Re: Question for Zeynep (Turkey)

[CAGLenH@xxxxxxx]

Kevin wrote to Zeynep to question what the situation was regarding banningof
parties in Turkey. I'd like to just add a couple of points.

The Communist movement in Turkey is made up of a large number of different
organisations. The main ones are (excluding the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party),
which everyone knows about):

DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front), formerly known as Dev
Sol (Revolutionary Left). Their line is Marxist-Leninist, with strong support
for the Cuban Revolution. On the recent May Day in Turkey, they had probably
the largest contingent of all revolutionary groups. They are banned, of
course. They carry out armed struggle. After the PKK, they have the largest
armed wing. The have a legal, but harassed, weekly paper, Kurtulus, as well
as a list of other publications. They publish Dev Sol in English. They have a
very good website, at http://www.xs$all.nl/~ozgurluk where you can access
their material in a number of languages.

MLKP (Marxist-Leninist Communist Party). This is a newly formed organisation,
formed out of the fusion of a number of Marxist-Leninist groupings over the
past couple of years. They were known as MLKP-C (Marxist Leninist Communist
Party-Foundation) initially. They seem quite large. Certainly here in London
they are one of the three biggest groups (along with DHKP-C and TDKP - see
below). It is of course difficult to judge size in Turkey, but one indication
is the press and TV reports from Turkey. On May Day, two of the three people
killed on the march were members of the MLKP, the other was a DHKP-C
supporter). They publish a bulletin in English called Red Dawn, from a postal
address in Germany which is subject to frequent change. If anyone wants the
latest address, I'll e-mail it to them. Their line is akin to the old
pro-Albanian ML parties. Despite that, they have some kind of link up with
the DHKP-C, and have carried out some joint actions, including armed actions.
For May Day in Europe, the MLKP and DHKP-C issued joint posters and marched
together.

TDKP (Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey). Another pro-Albanian
organisation. They do not pursue the amred struggle, and have created a legal
party (Emek Partisi - Labour Party), which has, predictably enough, been
banned. They have a legal daily paper, Evrensel, which is subject to serious
threats of closure at the moment (again, more details on request). They
publish a bulletin in English (Voice of Revolution), and contribute to an
international publication (Unity and Struggle) which comes out in various
languages. These links up a number of former pro-Albanian organisation, most
notably the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist) which has an armed
wing.

TKP-ML Orthodox Maoists, with an armed wing. The first Hunger Striker to die
was a member of the TKP-ML (Aygun Ugur). They were linked to the PCP in Peru,
though there may have been some shake-ups which I do not know about.

TIKB Another ex-pro-Albanian group, though smaller than the others. Very
militant. They have a newspaper in Turkish, but do not have much material in
English. They have an armed wing, which goes by the name of AFMK
(Anti-Fascist Struggle Committees).

There are other organisations, but these are the main ones. At present, there
is quite a lot of co-operation between the groups which favour armed
struggle, especially through the Hunger Strike.

Jim Kane


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