Introduction
Devrimci Sol is a people’s movement organized along the lines of Marxism-Leninism. It envisions first an anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchical people’s revolution, and then a communist society.
To reach these goals, Devrimci Sol – as the result of an analysis which is based on the historical, social, economic, and political conditions in our country, as well as the experiences of the world-wide communist movement – believes it necessary to carry out armed struggle under the leadership of a proletarian party. Devrimci Sol has not yet completed the development into a mature party. By this it means that the process of development into a party can be reached through the use of all forms of political struggle on the basis of revolutionary violence, through the use of economic- democratic struggle, and by organizing the people. Since the founding of Devrimci Sol, we have struggled in line with these aims.
Devrimci Sol is an internationalist movement; it considers itself a part of the world-wide communist movement; and its members are followers of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and the Third International. It expresses its internationalist spirit by supporting revolutionary movements across the globe, and by protesting against imperialist aggression against peoples.
Devrimci Sol is the successor of the Turkish leftist movement, the People’s Liberation Party Front of Turkey (THKP- C). The legacy of Turkey’s left is not so vast. The left-wing movement (which, for a long time, did not progress past being a movement of intellectuals) was taken over by the THKP-C, born as the result of the development of the left in the 60’s.
The THKP-C dismissed the opportunistic tradition which had, until then, characterized the left movements in Turkey. Until that time, the left movements had flirted with Kemalist society and the junta. The THKP-C, which adapted Marxism-Leninism to the specific conditions in Turkey, concluded that revolution could be achieved if based on the support of the people and armed struggle. It then began a guerrilla war against the oligarchy, a collaborator with American imperialism. This struggle was defeated militarily, but it did point the way ahead and left us, Marxist- Leninists, with a more conscious population.
Devrimci Sol is the successor of the THKP-C movement; it came into being out of the potential which the THKP-C created, and it developed from there. Devrimci Sol – because of the fact that there is the Kurdish question in Turkey – is the organized vanguard of not only the Turkish people, but also the Kurdish people, believing that a revolution in Turkey can be carried out with the united forces of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples.
Devrimci Sol is the organized vanguard of the Turkish people.
After it was organizationally defeated, the THKP-C nonetheless left behind a great potential. The potential included all sorts of people, and the students and youth were a particularly potent force. Young revolutionary students, who accepted the ideological standpoints of the THKP-C, began to organize themselves in many cities across Turkey.
At the same time, civil-fascist squads, supported by the State and the CIA, began attacking various people, but especially youths. The fascists carried out murders and blood-baths. Protecting their own lives became a major preoccupation of the people.
Revolutionary youths, who began organizing under these conditions, resisted the fascist attacks. At the cost of hundreds of martyrs, they prevented the populace from being over-run by fascist terror.
The Devrimci Genclik (Revolutionary Youth) movement, which came into being out of a process of struggle and organization, developed into the Devrimci Yol (Revolutionary Path) in 1977. But in fact, the Ankara-Clique which dominated Devrimci Yol did not accept the theory and praxis of the THKP-C and betrayed its legacy. This prevented the development of cadres and the formation of ideological unity, and it also prevented the carrying out of an effective struggle against fascist terror. Under these conditions, the Marxist-Leninist cadres within the Devrimci Yol movement began to work to stop the organizational and political decline. From this process, Devrimci Sol came into being in 1978.
Devrimci Sol outlined its ideological line in great detail after it entered the political arena, and it published brochures and newspapers to inform people of this ideological line. It explained to the people and to the revolutionary community that its ideological line and its legacy from the THKP-C rejected opportunism, strove for spontaneity in organization, and struggled against fascist terror.
Devrimci Sol is a movement that is known for making good on its promises. It put all its words and writings towards what it was using its energy on. Otherwise it would never have acquired such a rich history of struggle to its name, and it could never have become a movement capable of being the present-day successor of the THKP-C.
