2)

Political opposition in Iran own Sha

Soars in effort to d

Spetial to the Tribune

vn political and economic crisis in Iran has only been aggra- vated by the Shah’s increasing Feptession and has found the op- Position to his rule increase among all sectors of the Iranian population.

The hallmarks of the 25-year tule of Shah Reza Pahlavj after he Was Teturned to power in a CIA- backed coup has been brutal polit- Kea! repression, militarism, ex- Pansionism, corruption and the sell-out of Iran’s oil resources to the West.

The purchase of arms by the ah in the last three years has amounted to $40-billion. Wages Paid to foreign military advisers amounted to $3.5-billion in: the

t year alone. The yearly wages of all foreign military advisers equalled the total amount spent on health and education in Iran.

€ average yearly wage of a foreign military adviser amounted to $100,

Tran, whose population is 35

On, is; an underdeveloped country and spends more on its military than Canada, Italy and Belgium combined. Over $2,000 per Person is spent on the milit- aty, Which is six times the annual Wage of the rural worker. Since the Shah’s installation by the CIA

Tate of growth in Iran’s milit- ary Spending grossly exceeds that of the U.S. The U.S. expenditure on the military was $14.4-billion in 1945 and rose nine times to $130-billion in 1978. In Iran the growth rate has been from $5.7

Iranian exiles in San Francisco demonstrate against Shah’s U.S. visit. Opposition mounts in and outside the country to down his regime.

million in 1954 to well over $10 billion in the 1970’s, which does not include wages paid to foreign military advisers, a growth rate of 175 times.

Right-wing terrorism, arrests sweep Turkey

In a letter to Communist and

orker’s Parties, the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) has out- lined the severe repression and at- tacks directed against com- munists, progressive and democ- ratic forces in that country.

‘At a time when U.S. im- perialism and NATO forces have intensified their attacks against the socialist world under the guise of “human tights’, the most basic human rights and freedoms are being trod underfoot in Turkey,” Says the TKP. ‘‘This is the only country in Europe where. the : mmunist Party is banned. *.-.» Security of human life has disappeared. Readers of democ- fatic newspapers are subjected to Open attacks . .. in the past seven months more than 400 people have been killed by fascist com- Mandos, the secret and open police and Maoist provocateurs. Thousands more have been wounded. The aim of this mount- ing fascist terror is to draw the government of Prime Minister Ecevit further to the right, hinder its developing relations with the socialist world and fan the winds

of cold war. ...”’

The TKR letter describes the trial of the publishers of progres- sive journals and the confiscation of these magazines. One journal- ist faces a possible 156 years in prison. The trial of the publisher of the TKP Program, which began in Istanbul on Oct. 17, has at- tracted world-wide attention with

democratic lawyers and journal-"

ists from many countries in attendance.

“Investigations have been launched into 54 democratic or- ganization.” the TKP letters says, “in connection with the sh- outing of slogans at last year’s May Day parade. Interrogation of the leaders, the trials and investi- gations are essentially contrary to the Helsinki Final Document and basic human rights.”’

The letter reports that, making use of the ban against the Turkish Communist Party, the National Intelligence Agency with the col- laboration of the Maoists have at- tempted to establish a fake com- munist party using the name TKP-ML in an effort to confuse

‘the people and blunt - the

working-class struggle.

The TKP asks fraternal com- munist and worker’s parties to condemn the wave of terror and the supression of human rights in Turkey and to held publicize the ‘trials of journalists and publishers now under way.

Shortly after this letter was re- ceived, the press reported the're- opening of four U.S. military bases in ‘Turkey which had been closed in 1975 following a U.S. ‘arms embargo brought on by Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974. The embargo has been lifted by Congress in return for Ameri- can use of bases in Turkey from

’ which spying missions against the USSR are conducted. Spying sta- .

tions at Sinop, on the Black Sea coast, at Diyarbakir in eastern Turkey, at Belbasi near the capi- tal and at Kargaburun, north of the Marmara Sea re-opened on Oct. 9.

