Weekly Worker 413 Thursday December 20 2001
Obituary
Source of inspiration
Riza
Yurukoglu (Veli Dursen) November 4 1945 - December 12 2001
The ideological leader of our party, our general secretary for many years and a serving member of the central committee up to the present time, Ismail Nihat Akseymen (comrade Veli Dursun, who also wrote under the name of Riza Yurukoglu) passed away on the morning of December 11 2001. Our sorrow, which we share with all communists, revolutionaries and the working class of Turkey, knows no bounds.
Comrade Veli Dursun, who fell victim to cancer at the age of 56, always stood out because of his theoretical expertise. He joined the Communist Party of Turkey in 1970 and remained at the forefront of his party until his death. He served as general secretary for many years until 1999, when he stepped down from the position, after which he remained an active member of the central committee. At the last central committee meeting he attended he said: “I am a member of this party and will remain so until my last breath. I will die as a member of the party.” True to his word, he breathed his last as a leader and a foot-soldier of his party.
Comrade Veli Dursun believed in studying Marxism from the original sources, the works of Marx, Engels and Lenin. He also instilled this practice in his comrades.
As a member of the central committee and politburo of the Communist Party of Turkey, he raised the banner of struggle against opportunism, which had become dominant in the party in the latter part of the 1970s. He and his comrades, with their hearts and minds immersed in the revolution and communism, started an open discussion in 1979, based on the newspaper Iscinin Sesi (Workers’ Voice), as the leadership had banned the debate of theoretical and organisational questions within the party.
Comrade Veli Dursun wrote numerous articles, studies and books advancing the struggle for communism, based on principles of Marxism-Leninism. Of these, his first major contribution to the communist movement was Turkey - the weak link of imperialism, which he presented to the central committee of the Communist Party of Turkey in 1978. The book, which was subsequently reprinted many times in Turkish and English, analysed the communist movement and the working and living conditions of the working class of Turkey. It later became a source of inspiration to all communists struggling for the immediate and long-term aims of the working class of Turkey. Comrade Dursun was also the author of numerous other books under the name Yurukoglu.
Veli Dursun was one of the first comrades to identify the impasse which the world communist movement had arrived at and to provide constructive criticism in his book Living socialism in 1982. The views he developed around socialism and democracy formed the basis of the fourth programme of our party after a gap of 52 years since the third programme.
At the time of his death he was engaged in an all-embracing theoretical study during a period of reaction throughout the world following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The study’s first volume Sosyalizm nedir (What is socialism?) was published recently. His last wish was to have the later volumes published by an editorial board of his comrades in struggle.
Comrade Veli Dursun was married with one daughter.
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkey
December 11 2001
Influence in Britain
To Central Committee TKP
Dear comrades
It was with shock and great sadness that I heard the news of Riza Yurukoglu’s death. To die at the age of 56 is to be cut short. So much more still could have been done by a man of his talents and drive and so much more needs to be done.
Nevertheless, cut short though it was, the comrade lived life to the full. Above all he devoted himself to the finest cause there is - the cause of communism and human liberation.
The comrade not only had an important impact on the communist movement in Turkey. His long exile in Britain and the translation of a number of his books into English ensured that the comrade materially effected the communist movement in Britain and helped its painful recovery in what were the darkest hours.
In 1979 Yurukoglu was responsible for my recruitment to the TKP. He plied me with strong drink and strong ideas in equal measure. A number of other British comrades also joined along with and after me. The plan was to learn from the higher level of class struggle in Turkey and later to apply those lessons to Britain.
My relationship with comrade Yurukoglu often proved difficult. There can be no doubt that the comrade had a domineering personality. Political differences existed as well on the prospects of world revolution and the durability of the system of capital. It should be emphasised though that these differences were between communists. What united us was always far more profound and significant than what happened to divide us.
In particular Yurukoglu will be associated in our minds with his books - Socialism will win, Living socialism, Socialism and democracy - books that powerfully argue for a socialism founded on the principles and practice of mass democracy.
There can be no denying the role played by comrade Yurukoglu in Britain. His ideas - especially his unyielding commitment to partyism - inspired those of us in the Communist Party of Great Britain who founded The Leninist journal in 1981 - this was the Weekly Worker’s precursor. The comrade gave his active and close attention to the early stages of our struggle against the galloping dangers of liquidationism and opportunism in Britain. We held numerous meetings. As befits serious communists there was agreement and disagreement.
Comrade Yurukoglu attended the first conference of our wing of the CPGB and was accorded full speaking rights. The comrade also participated in the international school we organised on the Greek island of Andros.
I regret that contact between us ended in the 1990s. This was certainly a loss as far as the CPGB is concerned.
Comrade Yurukoglu will be remembered by the communist movement in Turkey. Comrade Yurukoglu will also be remembered by the communist movement in Britain. He will always have a place in our hearts.
Fraternally
Jack Conrad