2. A Short History Of The Struggle Of Devrimci Sol
The fascist terror, along with the civil-fascist terror, reached an unprecedented intensity in 1978, the year Devrimci Sol came into being. Schools, neighbourhoods, villages, and entire cities came under the grip of fascist terror. Fascist murders were blood-baths. Survival was a primary concern under these circumstances.
Devrimci Sol recognized this fact and began a program of struggle and organization to help provide security. In fact, Devrimci Sol was not yet a party. It was conscious of the fact that it was in no state to set up a party and to thereby leave behind revolutionary tasks.
According to Devrimci Sol, it was possible to neutralize the fascist terror through the struggle and organization of peoples in all places where fascist terror reigned. The fundamental method of struggle for this was ‘revolutionary violence’. But revolutionary violence would have to be coupled with other forms of political, economic, and democratic struggle, otherwise it would lapse into a tit-for-tat campaign between the ‘left’ and the ‘right’.
Revolutionary violence did not only have the civil fascists as its goal, but also State torturers, police stations where torture took place, bureaucratic offices which were responsible for the torture practices, and informants. Devrimci Sol organized itself on this basis. It organized armed teams in schools, neighbourhoods, and factories, and it organized armed units to punish torturers, and it attacked police stations. Above all, it tried to organized and arm the people against fascist terror.
Devrimci Sol prevented the fascists from getting a grip over the people by using all forms of political, economic, and democratic struggle: from revolutionary violence to mass demonstrations, from student boycotts and occupations to strikes, and it created organizations to carry out these tasks.
Devrimci Sol carried out its struggle in the form of ‘campaigns’. Each campaign lasted from 1-2 months, and was in turn followed by a new campaign. The campaigns were the high points of political goals, and the slogans offered the masses a perspective.
The period before the fascist military coup of 12 September.
Important Actions Which Devrimci Sol Has Carried Out Thus Far, And Its Important Actions During These Campaigns
The Campaign Of Struggle Against Imperialism, Fascist Terror, Unemployment, And High Prices (July- August 1979)
During this campaign, which was designed to convince working people that imperialism and the oligarchy were responsible for the fascist terror, unemployment, and high prices, Devrimci Sol handed out – just like in all campaign which were waged before September 12 – hundreds of thousands of pamphlets and leaflets, and hundreds of banners were hung, with or without accompanying bombs.
A large illegal and armed demonstration was held outside the Chamber of Commerce, and attacks were carried out against the IMF and its collaborators who were responsible for the black-markets and shortages. Distribution trucks belonging to Unilever and Migros, two imperialist multi-national corporations,were confiscated and the goods inside were distributed in poor neighbourhoods.
In connection with this campaign, the offices of six imperialist corporations working in Turkey were attacked; their personnel were neutralized, the offices damaged, and the slogans of the campaign were painted on the walls.
Protest Campaign Against The Price Increases, The Resolutions Of January 24th, And The Closing Of Work-Places
To protest the price increases and the resolutions of 24 January (which were designed to protect the interests of imperialist and collaborating monopolies, and which would have significant economic, political, and social ramifications in Turkey for the coming years), Devrimci Sol called for businesses to close. The response was more than 90%, and the reasons for the action were made clear to the people and to the business community.
The Campaign Against Police Torture And Against The Police Repression During The Occupation Of Taris (January-February 1980)
During this campaign, Devrimci Sol carried out armed attacks against three police stations in Istanbul, together with an illegal demonstration outside the Chamber of Commerce of Istanbul, to protest torture in police stations and the police terror used against the workers of Taris in Izmir. Between the end of January and the beginning of February, several Devrimci Sol militants attacked police stations in Karagumruk, Yedikule, and Tahtakale, neutralizing police agents and seizing their arms, By doing this, they showed that the torturers would be punished sooner of later. In response to these attacks, the oligarchy was forced to enact special measures to protect police stations. Police officers and inspectors were on their guard, and they began sending indirect messages to Devrimci Sol, stating that no torture took place in their stations and that they were on the side of the people.