This massive expenditure on the military has been going on ata time when the average rural in- come per year amounts to only $300 per person, most villages are without doctors and over two mil- lion live in shanty towns outside the cities. The death rate among children is one of the highest in the world.

The Shah’s regime maintains relations with the most reaction- ary countries, supplying 90% of the oil needs of South Africa, which later sells part of it to Rhodesia, and 60% of the oil needs of Israel. Iran was the main supplier of arms. to Somalia’s aggression against Ethiopia and sold oil supplies to the Thiu government and the U.S. war machine in Vietnam.

The Shah also sent troops to back the Sultanates in Muscat and Oman against the democratic na- tional liberation forces in those countries.

The number of foreign military advisers, management and skilled oil workers from the West and laborers from Pakistan, the Philippines and South Korea amounts to close to 2 million to- tally displacing the Iranian economy when over one million people are unemployed. Much of the wages paid foreign personnel are sent out of the country. Over 100,000 political prisoners have been held in Iran in past.year and tortured by the hands of the Savak. Any public criticism of the Shah results in the jailing of the person without trial and a permanent black mark on his re- cord kept on the security files of Savak.

During the recent demonstra- tions the slogan ‘Death to the Shah" and the burning of his por- trait flew in the face of years of repression, and has shown obser- vers of the Iranian people’s strug- gle the depth to which-the resis- tance to the autocracy of the Shah has reached among the broad

‘Populace of Iran.

WEST GERMAN STEELWORKERS ON STRIKE FOR SHORTER WORK WEEK

BONN — Some 37,000 West German steelworkers went on strike Nov. 28 for a 35-hour. work week to prevent the loss of jobs in the industry. The steel industry is currently losing 1,000 jobs a month and many workers are on short time.

About 120,000 steelworkers have lost their jobs since the 1960's and this strike is part of an effort by the German Trade Union Federation to win a shorter work week in all major industries. There are about 300,000 steelworkers in the Federal Republic of Germany and the union estimates another. 150,000 jobs will be lost by 1985 unless the work week is shortened.

COMMUNIST PARTY OF BANGLADESH REGAINS LEGALITY

DACCA — The Communist:Party of Bangladesh has regained its former status as a legal political party as part of the government's lifting of the ban on all political parties. It was feared that reactionary forces might try to exclude the CPB from this action. In a statement last week, the CPB Central Committee called on the government to now lift the existing state of martial law, free political prisoners and restore demo- cratic rights.

GUYANESE GOVERNMENT REFUSES INVESTIGATION ON

JONESTOWN MURDERS

GEORGETOWN — Despite repeated calls by the opposition party (the People’s Progressive Party) on the government of Forbes Bur- nham to launch an official investigation into the deaths of 914 persons, the Burnham government has refused stating it deems such action unnecessary. The PPP motion, which was ruled out of order by the House Speaker, called for the creation of a special investigative com-

- mission with wide powers and a broad, independent character. This

demand was also supported by the Working People’s Alliance.

WORLD OUTPUT OF FOODSTUFFS INCREASING ROME — The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations said here Nov. 27 that world food production has increased faster in 1978 than in 1977. (3-3.5% this year compared to 2.2% in 1977) The FAO said the increase was due mainly to increased production in the USSR and eastern Europe.

JAPANESE COMMUNISTS SCORE MORE ELECTION GAINS TOKYO — The Communist Party of Japan won 48 seats-in last month’s local and municipal elections increasing CPJ representation

-by five seats. So far this year CPJ deputies in such councils has grown

by 69, while the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has added only 17.

At present there are 3,292 Communist members of 1,917 local and municipal councils in Japan — more than half of such councils. The CPJ holds the overwhelming majority in 209 of them.

LUANDA, Angola — Troops of Angola’s People’s Militia march through the streets here as the country has been placed on alert due to South African spy plane overflights and massive concentration of troops — and UNITA counter-revolutionaries — which are poised on the Namiblan-Angolan border.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—DECEMBER 20, 1978—Page 11