Communist Party of Turkey (historical)

This article is about the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) formed in 1920 and which is now defunct. For other parties with similar names, see Communist Party of Turkey (disambiguation).

Communist Party of Turkey
Türkiye Komünist Partisi
LeaderMustafa Suphi
General SecretaryEthem Nejat
Founded10 September 1920 (1920-09-10)
Dissolved1988
Merged intoUnited Communist Party of Turkey
Youth WingProgressive Youth Association
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
International affiliationComintern
Colours  Red
Communist Party of Turkey founder Mustafa Suphi (left), general secretary Ethem Nejat (middle), and İsmail Hakkı (right) (bottom row)

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.[1] It worked as a clandestine opposition party throughout the Cold War era, and was persecuted by the various military regimes. Many intellectuals, like Nâzım Hikmet, joined the party's ranks. In 1988, the party merged into the United Communist Party of Turkey, in an attempt to gain legal status. The TKP was active from 1920 until its dissolution in 1988, and it was banned in Turkey in 1925 in order to ensure the country's security after the Sheikh Said Rebellion in Eastern Turkey.[2][3] The party was legalized again after the Second World War, albeit with very limited power and it was heavily monitored by the Turkish government.[3] However, after 1947 it was banned yet again and many of its leading figures were arrested and detained by the authorities.[4] Initially adopting non-violent methods of introducing reform, the party began to adopt revolutionary viewpoints in the 1960s until its dissolution.[5]

  1. ^ Ulus, Özgür Mutlu (2011). The Army and the Radical Left in Turkey: Military Coups, Socialist Revolution and Kemalism. I.B.Tauris. p. 132. ISBN 9781848854840.
  2. ^ Lipovsky, Igor (1991). "The legal socialist parties of Turkey, 1960–80". Middle Eastern Studies. 27 (1): 94–111. doi:10.1080/00263209108700849. ISSN 0026-3206.
  3. ^ a b Gökay, Bülent (1 February 2018). "Communist Party of Turkey and Soviet Foreign Policy". Journal of Global Faultlines. 4 (2). doi:10.13169/jglobfaul.4.2.0138.
  4. ^ Yasacan, Mustafa (1 February 2018). "The Impact of the Russian Revolution 1917 on the Turkish Left through the Experiences of Three Leading Communists". Journal of Global Faultlines. 4 (2). doi:10.13169/jglobfaul.4.2.0150.
  5. ^ Durgun, Şenol (1 January 2015). "Left-Wing Politics in Turkey: Its Development and Problems". Arab Studies Quarterly. 37 (1). doi:10.13169/arabstudquar.37.1.0009.