The Awami Workers’ Party extends its full support to the Greek people in their principled and determined stance against the criminal policy of austerity being imposed on their society by the European troika.

Greece is another failed experiment of neo-liberal policies that have wreaked so much havoc on working people around the globe, while enabling unprecedented riches for financial oligarchs. We in the Global South are too familiar with the extractivist policies of international financial institutions who have trapped our economies in a relentless cycle of debt, resulting in a total obliteration of our social fabric.

Not only have such policies led to increased levels of poverty for ordinary citizens, they have also led to the imposition of militarized forms of social control on our societies. Such controls include the repeated military and political incursions into the “Third World” to discipline any social force that falls out of line with the dominant financial consensus.

The reason why the suffering of the Greek people resonates with the people of the Global South is that in its turbulence, we see the mirror image of the humiliation suffered by citizens in our part of the world.

More importantly, however, the decision of the Greek people to stand up to their oppressors, and to uphold the principles of dignity and justice against the threats and intimidation by powerful institutions, signals for us a way out of the impasse of our neoliberal present. For this decision alone, the Greek people deserve our utmost respect and solidarity.

The Awami Workers Party recognizes Syriza to be the crystalized expression of the collective will of the Greek people. Syriza today has become the voice of all those elements in Europe and around the world who have been brutalized by the austerity regime. It has emerged as the expression of the resounding “No” of the people to the dictatorship of the financial institutions, and the courage of those who are willing to build a more just and humane future out of the debris of a dark present.

The Greek elections on Sunday will be a battle between reactionary forces mired in a past: represented by the Troika-sanctioned candidates; and the forces carrying hope for the future: represented by Syriza and Alexis Tsipras.

Therefore, we wish Syriza the best for the coming elections. The Awami Workers’ Party and the people of Pakistan are hoping for a historic victory of the Greek people, led by Syriza, against the financial oligarchs, who are our common oppressors.

If being Greek today means standing up to the forces of neo-liberalism, and if Syriza represents the collective will of the Greek people, we have no hesitation in proclaiming that today, we all are Greek, we all are Syriza!

We also extend our salute to Pablo Iglesias and Podemos in Spain, who we hope will continue the tide of popular-democratic resistance to neoliberal capitalism and authoritarianism.

We join our brothers and sisters in Europe with the joyous cry:
Venceremos: Syriza-Podemos!

Farooq Tariq
General Secretary
Awami Workers Party