Comrades, it is a pleasure to see you. Meeting one another online, not only on the front lines of struggle, brings with it a different kind of emotion and significance.
Under the unprecedented repression imposed by the fascist Erdoğan government, we have nevertheless succeeded in convening the 11th International Anti-Imperialist Conference of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform (the Platform) without the slightest wavering, despite the extraordinary situation in which, after preparing for more than a year and completing all practical arrangements, we were compelled to shift to an online format just two days before the event. We are convinced that, for us, this event is not a crisis but a “dangerous opportunity” that will certainly be transformed into a favorable turn of events. Indeed, in the future, while continuing to meet in person and deliver powerful messages through the vitality and practical force of direct action on the ground, we will also combine this approach with the ability to meet swiftly, flexibly, and without material burden through online events in urgent and critical situation, thereby making the voices of our comrades and of the Platform heard throughout the world.
As the Iran War and the West Asian War unfold and World War 3 enters a new stage of intensification, and as we stand on the eve of its full-scale escalation—at a moment when an East Asian War involving the Taiwan War and the war in the ‘ROK,’ an expanded Eastern European War centered on the Ukraine War, and a Central American War involving Venezuela and Cuba could erupt at any time—the World Anti-Imperialist Platform is closely and vigilantly observing NATO, notorious as the principal culprit behind the Ukraine War and as a war machine and killing machine, as it convenes its summit in Ankara, Türkiye. The Istanbul International Anti-Imperialist Conference being held on this occasion will serve as an important opportunity to scientifically analyze the essence of the Ankara NATO Summit and to establish the revolutionary strategy for the anti-imperialist forces of the world.
Moreover, during this event, we will convene not only the important international conferences of the World Anti-Imperialist Youth Platform, founded in November 2023, and the World Anti-Imperialist Women’s Platform, founded in October 2025, but also the first international conference of the World Anti-Imperialist Workers’ Platform, which is being newly established on this occasion.
We regard it as a historical necessity that, together with our Turkish revolutionary comrades, who have long organized the working class on the basis of revolutionary principles, we are establishing the World Anti-Imperialist Workers’ Platform. And we are convinced that this international working-class organization will become a new and powerful platform for organization, capable of broadly organizing workers against imperialism, monopoly capital, comprador capital, and fascism, and of accelerating their transformation into an independent political force.
To us, no less precious than the just anti-imperialist banner itself are the comrades who struggle alongside us. We will stand in firm and sincere solidarity with our comrades of the World Anti-Imperialist Platform and the revolutionaries and activists of Türkiye who are imprisoned in Türkiye, in the struggle for their release. We will also remain steadfastly by their side until the very end on the path toward advancing the final victory of democratization, independence, progress, and revolution in Türkiye.
Disband NATO, the war machine and killing machine!
Overthrow imperialism, the principal culprit behind war and the root of all evil!
