Following its nationwide marches to change the reactionary regime, LEFT Party held its People’s Gathering.
Citizens gathered in Ankara after the party’s 3rd Ordinary Congress under the slogan “more struggle, more unity, more equality” at the Neşet Ertaş Congress Centre.
Also attending the event were Eğitim Sen Chair Kemal Irmak, TMMOB Chair Emin Koramaz, Chamber of Mechanical Engineers Chair Yunus Yener, KESK General Secretary Sevgi Yılmaz, KESK Executive Board Members Sema Pınar and Bahadır Berdicioğlu, Tüm Bel-Sen Executive Board Member Bülent Türkmen, All Pensioners Union Chair Zeynel Abidin Ergen and Executive Board Members, Bureau Workers Union Chair Özer Avannaş, General Secretary Sedat Suna, Press Secretary Yılmaz Tuluk, Legal Secretary Cengiz Yılmaz, Women’s Secretary Nigar Dinçer, Health Workers Union Co-Chair Mehmet Sıddık Akın, and Construction and Road Workers Union Chair Gültekin Narinli.
On the second day of the congress, women’s and youth forums discussed women’s current issues, women’s struggles, the youth movement that has developed since 19 March, and the necessity of a united student movement.
After the forums, the People’s Gathering began with a concert and continued with speeches by young people, women, and guests.
Speaking at the gathering, European Left Party representative Ismael Gonzales said, “LEFT Party is a light of hope in Turkey, a country facing high inflation and poverty, but also possessing a strong tradition of struggle and organisation that can inspire the rest of Europe.”
“WE CAN BUILD ALTERNATIVES”
Sharing data on unemployment, inflation, job insecurity, housing prices, and poverty in Turkey, Gonzales said, “When faced with this reality, we must build resistance locally, nationally, and across Europe. We need an alternative to reactionary politics, a system that puts people first, defends public services, protects the environment, and promotes equality. This alternative already exists in the streets. Workers are organising to survive. Our role is to be a useful tool for them.”
She concluded his speech with the following words:
“The European Left Party is committed to this mission with clear proposals, coordinated efforts, and a vision of a peaceful, just, and united Europe. In this journey, the LEFT Party and the Turkish left are indispensable allies. Together, we can build a real alternative to reaction and neoliberalism.”
Next, Hozat Mayor Aydın Kaya began his speech by commemorating Fikri Sönmez, the “Tailor” who served as Mayor of Fatsa in 1980. Kaya said, “Tailor Fikri became a global model in social solidarity, organisation, consciousness, production, and unity with the people. We continue along this path, inspired by him. We especially call on the youth: you must be everywhere, factories, streets, schools. We are doing this too. From villages to cities, we believe we will succeed with our respect for generations. Let our path be clear. If justice is higher than injustice and love is greater than hate, then no one loses, comrades. We will win.”
FORUMS REVIEWED
After the speeches, evaluations of the forums were presented. Emine Ünsal shared the conclusions of the women’s forum, saying:
“We have lessons to learn and a path to draw. As the LEFT Feminist Movement, we decided to become younger, to focus more on the issues of LGBTI+ people, and to be present in all spaces where women exist. Young women find their forms of organisation and existence mainly at universities. We believe they need to gain a socialist perspective. For this reason, we see it as essential for the LEFT Feminist Movement to bring students into the struggle.”
Presenting the conclusions of the youth forum, Güneş Aydoğan said, “The most important task for LEFT Youth in the coming period is to build the united and democratic movement of youth against the rotten palace regime. To win back our future against the spiral of insecurity and hopelessness imposed on us, to build autonomous and democratic universities against AKP’s appointed rectors and private security turning campuses into their backyard, to fight for equal, free, and scientific education against the religious and market-oriented attacks on education, to defend our dignity against AKP-MHP fascism’s oppression and violence, to stand for a secular, democratic, and free Turkey against the Islamist one-man regime, let us together build the united, democratic movement of youth.”
Then, summarising the results of the previous day’s conference discussions, İrem Yıldırım said, “To open the paths for an equal and free reconstruction of Turkey, it is necessary to unite all tendencies of resistance from below, based on the people’s own initiative, in line with the aspirations of youth, women, and working people rising within the struggle for a new, equal, and free order.”
“Now is the time to organise, now is the time to fight together to build a more equal and free country, to win our rights and our future,” Yıldırım said, concluding, “The founders of tomorrow will be the brave, fearless, and dignified people of this country, its youth, its women, its workers, and labourers who resist this dark regime.”
“TIME TO GROW THE UNITED STRUGGLE”
Finally, LEFT Party Central Committee member Pelin Bektaş said, “This is a matter of the country. It is a matter of humanity standing up for itself. It is a matter of fighting against darkness, decay, and reaction. Nothing can take precedence over this.”
Bektaş concluded her speech as follows: “This conference is a call—for equality, freedom, democracy, justice, and solidarity. Come, let’s organise the united struggle shoulder to shoulder. Those who hear this call know us, they recognise us. Let’s remind ourselves: we are those who didn’t give up yesterday, who won’t yield today, who won’t be silent or stop tomorrow. Let’s grow the united struggle with persistence, hope, and labour. Let’s unite the veins of social resistance with hope. Now is the time for more struggle, more solidarity, more organisation. It is the time for revolution and socialism. Let it be easy for us all.”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled SOL Parti’den Memleket Buluşması: Şimdi daha fazla mücadele zamanı, published in BirGün newspaper on October 5, 2025.