The Campaign Against Tortures (April 1980)
During this campaign, Devrimci Sol militants attacked the police stations Bostancibasi and Tophane in Istanbul. They neutralized the police officers and seized their weapons, again showing that torturers could not escape retribution.
With these attacks, not only were the torturers discouraged, but the masses were shown that the State’s institutions were vulnerable.
The Week-Long Campaign Against Repression In Kurdistan (June 1980)
Alongside the development of the struggle in Kurdistan, the oligarchy’s campaign of assimilation and mass-murder against the Kurdish people continued unhindered. Devrimci Sol initiated a campaign called “The Struggle Against National Repression in Kurdistan” during a period of heightened repression against the Kurdish people, and an intensive struggle was waged in Elazig, Tunceli, Malatya, Gaziantep, Diarbakir, Van, and in outlying villages. Devrimci Sol’s activities were carried out both before and after this campaign. Among the activities was an attack on the gendarmerie in Pertek-Tunceli, a site of heavy torture. The personnel inside were disarmed.
The Campaign Against Fascist Terror And The Punishment Of Gun Sazak (May-June 1980) * [* Note: Devrimci Sol has never differentiated between the struggle against the state supported civil-fascist forces (who are designed to attack both revolutionaries and the people in order to discourage revolutionary struggle) and the struggle against State terror in general. On the contrary, Devrimci Sol saw these two as inter- connected. It carried out a wide and effective struggle against the civil-fascist forces based on revolutionary violence; and it created a sense of security and anti-fascist resistance among the masses. Devrimci Sol, which executed dozens of fascist police commissioners and murderers, and bombed more than a hundred of their stations, as well as the offices of the MHP, denied ‘the right to existence’ of these force in the areas where they were active. By removing the fascist occupations of schools, neighbourhoods, and factories one by one, and consequently saving lives, Devrimci Sol overcame the obstacles which the oligarchy had put in place to hinder revolutionary activity and opened the way for further struggle.
Shortly after its inception, Devrimci Sol carried out its first serious attacks against the civil-fascist occupiers in Istanbul by attacking the centre of fascist power in Gultepe (September 1978). Gultepe is a working-class slum which is primarily occupied by recent immigrants from the country side, and was at that time controlled by the fascists. Devrimci Sol militants attacked the headquarters of the fascist organization MHP and bombed it. They also attacked the fascist bosses’ offices and punished them.
These actions were early sign of Devrimci Sol’s struggle against fascist terror, which was the most urgent question of that Period.]
In this campaign, Devrimci Sol executed Gun Sazak, a member of the National Movement Party (MHP). Sazak was one of the leaders of this capitalist/fascist movement and played an important role in developing its tactics. He trained cadres within the fascist movement into special units which he made use of during his period as Minister of Tariffs and Monopolies during the second ‘National Front’ government. He mobilized these cadres in the national organization of the fascist movement and planned blood-baths. Thus, the civil-fascist movement was dealt with by Devrimci Sol. The line of active struggle against civil-fascists led to the oligarchy changing its approach of hindering revolutionary struggle through the use of the civil-fascists.
The Campaign Against Torturers And Fascist Terror, And The Execution Of Nihat Erim (One Of The Minister-Presidents In The Period Following The Fascist Coup Of March 12, 1971) (July-August 1980)
Throughout history, oppressed peoples have never forgotten the repression carried out against them, and they have always struck back against the government and the oppressors when the time was right. In this campaign, carried out in line with the above, Devrimci Sol executed the torturer-fascist Nihat Erim. Erim signed the death warrants of several leaders and cadres of the THKP-C, the vanguard of the revolutionary struggle in Turkey, he executed three revolutionaries, he introduced laws to limit the rights of workers, he increased the repression in the prisons, and increased the number of arrests and tortures. So Devrimci Sol insured that the people’s justice was served.
During this campaign, Devrimci Sol organized two large illegal, armed demonstrations in Topkapi and Cemberlitas which were bigger than all previous ones. Throughout this period, illegal, armed demonstrations were a show of force in defiance of the police, the military, and the oligarchy.
