The Russian political party “United Russia” held the first “For the Freedom of Nations” International Forum of Supporters of the Struggle Against Modern Practices of Neocolonialism on 16-17 February 2024 in Moscow. It brought together over 400 participants from more than 55 countries of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and the CIS.
United World International author and Vatan Party’s (Türkiye) Representative in Russia, Mehmet Perinçek, gave a speech at the forum’s session titled “Political and Legal Aspects of Countering Neocolonialism”. We present a broad summary of Perinçek’s speech below.
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The history of Atlantic intervention in the internal political and legal order of Türkiye goes back to Türkiye’s accession to NATO and the process of accession to the EU. During this period, not only Türkiye’s policies, but also its internal legal structure was partly determined by Washington and Brussels.
Thus, Türkiye’s national sovereignty suffered a serious blow, and legal norms imposed by the West began to dominate in many areas.
Especially with Türkiye’s accession to NATO, as in all NATO countries, in violation of the constitution, a state-like entity was created within the Turkish state called “Super-NATO” or “Gladio”. This entity tried to control both the domestic and foreign policies of Türkiye through illegal methods and, in the chaos created, sought to make Türkiye an easy prey, resorting to numerous provocations and acts of violence. The last of these was the Gülenist organization embedded in the state.
We can define the order that this Atlantic system has partially achieved and will try to establish in Türkiye in the legal field as follows:
At the political-legal level
The most important part of this at the constitutional level is the trap called the Civil Constitution. In fact, the word “civil” here has a hostile connotation towards the nation-state but intends to disguise this hostility. Everything in the world can be civil; but the state and the constitution cannot be civil, nor can the army. Definitions such as “civil state” and “civil army” will look strange, and it is also strange to talk about a “civil constitution”. No constitution, no law can be outside the state, in other words, civil; everything civil cannot be a constitution. But service contracts with foreign countries are civil. A civil constitution can only be of this type.
As we have already said, the Civil Constitution is based on hostility to the nation-state. According to supporters of “civil society”, everything connected with the revolution and Atatürk’s Republic was bad. They declared the state an evil.
It is now clear what is intended with the “Civil Constitution”: To leave Türkiye without a state, in other words, to turn it into a colony; the transfer of legislative, executive and judicial power to a foreign state; legalize the liquidation of the Kemalist revolution and destroy the national state; destroy the nation; dismember the country; strangle the state economy and prevent its revival; ensure the dominant role of medieval relations.
According to the plans of the neocolonialists, the nation formed by the revolution should be divided into ethnic groups, sects and denominations through counter-revolution. The destruction of Türkiye’s secular structure within the legal framework also makes sense in this context. Among these neocolonial plans of the West, the exclusion of the concept of “Turkish nation” from the constitution also attracts attention.
Part of Washington and Brussels’ new constitutional project for Türkiye is the collapse of the centralized structure of the state. Accordingly, localization will be strengthened, autonomy will be granted to the Southeast region and the basis will be created for the disintegration of Türkiye.
The concept of a “Civil Constitution” is part of the concept of the “Orange Revolution” of the United States. The civil constitution is actually the constitution of the Orange Revolution governments that we see very often in our region.
At the ideological-legal level
Another slogan of the constitutional project imposed by the West is “a constitution without ideology.” In fact, this slogan is intended to hide the ideology that is destroying the republic, disintegrating the nation and eliminating the nation state and army. However, a constitution cannot exist without ideology. Only plants and animals have no ideology. However, the creation of a state, the management of society and the regulation of relations between the state and citizens cannot be carried out without ideology. The neocolonialists’ goal here is to cleanse the constitution of patriotic ideology.
At the military-legal level
The campaign for a new constitution is being carried out in parallel with the initiative to create a new army. Thanks to new legal regulations, the Turkish army should be transformed into a “professional army”, structured in accordance with the mission of the US “intervention force” and the needs of NATO. In fact, what they call a “professional army” is the liquidation of the Turkish army. The US and EU are seeking to weaken the constitutional position of the Turkish Armed Forces.
It is absolutely clear: the constitutions of countries that do not have a strong army or whose armies are defeated were created by others. For example, today’s German Constitution was actually drafted by the American invaders in 1949. At the end of World War II, the US military imposed a new constitution on Japan using atomic bombs. American generals wrote the Japanese Constitution. Therefore, there were errors in the Japanese text of the constitution. The blood of 1.5 million Iraqis drips from the leaves of the constitution of our neighbor Iraq. Similar processes are taking place in Libya.
As these examples show, the guarantee of true democracy and human rights is a strong state and a strong army. And the neocolonialists want to destroy states and armies through fake democracy and human rights.
At the economic-legal level
In economic terms, with the legal norms imposed on Türkiye, the Turkish national market is supposed to be transferred to foreign monopolies, and Türkiye’s productive forces are destroyed. This goal is served by the removal of customs barriers and the cessation of government intervention in the economy. Under this regime, workers, peasants, national industrialists and traders were pushed to the periphery of the economic system.
At the socio-legal level
On a social level, the West demands that Turkish civil law be regulated in accordance with LGBT principles. The disintegration of the family, the smallest units of society, is the dynamite that can be placed under the country. The neocolonialists are trying to take over our countries by detonating this dynamite and not using their armed force.
The organization of society under the control of imperialist centers through foreign-supported NGOs and the use of these “non-governmental” organizations as instruments for the destruction of the nation-state is another issue worth noting. At the legal level, under the name of freedom, freedom of subversion against the state and ethnic and religious separatism is granted.
At the level of the relationship between international law and domestic legislation
Another area that neocolonialists focus on is the relationship between international law and domestic law. The West assumes the transfer of Turkish state sovereignty to the international “community” with legal norms imposed on them.
On this basis, international treaties are elevated to the level of a constitution. As you know, sovereignty is the highest power and cannot be divided. However, the rules adopted by international institutions, or more precisely, by imperialist states, rise above the law, thus the sovereignty of the nation is transferred to states and supranational organizations such as the USA, EU, NATO.
The Necessary Constitution of the Coming Period
However, Türkiye entered a period of separation from the Atlantic system. This confrontation occurs on both the internal and external fronts. We cannot ignore the efforts, provocations and plans of US imperialism and its collaborators to secure their own support in society through ethnic, religious, sectarian, gender divisions and neoliberal values.
In these circumstances, a constitution providing for a strong State and a disciplined nation is the need of the hour ahead. A strong state must derive its power from an organized and free people. A strong state will be strong to the extent that it relies on the people and can mobilize them in the difficult times ahead. Today, Türkiye’s most fundamental issue at the constitutional level is the organization of an independent state. Independence is a prerequisite for democracy and popular sovereignty. The second prerequisite for democracy is the purification of medieval relations.
In addition, the new legal norms should ensure the following points:
– Rule of law and prompt justice.
– Enlightened and modern society.
– A planned and populist economy under government leadership, providing entrepreneurial ability to the private sector for the benefit and freedom of the people.
– An economy focused on economy, investment, employment and production.
– Interregional balance.
Strengthening the multipolar world and international cooperation of the countries targeted by neocolonialists will make it easier to solve all these problems.