A MEETING of the Working Group of the International Meeting of the Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) was held on February 20-21, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey. Communist Party, Turkey which had hosted the last IMCWP took the initiative in organising this meeting.

The meeting was attended by 13 Communist and Workers' parties. The attendance of Communist Party of Vietnam in this meeting is significant as it is for the first time that it has attended the working group meeting of the IMCWP.

The meeting briefly discussed about the major international developments and also the developments in the respective countries of the participating parties. It had unanimously passed a resolution condemning the imperialist aggression against Syria by the NATO, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Stating that the crisis in Syria had its genesis in the internal economic and social contradictions in that country, it condemned the imperialist intervention in the internal affairs of the country and their support to various terrorist groups engaged in the destabilisation of the Syrian government. As a consequence of this imperialist war, millions of people were forced to leave their homes and migrate as refugees to various parts of the world. These refugees are suffering from hunger, poverty, discrimination and violation of human rights and are also subjected to various forms of exploitation.

The attending parties condemned the aggression against Syria and stated that this is a part of the broader plan to gain access to the resource rich West Asian region and control both the resources and their transport routes. The parties, in that statement called upon the people all around the world to continue their struggle against imperialism and international monopolies that are striving to dominate the West Asian region through their military interventions and their support to the different kinds of terrorist groups.

The Working Group discussed the various activities undertaken by the respective parties in their countries in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the Communists of Ukraine, who are persecuted by the neo-fascistic regime in that country. They reiterated their solidarity with the struggling people of these countries and also the people of Latin America who are facing an intense attack from imperialist forces and their cohorts.

The Working Group meeting finalised the venue for the next IMCWP. The 18th IMCWP will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam, hosted by the Communist Party of Vietnam. This is a significant decision as it is for the first time that a meeting of the Communist and Workers' parties will be hosted in a socialist country.

The theme of the 18th IMCWP was also discussed and finalised at the Working Group meeting. 'Capitalist crisis, imperialist offensive – Strategy and Tactics of the Communist and Workers' Parties in the Struggle for Peace, Workers' and Peoples' Rights, Socialism', will be the theme.

The Working Group also decided to continue with its discussion about improving its functioning and also the manner in which the IMCWP is organised. Proposals on these issues will be discussed and placed before the 18th IMCWP for further discussion and adoption.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India, both members of the Working Group from India attended the meeting.