Azerbaijan: İnqilabın Sesi (Voice of Revolution), is being established

Who we are?

The Voice of Revolution is a revolutionary organization aims at a "Socialist Azerbaijan". Our purpose is to raise the class consciousness of the working class with a Marxist perspective and to carry out a socialist revolution by organizing the already started organizations of the working class to an advanced level.

In Azerbaijan, which was a part of the USSR until 1991, the left opposition and social movements were extremely weak due to the counter-revolutionary pressure of Stalinism. After the collapse of the USSR, imperialist and chauvinistic nationalist movements, which were the legacy of Stalinism, began to emerge. On the other hand, depoliticization, which is a part of the neoliberal integration policy in the world system, has been very effective in Azerbaijan. This depoliticization was channeled into nationalism when necessary, in line with the interests of the ruling classes. The foundation of The Voice of the Revolution, which is fermented by revolutionary Marxism, proceeds from the need for an alternative organization to both the power of the dominant class, the so-called oppositional nationalist bourgeois ("Musavat") movements, and the Stalinist left in Azerbaijan.

In the USSR countries, where "State Capitalism" was reigning, the senior bureaucrats became rich with the speed of light after the dissolution and started to rule new states in an oligarchic manner. In Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, who was the General Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party, came to power after the collapse of the USSR and became rich with skyrocketing wealth growth. The same oligarchic and dictatorial regimes determined the fate of post-Soviet countries. These corrupt regimes have become a nightmare for the working class and the oppressed. Poverty, low wages, unemployment, social inequalities, poor education, and health system, futurelessness, deep corruption, state oppression, and lack of human rights and basic freedoms push the people to anger and hate the regime. The 2022 Kazakhstan protests are the biggest indicator of this. The protest of workers, who rose due to economic inequality, had spread all over Kazakhstan. The revolt against an oppressive government and social inequalities was brutally suppressed by the Collective Security Treaty Organization, established for imperialist purposes. Glory to the resistance in Kazakhstan!

The strike wave in Azerbaijan in the past months, the actions of LGBTI+ individuals, the rallies against injustice and injustice, and the March 8 protest show the anger of the workers and oppressed against the oligarchic Aliyev regime. The organization of the couriers and the establishment of the "Courier Union" union grouping is an indication that the class contradiction is felt naked in Azerbaijan. It turned out that although the Aliyev regime fueled nationalism, it could not prevent the development of the class movement. Unfortunately, the absence of revolutionary parties that will equip these movements with a revolutionary character causes the revolts to be suppressed with an iron fist. As Gramsci said, “Bourgeois discipline is the only force which keeps the bourgeois aggregation firmly together. Discipline must be met with discipline." We establish The Voice of the Revolution to claim the disciplined and organized socialist vanguard against disciplined and organized capitalism. We need the intelligence and courage of the workers and youth to get rid of all the filth of capitalism!

Capitalism has created its gravedigger as the culmination of the entire history of exploitation. The overthrow of capitalism and sending it to the dustbin of history can only be possible with the uprising of the working class and a Bolshevik-type party leading the revolution. The historical task of revolutionary Marxists in Azerbaijan and all over the world is the creation of the Bolshevik parties. The Voice of Revolution is a step forward on this path.

Capitalism not only exploits the working class; It also suppresses different ethnic, racial, gender, religious identities, and sexual orientations for its interests. Without falling into economic determinism, we emphasize that the revolution of the working class means the liberation of all identities. As long as the capitalists rule, the emancipation of the oppressed and a social life befitting human dignity will never be possible.

The democratic revolution can no longer be led by the bourgeoisie. In the world order in which capitalism organized itself as the dominant mode of production, the bourgeoisie lost its revolutionary character and became a reactionary element. Therefore, democracy cannot be expected to be brought by the bourgeoisie. The revolutionary and democratic solution to the problems posed by the oligarchic and imperialist oppression in Azerbaijan is only through the historical leadership of the proletariat. That's why we adopt the theory of "Permanent Revolution", which emphasizes the permanent character of the revolution. We reject the theory of stages, rooted in Menshevism and later in Stalinism, the stage of the democratic revolution that it proposes recommended, and the theses of the democratic republic. In this connection, we oppose alliances with the so-called progressive bourgeoisie and popular fronts against the dictatorship. The Voice of Revolution is not targeting the so-called bloc of democracy where the working class will rank behind the bourgeoisie, but the united front of the working class for the struggle against exploitation. The struggle for democratic rights must be waged most strongly by the revolutionaries, and this struggle must be combined with the struggle against capitalist barbarism with appropriate demands. Broad democratic rights, human rights, equal citizenship of women and other oppressed identities, a humane life, and a secure future are only possible through a socialist and the permanent character of the revolution. Stopping the revolution at the democratic stage is nothing but counter-revolution, those who have this program will find themselves as soldiers of the counter-revolution and capitalist reaction when the revolutionary workers' movement rises.