With this campaign, Devrimci Sol wanted to show a powerful reaction of the people to fascist terror of torturings.
Devrimci Sol could do nothing about the fact that the military puppets of American imperialism were planning a coup, although before September 12, 1980 the organization had done much to prevent the fascists from implementing their plans and subjecting the people to terror. Devrimci Sol did not submit to the junta’s terror; quite the contrary. It continued to exert its strength and to prove itself the vanguard of the people, worthy of the people’s trust.
Under the conditions of the junta period, most leftist groups either fled or ‘withdrew’ their activities. Devrimci Sol refused to flee and stated that a movement which abandoned the struggle of the people and chose to flee could never be a revolutionary movement.
Praxis after the fascist coup of 12 September 1980
The Campaign Against The Fascist Junta Of September 12 (September 1980)
During this campaign, which was directed against the junta of September 12, Devrimci Sol carried out a number of agitation and propaganda actions, distributed hundreds of thousands of pamphlets, hung posters and wall-newspapers, and held illegal demonstrations. All over Turkey, banners were hung, with and without accompanying bombs, and over a hundred banks and imperialist institutions were bombed on the same night. This campaign also saw the execution of several torturers, informants, and enemies of the people. Devrimci Sol never ended its resistance to the junta of 12 September, and the organization acted as a role model by keeping up visible resistance to the September 12 coup. There was also a massive boycott of the Technical University to protest the murder of a Devrimci Sol militant and another revolutionary at the political division of the police headquarters in Istanbul
The Campaign Against The Terror And Tortures Of The Fascist Junta And The Execution Of Mahmut Dikler, The Assistant Commissioner Of State Security, Responsible For The Political Branch (February- March 1980)
To protest the murders and blood-baths for which the junta was responsible, and to protest the wave of terror and tortures which the junta was using against workers and revolutionaries, and to make it clear to the torturers that not a single blood-bath would go unpunished, Devrimci Sol began a new campaign and put the execution of torturers on the agenda. In those days when most of the left was pulling out of active struggle, Devrimci Sol carried out its classic activities, including actions against terror and torture, and the organization punished several torturers and enemies of the people. The Kemeralti police station in Izmir, a site of continual torture, was attacked and the torturers were suitably punished. The biggest action of the campaign was the execution of Mahmut Dikler, the assistant-commissioner of State Security, who was responsible for the murders of revolutionaries during torture. Informants and fascists in the country side and the torture-gendarmerie were also executed.
Along with these actions, Devrimci Sol also handed out hundreds of thousands of pamphlets, hung posters, hung banners, with or without accompanying bombs, and punished hundreds of torturers, police officers, members of the MIT (Turkish intelligence agency), informants, and members of the MHP, because all of these were murderers of revolutionaries and enemies of the people. Devrimci Sol bombed hundreds of police stations, police outposts, bands, imperialist corporate offices, the workplaces of fascists, and the organization also organized dozens of massive illegal demonstrations and street-fights.
Devrimci Sol lost more than a hundred militants and cadres during this period of revolutionary struggle, but it also published the names of police officers, MIT-agents, fascist members of the MHP, soldiers, and informants who were responsible for the murders of militants and Devrimci Sol cadres, and these people were punished soon thereafter.
Devrimci Sol also illustrated its internationalist solidarity by organizing remembrance days. The week of 31 March until 7 April was a week to remember revolutionary martyrs, including members of the THKP-C. For the oligarchy, the remembrance week, which became a platform for opposing fascism in all its forms, was a nightmare.
Devrimci Sol celebrated May 1 with a huge demonstration of militants and sympathizers on the May 1 Square. Devrimci Sol did not remain silent, nor did it on May 1 in 1981, 1982, or 1983, the heaviest days after the coup. Devrimci Sol made May 1 demonstrations on the May 1 Square a tradition as a way to remember the martyrs of the blood-bath of May 1, 1977, as well as May 1 martyrs all over the world.
