Communist Party of Turkey
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The Communist Party of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Komünist Partisi, TKP) was a political party in Turkey. The party was founded by Mustafa Suphi in 1920, and was soon to be banned. It worked as a clandestine opposition party throughout the Cold War era, and was persecuted by the various military regimes. Notably many intellectuals, like Nazim Hikmet, joined the party ranks. In the 1988 the party merged into the United Communist Party of Turkey, in an attempt to gain legal recognition.
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[edit] Early history
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The party was at a congress in Baku on September 10, 1920, gathering three separate left-wing groups inspired by the October Revolution. The founding movements were the Istanbul-based Workers and Farmers Socialist Party of Turkey, the Green Army in Anatolia (which represented the left-wing sectors of the national liberation movement) and a group of Turkish communists in Soviet Russia (largely made up by Turkish prisoners of war, who had been recruited by the Bolsheviks). In total the congress was made up of 74 delegates.[1] The congress elected Mustafa Suphi as the party chairman and Ethem Nejat as the general secretary.
After its foundation, the party was recognized as section of the Communist International. The founding of TKP occurred in the midst of the Independence War, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War.
In order to counter the growing influence of Turkish communists, Mustafa Kemal set-up a parallel puppet communist party. This provoked the founding of the People's Communist Party of Turkey. Although technically a separate party, the TKP cadres were also present in the leadership of the People's Communist Party.
The founders of TKP; Mustafa Suphi and his 14 other comrades were killed. It's not known who was behind the assassination. Although many people claim that it was Mustafa Kemal or Bolsheviks; according to official explanation, Mustafa Suphi was killed by the order of Ottoman Emperor because of his support to liberation of Turkey.
[edit] Second Congress
In December 1921 the People's Communist Party was legalized. This provided an opportunity for TKP to work in a more open manner. The People's Communist Party held its congress in August, which the TKP considered as its second congress. The congress elected Salih Hacioglu as the party general secretary. The People's Communist Party was banned the next month, and around 200 party cadres were arrested.
[edit] Third Congress
The third party congress was held in Istanbul, in January 1925. The congress elected Şefik Hüsnü as the new general secretary. Hüsnü's group in Istanbul had conducted semi-legal activities and published Aydinlik. On instructions from Comintern, the party started to publish Orak-Çekiç, which in difference to Aydinlik was directed towards the working class.
In March the same year, all opposition forces were banned by the government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. TKP suffered three waves of crackdowns on its cadres, in 1925, 1927 and 1929. But in addition to the external pressure, the party also suffered from internal divisions. The role of the party towards the Comintern and the governing CHP party were issues of disputes.
Albeit an illegal party, TKP issued a series of publications like Kizil Istanbul (1930-1935), Bolşevik (1927), Komünist (1929) and Inkilap Yolu (published in Berlin 1930-1932). The party organised a party conference in Vienna in 1926.
[edit] Fourth Congress
The fourth TKP congress was held in 1932. Hüsnü was reelected as the party general secretary.
[edit] Resurgence
In the 1960s the Workers Party of Turkey (Türkiye İşçi Partisi) emerged as a strong force. The foundation of TIP occurred as there was a relatively more open political atmosphere at the time. TIP became a leading force within the trade union movement, leading the Confederation of Revolutionary Labor Unions (DISK) which was founded in 1967. In addition to that, TIP became the first Turkish political party, which put the Kurdish Question into its agenda.
However, as the political situation became yet more intense, and the more radical wings of the left movement opted for armed struggle, TIP was banned. The banning of TIP would strengthen TKP, as many TIP cadres now joined the undergrouns TKP instead. It led semi-legal mass organizations, and became the leading force within DISK.
[edit] Merger into TBKP
TKP merged into the United Communist Party of Turkey (TBKP) in 1988, in an attempt to gain legal recognition. After failing to register as a legal political party, TBKP members has spread out to several fractions such as SİP, and ÖDP.
However, currently there are several fractions in Turkey who claim to be the representators of the TKP:
- The political party TKP which was founded in 2001 after they changed their name from SIP (Party for Socialist Power (SİP) founded in 1993). By the year 2005, they started to organise a Patriotic Front against "EU and liberal collaborators".
- The TKP which separated in 1978 from the main TKP and became known after the periodical İşçinin Sesi (Worker's Voice) which they issued.
- The TKP, which consists of three groups who don't feel themselves represented by the former two TKP parties and who are grouped around periodicals called Ürün sosyalist dergi (Harvest socialist magazine), and Savaş Yolu (Path of Struggle).
