Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey

Revolutionary Youth
Devrimci Gençlik
Founded1965 as Federation of Debate Clubs
1969 as Revolutionary Youth
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism-Leninism
NewspaperDev Genç

The Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Devrimci Gençlik Federasyonu), often known simply as Revolutionary Youth (Turkish: Devrimci Gençlik, DEV-GENÇ) was a Marxist-Leninist organization founded in 1965 in Turkey[1] and banned in 1971 after the 1971 Turkish coup d'état, continuing for some time as an underground organization. It was founded in 1965 as the Federation of Debate Clubs and renamed in 1969.[2]

Dev-Genç members set U.S. Ambassador Robert Komer's car on fire in 1969 while he was visiting an Ankara university campus. Dev-Genç members participated in the protests against the United States Sixth Fleet anchoring in Turkey (June 1967 to February 1969) and also played an active role in the workers' actions on 15–16 June 1970.[3]

Members included were Ulaş Bardakçı, Mahir Çayan, Cihan Alptekin and Necmettin Büyükkaya.

CIA agent Aldrich Ames was able to unveil the identity of a large number of members.

Following the 1971 coup, 226 alleged members of Dev-Genç were tried at Ankara Military Court No. 1, 154 alleged members were tried at Istanbul Military Court No. 2 and 34 alleged members were tried at Diyarbakır Military Court.[3]

  1. ^ Alex de Jong (11 March 2015). "Stalinist caterpillar into libertarian butterfly? - The evolving ideology of the PKK". International Viewpoint. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  2. ^ Özkan, Ali Kemal (2006). Turkey's Kurds: a theoretical analysis of the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan. Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 0415366879.
  3. ^ a b See the undated article Dev-Genç (Devrimci Gençlik Federasyonu, retrieved 30 September 2014