The "Voice of the Revolution" is against the idea of "socialism in one country", which is an absurd distortion of Stalinism. This so-called theory, in which socialism is reduced to national development and a strong state, has nothing to the idea of communism, which is a classless, unlimited, free world system. The proletarian revolution is internationalist. The only way for a victorious workers' revolution to break the imperialist international blockade and attacks is to spread the revolution to other countries. That is why the Voice of Revolution struggles against the perspective of national revolution and all forms of nationalism. In other words, creating an international revolutionary organization is a necessity. The Voice of Revolution will take part in this internationalist task with its comrade organizations and parties in different countries.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, of which Azerbaijan has been a member for 69 years, is the product of the first socialist revolution witnessed in history. Unfortunately, the USSR, which has been dominated by Stalinist policies since the 1930s, has degenerated as a result of the excessive bureaucratization process. The leadership of the Bolshevik party organized the proletariat as the ruling class in 1917, establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Civil War and the bureaucratization led by Stalin destroyed the state-level organization of the proletariat as the ruling class. Yet, the USSR realized the interests of the bureaucratic class, not the working class. Liberals equate Stalinism, which destroyed the legacy of the October Revolution with the greatest political genocide in history, with Marxism and present it as socialism or even communism! We do not even see the Stalinist USSR as a workers' state, let alone communism, and we argue that the class character of the USSR is "state capitalism". Nationalist Russian bureaucrats extensively exploited the USSR working class and subjected it to state terror in line to become a superpower that could compete with the USA. As the Voice of the Revolution, we defend the 1st International, the 2nd International during its revolutionary period, the first 4 congresses of the 3rd International, the Left Opposition led by Trotsky, and the 4th International.

The Voice of Revolution takes the fight against nationalism and chauvinism as a special task. Unfortunately, the nationalist fanaticism fueled by Stalinism caused the Caucasus to turn into a bloodbath in the 1990s. The wars between Azerbaijan and Armenia continue to be one of the bloodiest of this confrontation. As a result, Karabakh has become a hell of constant warfare. The rulers of both Armenia and Azerbaijan have the blood of thousands on their hands. For years, the Aliyev regime tried to keep the people under his control, with nationalist hysteria and chauvinist feelings provoked by the Armenian people. After the 2020 Karabakh War, Aliyev had no card left. Since there is no war and "the occupied territory", the nationalist provocations that Ilham Aliyev used to suppress the anger and hatred of the people have lost their power. But the fact that the war is not going on now does not mean that it will always be so. The ruling classes start and end war whenever they want for their imperialist purposes. This bloody war can only be ended with the internationalist solidarity of the workers of both countries. In both countries, poverty, and corruption are rampant. The Voice of Revolution advocates the fraternity and struggle of the working classes of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Voice of Revolution will never confine its revolutionary efforts within the borders of Azerbaijan, being aware of the possibilities of interaction and unity of struggle between workers and youth in neighboring countries. The Caucasus, Turkey, Kurdistan, Russia, Central Asia, and of course Iran are the lands where The Voice of Revolution will try to contribute to the revolutionary struggle. It is our primary task to spread the excitement of the ongoing revolution in Iran to other countries.

Iranian women, youth, workers, and oppressed nations have been resisting the capitalist mullah’s regime since September. The military and paramilitary forces of the regime are using state terror against those who resist. Because the mullah’s regime, which has no capacity to reproduce the consent of the people, has no other choice but to hide under the shelter of a naked state of terror. In the past few days, workers in many sectors have started to go on strike. In the city of Abadan, located in the south of Iran, fuel tanker drivers, the workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar complex, the workers of Gadir Neyriz Steel, the workers of the Mahshahr pipe production factory, the giant of the Iranian gas industry, the official employees of the South Pars gas complex and workers in many workplaces started strikes across the country. We firmly believe that the capitalist mullah regime will not last long and will collapse with the struggle of all the oppressed who join the power of the organized working class. Hail to the struggling Iranian people!

Like all oppressed nations in Iran, we defend the Azeri nation's right to self-determination. Azeris in Iran are exposed to the pressure of the capitalist mullah’s regime. However, it is not only Azeris who are oppressed and exploited. Like the Kurds, Arabs, and other ethnic/religious minorities within Iran, Persian workers, youth, and women are also subject to the oppression of the mullah's regime. Iranian Azeris must unite with workers of all nationalities to be liberated and free from oppression. The Azeri population that revolted in Tabriz after the murder of Mehsa Emini by the morality police showed that they were on the right path by chanting the slogan "Azerbaijanis are standing next to Kurdistan". The Voice of Revolution assigns itself an important role in winning the workers and youth in Iranian Azerbaijan to the cause of the internationalist revolution. We must not forget that ethnic and narrow nationalism will only turn the Middle East into a region of hell that is already in a bloodbath. Our goal is to organize the “Socialist Middle East Federation”.

The only way to save the Middle East from oligarchic dictatorships, Islamist gangs, and the capitalist mullah's regime is possible through giving the Middle East a socialist character.

Long live Revolutionary Struggle!

Long Live Socialist World Revolution!

One Solution, Permanent Revolution!