The Imperialist World System is in a Deep Crisis of Division

The realisation of the Congress of the United Front Against Imperialist War will be an important step for the international working class and the peoples of the world. I thank Comrade Monika Gärtner-Engel, Co-President of the United Front, for her pioneering efforts in this matter. And I greet all the delegates.

The imperialist world system is in a deep crisis of division. With the sharpening of the contradictions between the imperialists, preparations for a new war of division are continuing rapidly. Besides intensive armament, they are also preparing for an atomic war. Therefore, the peoples of the world are in greater danger than ever before. We are confronted with a reality in which humanity is under the threat of existence and extinction with the preparations for the 3rd imperialist war on the one hand and the deterioration of the ecological balance of nature on the other.

All these facts reveal that the capitalist system is unsustainable and must be destroyed and thrown into the dustbin of history as soon as possible and the world victory of socialism must be finalised.

I would like to briefly touch upon the foreign investments of Turkey, a new imperialist country, because the emergence of new imperialist countries plays a role in increasing the contradictions and polarisations within the imperialist system.

First of all, I would like to convey my greetings to comrade Stefan Engel, who analysed the existence of new imperialist countries and played a pioneering role in this issue.

Turkey is a country that has been engaged in occupying activities in the region especially since 2011. Especially in Syria and Southern Kurdistan it is an occupying imperialist country. Of course, the military occupation of the Turkish state has a relationship with its direct international investments. It is not only a military occupying country, but also has dozens of expansionist monopolies with direct capital investments in the international arena.

According to the UNCTAD 2023 report, direct foreign aid to Turkey in 2022 was US$ 12 billion, while Turkey's FDI outward stock in the same year was US$ 4 billion. Thus, Turkey's total foreign investment (FDI outward stock) exceeded USD 56.6 billion.

The largest amount of Turkey's outward investment is in European countries, totalling about US$ 43 billion, followed by Asian countries in 2nd place, North American countries in 3rd place and African countries in 4th place. According to the Central Bank of Turkey, Turkish monopolies have capital investments in at least 115 countries.

In the five months from January to May 2023 alone, the amount of direct foreign capital investments of the Turkish monopolies totalled about US$ 3 billion, an increase of 24.5% compared to the same period last year.

In recent years, Turkey has further developed its relations with African countries and has made serious capital investments. It also intensively sells military weapons and develops bilateral military relations. It has military bases in at least three African countries.

With the deep and broad development of capitalism and the consequent internationalisation of production, new imperialist countries continue to emerge. We must recognise this concrete reality and develop our strategy and tactics taking into account these concrete new developments.