The International meeting of the Peace Movements from the Balkans and the Middle
East, organized by the Greek Committee for International Détente and Peace (EEDYE)
with the support of the World Peace Council (WPC) took place on the 19th March in the
city of Chania, Greece with the participation of delegates from the respective
movements from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Lebanon,
Palestine, Serbia, Syria and Turkey.

The meeting concluded after a fruitful discussion and deliberation to the following
communiqué:

The participants of the meeting express their serious concern about the increasing
aggressiveness of imperialism in the broader region, the fostering of the competition and
rivalry between the imperialist powers for the control of energy resources and means of
transportation, the continuation of the imperialist occupation of foreign countries and as
well as new threats surfaced to peoples and countries in the region. The ongoing
economic and ecological crisis of capitalism will aggravate further the situation as it is
shown now in Japan.

The peoples of the Balkans, since the early 1990’s a focus point of NATO and the
aggressive strategy of the EU, are suffering from the imperialist intervention till today.
The secession in violation of the international law of the Serbian province of Kossovo,
the installation of one of the biggest US Military Base in Camp Bondstil and the
assembling of an EU- and NATO-protectorate alongside Bosnia-Herzegovina, proves
the real goals of the NATO aggression of 1999. The meeting vehemently protests the
military maneuvers in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the
EU recently taking place in the region, where “Battle Groups” are in use to oppress
future popular protests or uprisings anywhere.

The participants in this meeting also stated their readiness to confront and fight back the
large-scale propaganda and blackmail moves of both NATO and the EU. The aim of
these imperialist Organisations is the full integration of the Balkan countries to the
imperialist plans, on the basis of the so-called “NATO’s New Strategic Concept”, which
was approved in Lisbon in November 2010.

The meeting underlined the fact that the fight against the imperialist military presence in
Balkans against the so-called anti-missile shield, against the foreign bases and armies,
against the participation of military forces from the Balkan countries in NATO and EU
missions in other countries is of paramount importance especially now.

Imperialism has been showing renewed “interest” for our region, carrying out
multifaceted interventions. The reasons are both geostrategic and economic.

What is being sought is for settlements regarding the Aegean Sea to facilitate NATO
through the establishment of a regime of “Greek-Turkish joint administration” to the
detriment of peace and security in the region, and of the interests of the peoples of
Greece and Turkey. The objective is for the plans of imperialist General Staff
Commands to proceed faster with the “anti-missile shield”, to penetrate the broader
region and control the oil routes and any possible oil fields in the Aegean and eastern
Mediterranean, to serve imperialist wars and interventions in Afghanistan , the Middle
East, the Horn of Africa and elsewhere. This attempt finds strong support from both the
Greek and Turkish governments.

We condemn the continued foreign occupation of part of Cyprus. We express our strong
support for and solidarity with the people of Cyprus (Greek-Cypriots and Turkish –
Cypriots) and their struggle against the occupation of 37% of the island for the past 37
years as a result of imperialist NATO plans, which led to the coup d’état, engineered by
the junta in Athens, and the Turkish invasion in 1974.

We support the direct negotiations between the two communities for a solution and the
reunification of Cyprus and its people. We unreservedly support the effort for a solution
based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal Federation with political equality, as provided for in
the UN Resolutions on Cyprus, in the High level Agreements reached between the two
Communities (1977 and 1979) and in the principles of international law. This would be a
solution that would establish one indivisible sovereignty, a single citizenship, a single
international entity, with all human rights and basic liberties ensured for all Cypriots. The
meeting likewise expresses its support to the Cyprus Peace Council and the people’s
movement in their decision against the indirect incorporation of Cyprus into NATO,
through the “Partnership for Peace”.

The meeting expresses its full solidarity with the popular uprisings of the Egyptian,
Tunisian and other peoples of the region. These historical events show that it is possible
to achieve overthrow of dictatorial regimes that are responsible for the suffering of
millions of people and for the social-economic exploitation, plunder and poverty with the
support of the imperialist mechanisms of the IMF and World Bank. The meeting salutes
the peace loving forces and people in the region for their to promote deep changes in all
levels according the peoples’ needs.

The peace movements of the broader region gathered in Chania denounce the
imperialist plan for “New Middle East” as a strategy to control the energy resources and
markets on the expenses of the popular needs and demands. They underline the right of
the peoples to resist foreign military occupation and aggressions.

The meeting condemned the foreign military invasion to Bahrain, a country where the 5th
US Fleet is based and where its people are in upsurge against the authoritarian regime
of the kingdom. Likewise the participants denounced the killing of dozens of
demonstrators in Yemen by the State Security forces.

All participants express their vehement and strong condemnation to the imperialist
aggression which has started today against Libya. The full scale military operations of
France, the UK and USA with the support of the Arab League and several EU and
NATO states, prove that the aggression was planned already for many days. The
imperialists are using the pretext of the humanitarian intervention and the protection of
civilians, with the clear aim of taking control of the energy resources and imposition of a
new friendly regime. While having condemned the brutal use of military force by the
Libyan military against civilian protesters before, the meeting reiterates that it is the sole
and sovereign right of the Libyan people to decide upon their government and upon their
natural resources, which are the real target of the imperialist powers and the
Multinational corporations behind.

The developments prove clearly that the decision of UN Security Council 1973 to
impose a Non-Fly Zone over the Libyan airspace was just used in order to start a war
against Libya. The UN is making itself once more guilty of an imperialist aggression as it
was in the case of the crimes against the peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq and so many
others.

The meeting expresses its solidarity with the peace loving forces in Iran in their
complex struggle for peace, democracy and social justice and rejects every foreign
threat against Iran. The participants express their support to the Iranian progressive,
popular and peace loving forces to find solutions for the internal problems faced by the
country on the basis of preserving the sovereignty and independence of Iran. We reject
any external interference, denouncing any plan for a military attack on Iran under
whatever pretext.

We express our full hearted solidarity with the Palestinian people and their desire for an
independent State. Forty four years after the occupation of the West Bank, East
Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, Israel is violating international law, continues its expansionist
policies continuing the building of settlements, colonizing East Jerusalem and the West
Bank, evicting Palestinians, demolishing Palestinian houses, stealing away the land,
water and resources that belong to the Palestinian people.

We reaffirm our support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to
regain their legitimate and inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and
the establishment of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine on the borders of
June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as the right of return for all
Palestinian refugees in accordance with U.N. Resolution 194 and the release of all
political prisoners from Israeli jails. The meeting demands the lifting of the siege of the
Gaza strip and the complete withdrawal of all Israeli occupation forces from the
Palestinian and Arab lands, including the Syrian Golan heights and the Lebanese
Shebaa Farms.

We express our solidarity to the peace loving forces inside Israel which are struggling
side by side with the Palestinian people for their just cause and denounce the
discrimination and harassments of Israeli citizens by the regime because of their political
support to the Palestinian cause.

The meeting took place in Chania, city of Crete, where the US military base of Souda
Bay is located, from where the imperialists have operated various times in the past
military attacks against peoples of the region. The meeting denounces the planned joint
military exercise of Greece-Israel-USA for April 2011 starting from Souda Bay, as
signals for a possible military attack on Iran and calls for a massive participation in the
protest demonstration on 20th March in front of the US base of Souda Bay.
The participants salute the Peace Committees of Crete and the peace loving people of
the island and thank them for their warm hospitality and for hosting this meeting.