As for its finances, Devrimci Sol relies on the voluntary contributions of the people, but the organization also carries out a number of confiscation actions of metropolitan capital.
The cities in which Devrimci Sol primarily carried out its struggle after 12 September were Istanbul, Ankara, Bursa, Izmir, Eskisehir, Usak, Denizli, Manisa, Adana, Tarsus-Mersin, Gaziantep, Elazig, Malatya, Tunceli, Sivas, and Aybasti-ordu. Six trials began in Istanbul, Bursa, Elazig, Erzincan, Izmir, and Ankara against more than 1000 Devrimci Sol sympathizers and cadres who were arrested after the September 12, 1980 coup. More than 400 death- sentences were handed down in these trials.
Another campaign in 1982 concerned itself with protesting the fact that the universities and secondary schools were to come under the control of the Institute for Higher Education (YOK). According to this plan, the schools were to be subjected to fascist discipline and were to become fascist institutions.
Another campaign in 1982 was against torture in the jails and against the military courts of the junta.
The campaign “The Junta Cannot Pass Judgement on Revolutionaries” was carried out on a large scale; on the day the trials began in Istanbul, the city was covered with pamphlets and posters, and 50 banners were hung. Various bombings were also carried out.
The campaign “No to the Constitution” in November of 1982 was aimed against the Constitution which the junta forced on the people with the aim of institutionalizing fascism in Turkey.
Along with actions throughout the country, the main Turkish consulate in Koln, West Germany was attacked by Devrimci Sol militants who held the building for 15 hours. Other buildings and offices belonging to the junta were attacked and occupied throughout Western Europe.
The campaign “We Reject the Junta’s Election Farce” in November of 1983 was to protest the election farce, in which only three fascist/pro-junta parties took part, and wherein no other parties of independent, patriotic candidates were allowed to take part, and was designed to raise consciousness among the people.
Three parties took part in this ‘election’, parties which were totally run by the junta themselves, thereby attempting to gain five years in which to legitimize their hold on power. Devrimci Sol, who approached the problem from a historical standpoint, called upon the people, despite their weakened condition, to boycott the election and not to help legitimize the junta.
Also during this campaign, actions were carried out beyond Turkey’s borders and junta offices overseas were occupied.
The campaign “Struggle Against the ANAP” began after the ANAP, the party of the monopolistic bourgeoisie and imperialist collaborators, came to power after the 1983 elections.
Alongside the typical activities of handing out pamphlets and hanging banners, Devrimci Sol bombed ten district headquarters of the ANAP in Istanbul. This was to make known that the ANAP were responsible for tortures, terror, and exploitation.
The Hunger-Strike Campaign (April-June 1984)
This campaign took place in the prisons where a fight for life or death was being waged against the fascist junta and was designed to protest the junta’s attempt to morally, ideologically, and politically destroy the revolutionary prisoners, and to protest against the wild aggression. This campaign was carried out with the support of members and sympathizers of Devrimci Sol, and a few patriots as well. The struggle evolved into a total hunger-strike which lasted 75 days. (Three Devrimci Sol members died during this hunger-strike in Istanbul).
The struggle of Devrimci Sol, which was hampered organizationally by the wave of repression which accompanied the September 12 coup, began to regain in strength and to develop once more.
To protest the blood-baths against civilians and peshmergas which the Turkish army carried out in Iraq-occupied Kurdistan in 1986, Devrimci Sol attacked the Kadikoy-Istanbul office of the ANAP, neutralized the personnel, and ignited a fire-bomb which destroyed the building.
During the May 1 demonstrations and days of remembrance for revolutionary martyrs (31 March – 7 April) in the years 1987,1988, and 1989, Devrimci Sol militants attacked imperialist corporate offices carried out dozens of bombings. Despite massive repression, terror, mass arrests, and torture carried out by the oligarchy, Devrimci Sol celebrated May 1 with thousands of sympathizers nonetheless. Riots occurred and Mehmet Akif Dalce died a martyr’s death. Later, the police officer who killed M.A. Dalci was executed by Devrimci Sol. Nor did Devrimci Sol relent in its activities against informers; the organization showed how it dealt with them. Execution was a part of this.
