The Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (''Türkiye Komünist Partisi/Marksist-Leninist'' in Turkish, abbreviated as TKP/ML) is a Marxist–Leninist–Maoist insurgent organization in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

involved in the Maoist military strategy of

people's war People's war ( Chinese: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to main ...

against the

Turkish government The Government of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Hükûmeti) is the national government of Turkey. It is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative democracy and a constitutional republic within a pluriform multi-party ...

. It was founded in 1972 by a group of former members of the

Revolutionary Workers and Peasants Party of Turkey Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Party of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye İhtilâlci İşçi Köylü Partisi, TİİKP) was a Maoist communist party in Turkey. TİİKP was founded in 1969 by the ''Proleter Devrimci Aydınlık'' ("Proletarian Revolutionary ...

(RWPPT), organised by

İbrahim Kaypakkaya İbrahim Kaypakkaya (1949 – May 18, 1973) was a Turkish communist revolutionary, who was an important leader of the communist movement in Turkey and the founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML). He is revered by many to ...

as TKP (M-L), who wished to carry out armed struggle. The TKP/ML participates in the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations. It is designated as a

terrorist organization A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...

by the Turkish state.

Organisation

The armed wing of the party is named the Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey ( in Turkish, abbreviated as TİKKO). The Marxist-Leninist Youth Union of Turkey (''Türkiye Marksist Leninist Gençlik Birliği'' in Turkish, abbreviated as ''TMLGB'') is the youth organization of TKP/ML. TMLGB, founded in 1972 as an organisation for youth workers, peasants, students and other youths from different production sectors under the

Istanbul Province ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

Committee. Mehmet Zeki Şerit (died in 1977 under torture) was the first chair of the TMLGB. TMLGB did not work actively until its first congress in 1987.

History

Following the military memorandum of 1971 the Turkish government cracked down on the communist movement in Turkey. Kaypakkaya and several of his colleagues were arrested. The party machinery was destroyed, while Kaypakkaya died in prison in 1973 as a result of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. definitions of tortur ...

. The Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist–Leninist) re-organized between 1973 and 1978. The first party congress took place in 1978 (''TKP (M-L) I. Kongresi'' in Turkish). In 1981 the second congress was organized (''TKP (M-L) II. Kongresi''). The party split following the second congress, the splinter group taking up the name TKP/ML (Bolşevik), later Bolshevik Party (North Kurdistan-Turkey). This was neither the first nor the last split in the party. The

Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist – Hareketi Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist – Hareketi (in Turkish: ''Türkiye Komünist Partisi/Marksist-Leninist - Hareketi'', Hareketi is Turkish for 'Movement') was a clandestine communist party in Turkey. TKP/ML Hareketi was born in 1976, ...

had already split in (1976) during the re-organisation period. Other splits followed the second congress: Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (Revolutionary Partisan) (1987), Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (Maoist Party Centre) (1987) and Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist-Leninist) (1994).

Activities

On 17 May 1985, TKP/ML broadcast a propaganda message to millions of television viewers in Istanbul, replacing the soundtrack for the evening news. On 29 June 2010, two guerillas of the TİKKO were killed in the mountains of

Tunceli Tunceli ( ku, Dêrsim) is a city and municipality in eastern Turkey. It is the capital of Tunceli Province, located in the middle of the Eastern Anatolia Region. The city has a Kurdish-majority population and was a site of the Dersim rebellion. ...

by the Turkish state forces. On 2 February 2011, five guerillas of TİKKO in

died as a result of an avalanche. On 26 July 2013, the control building of a hydroelectric power plant regulator was bombed in the countryside of

Tunceli Province Tunceli Province ( tr, Tunceli ili, ku, Parêzgeha Dêrsimê, Zazaki: ), formerly Dersim Province, is located in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The least densely-populated province in Turkey, it was originally named ''Dersim Province' ...

by TİKKO militants. On 14 March 2014, TİKKO guerrillas attacked a police station in Tunceli. TKP/ML declared that the attack was revenge for death of Berkin Elvan. In 2016, the organization allegedly kidnapped Erkan Doğan, a civilian, who was later found executed.

The fight against ISIS in Syria

In 2014, the organization sent a group of fighters to support the Kurds and other minorities in the fight against

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

in Kobanî. Since then, the group has actively trained and supported the minorities in the fight against the extremist groups. On 25 March 2016, the organization's headquarters in Serêkaniyê were targeted by a motorcycle bomb causing slight injuries to two members and damage to the headquarters. On 14 August 2017, one of the commanders of TİKKO, Fermun Çırak (alias Nubar Ozanyan) died in the fight against ISIS. Ozanyan had trained Kurdish, Turkish, Armenian, Arab, Palestinian, Greek, Canadian, Sardinian, Belgian and French internationalist fighters against

and other Islamist groups. In 2018, ISIS tried to assassinate the members of the organization by mining the roads that were leading to the organization's headquarter. No casualties were reported. Following the defeat of ISIS, the TIKKO turned attention to fighting the Turkish Backed Free Syrian Army.

Designation as a terrorist organisation

The organisation is listed among the 12 active terrorist organisations in Turkey as of 2007, according to the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of the Directorate General for Security of the

Turkish police The General Directorate of Security ( tr, Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü) or Turkish Police Service ( tr, Türk Polis Teşkilatı) is the national civilian police force responsible for law enforcement of the Republic of Turkey, which is affiliated w ...

.TÜRKİYE'DE HALEN FAALİYETLERİNE DEVAM EDEN BAŞLICA TERÖR ÖRGÜTLERİ:

Notable members

* Barbara Kistler * Ali Haydar Yıldız * Nubar Ozanyan * Lorenzo Orsetti

References

External links

İşçi Köylü KurtuluşuPartizan archiveTwitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party Of Turkey Marxist-Leninist 1972 establishments in Turkey Anti-ISIL factions in Turkey Anti-imperialist organizations Anti-revisionist organizations Banned communist parties Banned political parties in Turkey Communist parties in Turkey Economic history of Turkey Far-left politics in Turkey International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations International Freedom Battalion Kurdish organisations Left-wing militant groups in Turkey Maoist parties Maoist organizations in Turkey Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement Political parties established in 1972 Political parties in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Revolutionary Internationalist Movement