Communiqué of the International Meeting of Peace Movements from the Balkans and the Middle East in Chania, 19th March 2011

The International meeting of the Peace Movements from the Balkans and the Middle East, organized by the Greek Committee for International Détente and Peace (EEDYE) with the support of the World Peace Council (WPC) took place on the 19th March in the city of Chania, Greece with the participation of delegates from the respective movements from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Serbia, Syria and Turkey. The meeting concluded after a fruitful discussion and deliberation to the following communiqué:
The participants of the meeting express their serious concern about the increasing aggressiveness of imperialism in the broader region, the fostering of the competition and rivalry between the imperialist powers for the control of energy resources and means of transportation, the continuation of the imperialist occupation of foreign countries and as well as new threats surfaced to peoples and countries in the region. The ongoing economic and ecological crisis of capitalism will aggravate further the situation as it is shown now in Japan.

The peoples of the Balkans, since the early 1990’s a focus point of NATO and the aggressive strategy of the EU, are suffering from the imperialist intervention till today. The secession in violation of the international law of the Serbian province of Kossovo, the installation of one of the biggest US Military Base in Camp Bondstil and the assembling of an EU-and NATO-protectorate alongside Bosnia-Herzegovina, proves the real goals of the NATO aggression of 1999. The meeting vehemently protests the military maneuvers in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU recently taking place in the region, where “Battle Groups” are in use to oppress future popular protests or uprisings anywhere. The participants in this meeting also stated their readiness to confront and fight back the large-scale propaganda and blackmail moves of both NATO and the EU. The aim of these imperialist Organisations is the full integration of the Balkan countries to the imperialist plans, on the basis of the so-called “NATO’s New Strategic Concept”, which was approved in Lisbon in November 2010. The meeting underlined the fact that the fight against the imperialist military presence in Balkans against the so-called anti-missile shield, against the foreign bases and armies, against the participation of military forces from the Balkan countries in NATO and EU missions in other countries is of paramount importance especially now.

Imperialism has been showing renewed “interest” for our region, carrying out multifaceted interventions. The reasons are both geostrategic and economic.
What is being sought is for settlements regarding the Aegean Sea to facilitate NATO through the establishment of a regime of “Greek-Turkish joint administration” to the detriment of peace and security in the region, and of the interests of the peoples of Greece and Turkey. The objective is for the plans of imperialist General Staff Commands to proceed faster with the “anti-missile shield”, to penetrate the broader region and control the oil routes and any possible oil fields in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, to serve imperialist wars and interventions in Afghanistan , the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and elsewhere. This attempt finds strong support from both the Greek and Turkish governments.

We condemn the continued foreign occupation of part of Cyprus. We express our strong support for and solidarity with the people of Cyprus (Greek-Cypriots and Turkish – Cypriots) and their struggle against the occupation of 37% of the island for the past 37 years as a result of imperialist NATO plans, which led to the coup d’état, engineered by the junta in Athens, and the Turkish invasion in 1974.
We support the direct negotiations between the two communities for a solution and the reunification of Cyprus and its people. We unreservedly support the effort for a solution based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal Federation with political equality, as provided for in the UN Resolutions on Cyprus, in the High level Agreements reached between the two Communities (1977 and 1979) and in the principles of international law. This would be a solution that would establish one indivisible sovereignty, a single citizenship, a single international entity, with all human rights and basic liberties ensured for all Cypriots. The meeting likewise expresses its support to the Cyprus Peace Council and the people’s movement in their decision against the indirect incorporation of Cyprus into NATO, through the “Partnership for Peace”.

The meeting expresses its full solidarity with the popular uprisings of the Egyptian, Tunisian and other peoples of the region. These historical events show that it is possible to achieve overthrow of dictatorial regimes that are responsible for the suffering of millions of people and for the social-economic exploitation, plunder and poverty with the support of the imperialist mechanisms of the IMF and World Bank. The meeting salutes the peace loving forces and people in the region for their to promote deep changes in all levels according the peoples’ needs.

The peace movements of the broader region gathered in Chania denounce the imperialist plan for “New Middle East” as a strategy to control the energy resources and markets on the expenses of the popular needs and demands. They underline the right of the peoples to resist foreign military occupation and aggressions.

The meeting condemned the foreign military invasion to Bahrain, a country where the 5th US Fleet is based and where its people are in upsurge against the authoritarian regime of the kingdom. Likewise the participants denounced the killing of dozens of demonstrators in Yemen by the State Security forces.

All participants express their vehement and strong condemnation to the imperialist aggression which has started today against Libya. The full scale military operations of France, the UK and USA with the support of the Arab League and several EU and NATO states, prove that the aggression was planned already for many days. The imperialists are using the pretext of the humanitarian intervention and the protection of civilians, with the clear aim of taking control of the energy resources and imposition of a new friendly regime. While having condemned the brutal use of military force by the Libyan military against civilian protesters before, the meeting reiterates that it is the sole and sovereign right of the Libyan people to decide upon their government and upon their natural resources, which are the real target of the imperialist powers and the Multinational corporations behind. The developments prove clearly that the decision of UN Security Council 1973 to impose a Non-Fly Zone over the Libyan airspace was just used in order to start a war against Libya. The UN is making itself once more guilty of an imperialist aggression as it was in the case of the crimes against the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq and so many others.

The meeting expresses its solidarity with the peace loving forces in Iran in their complex struggle for peace, democracy and social justice and rejects every foreign threat against Iran. The participants express their support to the Iranian progressive, popular and peace loving forces to find solutions for the internal problems faced by the country on the basis of preserving the sovereignty and independence of Iran. We reject any external interference, denouncing any plan for a military attack on Iran under whatever pretext.

We express our full hearted solidarity with the Palestinian people and their desire for an independent State. Forty four years after the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, Israel is violating international law, continues its expansionist policies continuing the building of settlements, colonizing East Jerusalem and the West Bank, evicting Palestinians, demolishing Palestinian houses, stealing away the land, water and resources that belong to the Palestinian people. We reaffirm our support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to regain their legitimate and inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as the right of return for all Palestinian refugees in accordance with U.N. Resolution 194 and the release of all political prisoners from Israeli jails. The meeting demands the lifting of the siege of the Gaza strip and the complete withdrawal of all Israeli occupation forces from the Palestinian and Arab lands, including the Syrian Golan heights and the Lebanese Shebaa Farms. We express our solidarity to the peace loving forces inside Israel which are struggling side by side with the Palestinian people for their just cause and denounce the discrimination and harassments of Israeli citizens by the regime because of their political support to the Palestinian cause.

The meeting took place in Chania, city of Crete, where the US military base of Souda Bay is located, from where the imperialists have operated various times in the past military attacks against peoples of the region. The meeting denounces the planned joint military exercise of Greece-Israel-USA for April 2011 starting from Souda Bay, as signals for a possible military attack on Iran and calls for a massive participation in the protest demonstration on 20th March in front of the US base of Souda Bay. The participants salute the Peace Committees of Crete and the peace loving people of the island and thank them for their warm hospitality and for hosting this meeting.