As a protest against unemployment, high prices, fascist repression, and terror, attacks were carried out against various installations, and there were various instances of revolutionary violence, including several bombings.
Since 1987, Devrimci Sol has organized dozens of (large and small) illegal demonstrations in order to protest poor living conditions, torture and repression in the prisons, terror and torture at police stations, and repression against the socialist press, mass-organizations, and youths. At the same time, Devrimci Sol has on many occasions showed its international solidarity. (These actions will be covered in another chapter).
Anywhere from 200 to 5000 people take part in legal, semi- legal, and illegal demonstrations, depending on the type of demonstration and the issue involved, and there are often confrontations with the police during the demonstrations.
In our country – as in all neo-colonialist countries – the youth play an important and most active role in the revolutionary struggle and have provided the revolutionary struggle with countless militants and sympathizers. The activities of Devrimci Sol concerning youths continue today, and were developed in 1985- 86. Dozens of massive demonstrations and university occupations took place to protest the fascist discipline and measures of the YOK, the attempts to shut down student organizations, and against the collaboration between university administrators and the police. The name of the youth division of Devrimci Sol is Devrimci Genclik (Revolutionary Youth). Not only does Devrimci Genclik organize university youths on an academic-democratic basis and activate them to struggle, but it also identifies with the problems of the people and carries out an active anti-fascist struggle, which began before the September 12 coup. But now the group also identifies with the economic-democratic problems faced by the workers, and the group takes part in almost all of Devrimci Sol’s campaigns. Devrimci Genclik has never limited itself to purely academic activities; it has taken part in almost all Devrimci Sol activities. And it has definitely shown its internationalist solidarity.
The struggle of Devrimci Sol’s youth division has been broadening, slowly but surely, and is now present in the middle- schools. Liseli Devrimci Genclik (Middle-School Revolutionary Youth) has – just as before the September 12 coup – developed within the middle schools. It organizes against fascist discipline, against corporal punishment, and against the fascist educational system, and it carries out actions like distributing pamphlets, poster, and hanging up banners, as well as organizing illegal demonstrations. It also tries to identify with the economic- democratic problems of workers.
Devrimci Sol is also active within the working class under the name Devrimci Isci Hareketi (Revolutionary Worker’s Movement) Alongside actions such as strikes, slow-downs, demonstrations, and solidarity actions inside factories and work-places, Devrimci Sol also tries to organize revolutionary violence within the workers’ movement. Devrimci Sol identifies with the economic-democratic demands of the working class and tries to lead this struggle in agrement with its strengths. The organizations organizes legal and illegal demonstrations and carries out protest actions when work- place accidents, which are common in Turkey, happen. The struggle and effort of Devrimci Sol to organize all sectors of workers, including teachers, employers, etc., is still developing. And Devrimci Sol is also trying to increase organization among women. The organization – just like in the past – also identifies with the demands of the farmers who face very low minimum prices, and the organizations tries to carry out various actions in support of them.
Devrimci Sol is carrying out a struggle – on the basis of a revolutionary perspective – to develop the democratic rights of all sectors of the population, and in line with this organizes various actions and activities. It is never silent about fascist repression, which manifests itself in the form of attacks on democratic mass-organizations, left-wing publications, arrests, torture, and heavy jail terms for organizers. Devrimci Sol is trying to create a consciousness among the masses to urge them to throw up barricades in the face of this fascist aggression.
Devrimci Sol is also never silent when it come to such institutions as the MIT and the CIA (the intelligence/provocation agencies of the oligarchy and imperialism), who repress democratic- progressive professors and the media, so as to minimize the effects of our revolutionary struggle, and at the same time they terrorize the masses, to make the point to them that all actions from us will result in more terror against them. So Devrimci Sol carries out actions and campaigns against this to unmask this provocation and to make the masses aware of this situation.
