Communism

The Turkish Supreme Court of Appeals on Nov. 2 upheld a court ruling convicting Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ on charges of "terror propaganda" after she attended and delivered a speech at the funeral of Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) militant Yasemin Çiftçi in 2012.

The Colombian government and the country's second-largest rebel group, the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN), announced Oct. 10 they would launch negotiations on Oct. 27 in Ecuador's capital, with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos predicting "total peace." 

The Colombian government and Marxist guerrillas went back to the drawing board on Oct. 4 after a peace deal they painstakingly negotiated over four years was rejected in a shock referendum result. 

In a vote that confounded opinion polls and was a disaster for Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Colombians narrowly rebuffed the pact on Oct. 2 as too lenient on the rebels. 

Colombians hit their government with a shock defeat on Oct. 2 when they voted by a razor-thin majority to reject a historic peace accord with communist FARC rebels.

CARTAGENA, Colombia - In a historic event, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos shook hands Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri 'Timochenko,' the leader of the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and with this physical gesture, a peace agreement that ended 52 years of war between government forces and the rebels was finally reached.

One of the suspects in the 1996 assassination of Özdemir Sabancı, which remains one of the country's most notorious assassinations, pleaded not guilty in his first plea some 20 years after on Sept. 26, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

The labour union affiliated to Communist Party, PAME, calls citizens to protest against the new harsh measures imposed by the government and the troika and participate in the general strike. Demonstrators were gathered at Omonoia square to start marching towards Parliament.

Trade unions decided not to organize protest rallies on May 1, Labor Day in Serbia, due to the fact the holiday coincided with this year's Orthodox Easter.

However, they issued statements announcing their "continued struggle for the rights of workers and their improved standard of living."

Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), freed an ex-governor on April 3 held captive since 2013, in a new boost to peace efforts.

"Pleased by the release of (Choco department) ex governor Patrocinio Sanchez Montes de Oca. Much support to him and family. #welcometofreedom," the Choco governor's office said on Twitter.

Turkish prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz was commemorated on the first anniversary of his death at Istanbul's Ça?layan Courthouse, where he was shot dead after being taken hostage by members of the outlawed far-left group the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).