Greece: Anti-communist MP elected Parliament Speaker with SYRIZA, MERA25 backing

ND MP and Parliament Speaker Kostas Tasoulas.

With a record 283 votes New Democracy's (ND) veteran MP and former Culture and Sports Minister, Konstantinos Tasoulas, was elected earlier today as the new Speaker of the Greek Parliament. 

A long-time MP for the district of Ioannina, Tasoulas was approved by New Democracy, main opposition SYRIZA, centre-left Movement for Change (KINAL/PASOK), the far-right Greek Solution and Varoufakis' MERA25. 

SHAME! Polish authorities destroy memorial dedicated to communist hero Nikos Beloyannis

In another episode of anti-communist barbarity, the authorities of Poland removed and destroyed a memorial dedicated to the heroic Greek communist Nikos Beloyannis in the city of Wroclaw. 

The memorial, which had been erected by Greek political refugees next to the 20th Elementary School at 143 Stabłowicka street, was removed and destroyed according to the  2016 anti-communist law which prohibits "the promotion of communism or other totalitarian regimes". 

It must be reminded that, a few months ago, Polish authorities had removed the plaque of a memorial dedicated to the legendary Democratic Army of Greece (1946-1949) in Dziwnów.

KKE delegation paid tribute to fallen heroes Rosa Luxemburg & Karl Liebknecht in Berlin

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas visited today, Sunday 4 November, the memorial of the German and international communist movement's leaders Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and Wilhelm Pieck in Berlin where he laid a wreath.

"Here, from Berlin, today we are honoring the dead heroes of the struggle. Of the Greek working class, of the German working class, of the revolutionary movement, of the international movement, who offered so much in humanity, in their countries, so that the new generations can live better" said D. Koutsoumbas and added that "The visions, the ideals which all these communists have fallen for, are alive and timely and they call us in the struggle, in order to make them practice". 

What will Greek Communists do in case of a war?

By Nikos Mottas.

The recent escalation of Turkish government's aggressiveness, within the framework of the broader sharpening of the intra-imperialist competitions in the region, gave the opportunity to far-right and fascist circles to propagandize their known nationalist “wet dreams”. An integral part of the nationalist, far-right propaganda was always the stance of the KKE (Greek Communist Party) in case of a war between Greece and Turkey.

Recycling their unhistorical, repulsive anticommunist theory about the supposed “traitorous KKE”, various fascists across Greece's political spectrum- including, of course, the criminals of the Nazi Golden Dawn- began spreading blatant lies and vulgarities.

“In case of Greece's engagement in a war with another country, the KKE has ordered its members to avoid fighting” was the title of a text which, a few days ago, had been republished in various bourgeois, far-right and not, news sites. Of course, this is a known tactic for the political descendants of Maniadakis [1], who are masters in throwing mud against the KKE in order to vilify the Party and the Communists.

NIKOS BELOYANNIS, The Man with the Carnation: Always alive in the hearts and consciousness of the people

By Nikos Mottas.

It was in the dawn of Sunday 30th March 1952 when his heart stopped beating. The bullets of the firing squad gave an end to the lifes of the KKE Central Committee member Nikos Beloyannis and three of his comrades- Dimitris Batsis, Elias Argyriadis and Nikos Kaloumenos. The execution- murder- of Beloyannis was a crime of the then bourgeois Greek government of Nikolaos Plastiras and the U.S. imperialists.

Beloyannis, who is known as "the man with the carnation", was a cadre of the - then illegal- Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He and his comrades had waged an unwavering struggle against foreign imperialism and its local allies. For his political activity and ideological beliefs he was arrested, tried and executed.

“We believe in the most correct theory which has been conceived by the most progressive minds of humanity. And our effort, our struggle, is that this theory becomes a reality in Greece and the entire world (…) We love Greece and its people more than our accusers (…) Precisely because we struggle so that our country will see better days, without hunger and war (…) and when it is necessary, we sacrifice our lives.”  

- Nikos Belogiannis, abstract of his defense speech at the military tribunal.

"Viva Hellas! Viva KKE!"- The execution of Nikos Ploumbidis

It was in the dawn of August 14, 1954, in the area of Dafni in Athens, when the bourgeois Greek state murdered a courageous communist: He was Nikos Ploumbidis, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (KKE). 

The following day, the newspapers were writing: "He was executed while cheering for KKE, facing with absolute composure the bullets of the firing squad" while "he denied to have his eyes tied over" during the execution. Just a few seconds before gunfire he shouted: "Viva Hellas! Viva KKE!". It was another murder by the reactionary, post-war bourgeois Greek government and its imperialist allies. Two years earlier, Nikos Beloyannis and his comrades had been executed. 

Ploumbidis was born in 1902 in Langadia, Arcadia in Peloponnese. He was a teacher by profession. From a very young age he developed his activity within the working class movement, thus becoming a KKE member in 1926. In 1938 he became a member of the Central Committee and later member of the Political Bureau. 

KKE: Political event in honor of Nikos Beloyannis

ATHENS- In a political event organised by it's Central Committee the Communist Party of Greece honoured Nikos Beloyannis and other members of the CC who were executed, murdered or fell in the battles. During the event, which took place at the KKE's headquarters in Perisos, a memorial sculpture, made by Memos Makris and dedicated to Beloyannis, was unveiled. 

Upon the sculpture, which was based for years in Budapest, the following words have been engraved in hungarian language: "In memory of the great Greek fighter and patriot who gave his life for the freedom and happiness of his people. On March 30, 1952, under the orders of american imperialism the military tribunal of Greece's reactionary regime, on the base of fabricated accusations, executed him. In his face the working people of Budapest honours the hero and martyr, the great fighter of the whole humanity". 

The event was attended by the General Secretary of KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas, while the major speaker was the member of the party's Political Bureau Dimitris Gontikas. (Information from 902.gr)

"The man with the carnation": 64 years since the execution of communist hero Nikos Beloyannis

Written by Nikos Mottas / In Defense of Communism.

Nikos Beloyannis, the man with the carnation, the Communist, the hero. It was in the dawn of Sunday 30th March 1952 when his heart stopped beating. The bullets of the firing squad gave an end to the lifes of Beloyannis and three of his comrades- Dimitris Batsis, Elias Argyriadis and Nikos Kaloumenos. 

The post-civil war bourgeois, centrist government of Plastiras, under the orders of his imperialist patrons, had done it's job. Beloyannis, a member of the Central Committee of the- then illegal- Greek Communist Party, was dead. However, his legacy and ideals were already immortal. 

"Beloyannis instructs us one more time,how to live and how to die. 

With just one carnation he unlocked all of immortality.With just one smile he brightened the world so darkness can never fall. Good morning comrades 

Good morning sun 

Good morning Beloyannis".  

- Yannis Ritsos, Poem "Man with the Carnation".