The Anti-Imperialist And International Solidarity Actions Of Devrimci Sol
Devrimci Sol has carried out anti-imperialist and international solidarity actions ever since the organization was founded. The cadres and sympathizers who would later form Devrimci Sol tried from early on to carry out anti- imperialist tasks.
* In April 1977, a protest was held against the arrival of the Chilean ship ‘Esmeralda’ in Istanbul. Chile was a centre for torture under Pinochet’s fascism, which had come to power in a bloody coup. There was an illegal demonstration and the Chilean consulate was partially destroyed.
* In June 1977, there was a demonstration at the Dutch consulate in Istanbul to protest the massacre of Moluccan guerrillas by the Dutch State.
* In June 1977, to show solidarity with the Polisario Front there was a protest at the French consulate against the bombings and blood-baths which the French imperialists had carried out in the West Sahara.
* In protest of the NATO military exercises in September 1977, and the anchoring of American ships in the harbour of Istanbul, American soldiers who came on shore were beaten up and tossed into the sea. And there were other actions. Devrimci Genclik protested American imperialism by occupying the faculty building of the Technical University of Macka.
* In November 1977, the German Cultural Centre was destroyed to protest the German imperialist attack of the Mogadishu airport which ended in the death of two Palestinian guerrillas.
* In August 1978, Devrimci Sol protested the repression and terror of the fascist Shah regime. There were demonstrations outside the Iranian consulate and an Iranian airline office. The latter was destroyed during the demonstration.
* In November 1978, there was a demonstration at the Belgian consulate to protest the Belgian state’s actions against the Katanga guerrillas. The consulate was partially destroyed.
* Also in November 1978, there were protests against the Camp David Accord at the American, Egyptian, and Israeli embassies to protest the imperialist/zionists attack against the Palestinian struggle. An attempt was made to fire-bomb the American embassy, although the building was only partially destroyed.
* In December 1978, Devrimci Sol demonstrated outside the headquarters of American Airways, partially destroyed the building, and then stopped, bombed, and destroyed the car of the American cultural attache. This was in protest of the re-opening of American military bases which had been temporarily closed.
* A few days before September 12, there was a broad campaign against NATO military exercises in Turkey.
Despite the heavy blows which Devrimci Sol suffered as a result of the coup, the organization nonetheless carried attempted to regain its strength and carry out its anti-imperialist tasks. These included the following:
* In August 1982, there were attacks on Israeli and American interests to protest the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the blood- baths in Sabra and Chatila.
* In August 1986, posters were hung and pamphlets were distributed to protest the American bombing of Libya.
* On May 1, 1987, the Sri Lankan Embassy was occupied and bombed to protest the Sri Lankan army’s attacks on the Tamil people.
* In 1987/88, tens of thousands of pamphlets were distributed, banners were hung, and demonstrations held in support of the Palestinian Intifada.
* In 1988, the Chilean embassy in Istanbul was attacked and destroyed to protest the murders and repression under the Pinochet regime.
Devrimci Sol also distributed pamphlets, hung banners with or without accompanying bombs, and organized massive demonstrations against:
– the appointment of Ambromowitz as American ambassador to Turkey in 1989;
– the invasion of Panama in 1989 by American imperialism;
– the counter-revolution in Romania in 1989/1990
The cadres and sympathizers of Devrimci Sol have accepted as part of their revolutionary task the need to struggle against and resist imperialism and its collaborators.
During the period of the fascist junta of 12 September, thousands of militants and sympathizers of Devrimci Sol were tortured in police stations, detention centres, army barracks, and were imprisoned by police units and the army. The militants and sympathizers courageously withstood this fascist torture and in a ten year period there were over one year of hungerstrikes. As was said earlier, three leading Devrimci Sol fighters died in this struggle in 1984.
Devrimci Sol, in its struggle for communism, has acted as the judge, not as the defendant. The organization has strongly defended its political ideas and actions.
