Right-wing and left-wing armed conflicts (Republic of Turkey)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Turkey was affected by violent clashes during the 1970s between left-wing groups and neo-fascists organizations, which culminated in the 1980 military coup. Turkey was at that time in a tight rob between Moscow and Washington DC, and an important ally of the US, as well as a NATO member.
Contents |
[edit] Origin
After the 1971 coup by memorandum, political tensions in Turkey rose to another level. In 60s Turkish Youth Movement was not different than any other movement around the world. However with the turn of the 1970s, there were signs that security issues were changing. However, state's diplomacy overlooked the developments in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, as it was mainly trying to control the problems related with Cyprus.
[edit] Right Wing Activities
During the Taksim Square massacre on May 1, 1977, snipers opened fire on a protest rally of 500 000 citizens, organized by trade unions, killing 38 and injuring hundred. According to Bulet Ecevit, the shooting lasted for twenty minutes, yet several thousand policemen on the scene did not intervene.
Seven university students on March 16, 1978, members of the Turkish Workers' Party, were assassinated by neo-fascists including Grey Wolves leader Abdullah Çatlı, and Haluk Kırcı, in what became known as the Bahcelievler massacre.
On February 1, 1979 in Istanbul, Grey Wolves member Mehmet Ali Ağca murdered Abdi İpekçi, editor of the moderate left-wing newspaper Milliyet. He was caught due to an informant and was sentenced to life in prison. After serving six months, he escaped and fled to Bulgaria. Ali Ağca later became famous for his failed May 13, 1981 assassination attempt on the Pope.
[edit] External Factors
In March 1972, PFLP, IRA, RAF, Fedayeen, and at that time one of the biggest Turkish left-wing group which some of them will form the Dev-Genç held an agreement in cooperation[citation needed]. In 1972, 14 armed militants caught by "Cost Guard" in a boat belong to the Fatah, which signaled the beginning of rural and urban guerrilla warfare. In 1973, a Turkish national was captured in Lebanon who gave the information that there were 400 Turkish militants in the camps[citation needed]. Between 1975 to 1980, there were 30,000 militants with different levels of skills from all sides, according to the 1980 tribunal reports[citation needed]. A big part of PKKs core team was originated from Dev-Genç movement, which used catch-words "anti-imperialism, neutralism, anti-Americanism, control of foreign capital"[citation needed]. PKK's ideological (Apocular) and initial activities (urban war) were shaped within this political context.
[edit] Political Dynamics
During the 1970s, Turkish economy was hardly affected by the international embargo and the 1973 oil crisis, which were main factors in deteriorating living conditions. Politicians thought that it was the military's responsibility to secure the nation, in a continuation of Ataturk's ideas. Nearly all of the presidents came from military and they had control over security apparatus. From the politicians' point of view, in this design, the political system could not be guilty. At the end, no one in the mechanisms of state was trying to reach a national consensus on terrorism issues. After the 1980 coup, all party leaders were imprisoned.
[edit] Problems in Security Apparatus
The turning point for democracy in Turkey the 1960s was being not able to handle the mass movements within the confines of the law. In the late 1960s, it was obvious that changes in the state functioning were needed. However, performing these changes through a coup did not solve the internal problems of the state. In doing so, after the 1971 Coup by memorandum, the dictatorship forced amendments to the Constitution by an "above-party" government. These solutions, without the proper use of law (justice) created an environment that transformed mass movements (demonstrations) to militant movements (terrorist acts).
