğan and his delegation have taken refuge in America. They have accepted all kinds of humiliation and threats in their search for legitimacy. That legitimacy cannot be gained by bowing down, making concessions, and surrendering completely to imperialism. Let them know that even Trump cannot save this regime, which is doomed to defeat.” As the crowd dispersed at the end of the rally, LEFT Party member Halil Aral was detained and taken to Vatan Police Station due to the slogans chanted.
THEY HAVE NO WAY OUT
Çınar Aydın read the first speech at the rally on behalf of SOL Genç. Aydın said, “Today, here in Kadıköy, we are united against the one-man regime, we are united against reactionary forces, we are united against those who have abandoned us to poverty, we are united to put an end to imperialism. We are here as the young people who broke down the wall of fear on 19 March; we are here as those who have been fighting for months in universities, high schools, and streets to end the trusteeship regime.”
The statement followed “Aware that it has lost its legitimacy in the eyes of the people, the one-man regime is seeking legitimacy in the White House. With the decisions taken in the palace, it is gifting the country’s resources to the US as a “gesture of goodwill”. As the revolutionary youth of this country, we will intensify our struggle in every field against the palace regime, which thinks of nothing but the future of its own power and is dragging our country into the quagmire of the Middle East under the guidance of American imperialism.”
Following Aydın, LEFT Party Provincial Spokesperson Kardelen Özay made a statement on behalf of the LEFT Party, saying, “This regime is now rotten; this regime is now doomed to lose. Let’s send them away together, let’s rebuild a new country together with leftist values,‘ she said, commenting on Erdoğan’s trip to America: ’They are also aware that they are nearing the end, that they have lost the support of society. They are cornered; whatever they do, they know they are on their way out. They tried to keep it going with pressure, force, and trickery; they used the judiciary to clean up what they saw as obstacles. But it wasn’t enough. Now, AKP President Erdoğan and his entourage have taken refuge in America. They went there seeking legitimacy, accepting all kinds of humiliation and threats. That legitimacy cannot be gained by bowing down, making concessions, and surrendering completely to imperialism. Let them know that even Trump cannot save this regime, which is doomed to defeat. Our call is to prevent a surrendered government from dragging our country into disaster, to stand shoulder to shoulder against the Trumpists and their collaborators to defend our country’s future.”
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WE’LL SEND THEM AWAY TOGETHER
Another march by the LEFT Party against the one-man regime took place in Akhisar. Citizens gathered in front of the district organisation building and marched to the teachers’ residence. Throughout the march, slogans such as ‘Shoulder to shoulder against fascism’, ‘There is no salvation alone, either all together or none of us’, ‘Murderous USA, collaborator AKP’, ‘There is no other way, this reign will end’ were chanted.
Following the march, LEFT Party Akhisar District Chair Cemalettin Gülmen and LEFT Party Spokesperson İsmail Hakkı Tombul addressed the gathering. In his speech, Gülmen drew attention to the process of decay and collapse in the country, stating, “All the institutions of the republic established a century ago have been systematically dismantled. Cities and nature have been plundered. Hospitals and educational institutions have been handed over to allied capital. State hospitals and schools have been surrendered to anti-secular sects. Education and health services have been devalued.‘
Tombul, who spoke next, pointed to the ruling power’s relationship of dependency with imperialism, saying, ’They want to build a new regime in this country under the guidance of US imperialism. When this party was founded, it sought legitimacy in the US. It received approval and came to power in the country. Now it seeks legitimacy in Trump. But there will be no plunder. We will pull the chair that Trump gave you.”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled SOL Parti Kadıköy ve Akhisar’dan seslendi: Trump’a yalvarma koltuğu boşalt, published in BirGün newspaper on September 29, 2025.