Devrimci Sol’s struggle continues to grow. It is the most active and effective revolutionary force in the country. The main slogan of Devrimci Sol is “Struggle Until Freedom”. This will remain the main slogan until the revolution.=20
3. The General Goals Of Devrimci Sol
Devrimci Sol is working towards an anti-imperialist, anti- oligarchical people’s revolution. This revolution will bring to an end the political, economic, military and cultural hegemony of imperialism, and it will end the national exploitation of imperialism and its collaborators, and it will end the oppression of the Kurdish nation. Our country shall gain its independence when we achieve this anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchical people’s revolution, and we will then be led by true people’s democracy. The socio-economic and political conditions in our country make this anti-imperialist, anti- oligarchical revolution imperative.
Our country is dependent on imperialism, especially on America. Even though the process of becoming a semi- colony, a process begun during the Ottoman Empire midway through the 19th century, ended after our war of liberation in 1920, we once again became a colony after the Second World War. This time it was the result of neo-colonialism. Our nation was occupied by imperialism, in the form of colonialism. Our nation was occupied by imperialism, in the form of local armies which were both politically and militarily dependent (a hidden occupation). Imperialism, which created a warped capitalism dependent on imperialism itself, made great gains by consolidating its politics of dependence with the cooperation of the monopolist bourgeoisie and the large land owners. Political forces were in no state to be active without the support of imperialism. It planned coups whenever the civil government became incompetent. It filled our country with military bases and made us into a giant landing-strip. By making us economically dependent on it, imperialism put us in the service of international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank.
The national monopolistic bourgeoisie, the collaborators of imperialism and their allies, and the large land owners ruled the country through fascism. The ruling class, which resorted to open fascism whenever parliamentary fascism became unworkable, has no option but to utilize fascism to protect its luxurious life-style and to stabilize the profits which it obtains through coarse exploitation.
That’s why our country needs an anti-imperialist, anti- oligarchical revolution. The vanguard of this revolution is the proletariat. But the proletariat is not the only class which will benefit from this revolution; the farmers and the urban petty- bourgeoisie are also forces in the revolution. The anti- imperialist, anti-oligarchical people’s revolution will involve all working classes under the leadership of the proletariat.
4. The Revolutionary Strategy Of Devrimci Sol
Devrimci Sol has adopted the strategy of Politicized Armed War (PASS) as its revolutionary struggle for reaching the anti- imperialist, anti-oligarchical people’s revolution.
PASS is a people’s war strategy, which implies a vanguard. PASS is a people’s war strategy wherein armed struggle is primary. Other forms of political, economic-democratic struggle are secondary to the armed struggle. Through this strategy we will be victorious.
Our country is a neo-colonialist country occupied by imperialism and continually ruled by fascism. At many levels, capitalism has developed itself in parallel to neo-colonialist relationships. This is a warped form of capitalism which is wholly dependent on imperialism. The class contradictions in our country are very sharp. But the consumer economy, which grew alongside this warped capitalism, has created a false image of relative welfare. This fact prevents the repression and class contradictions from coming to light. On the other side, it neutralized the fact that the imperialist occupation is hidden – and not open – and this makes our people apathetic towards imperialism. The fact that our country is under a hidden occupation by imperialism; the fact that imperialist control reaches into all the far corners of our country; the fact that we live under a fascist State; the fact that even according to civil standards, we lack basic democratic rights and freedoms; all of this makes a people’s war inevitable – after the phase of the vanguard winning over the people to the cause of the revolution.
This war – in dialectical integrity between the city and country side – shall be fought simultaneously in urban and rural grounds. Devrimci Sol calls this “Combined Revolutionary War”.
Although Devrimci Sol has been working along these lines already, the organization does not claim to be presently carrying out PASS, since the development into a party is not yet complete. But Devrimci Sol is organizing with this perspective in mind. That’s why armed struggle has to be an elementary form of struggle at this time.
5. Devrimci Sol Is In The Process Of Developing Into A Party
Devrimci Sol is trying to organize according to the above- mentioned strategy. According to this organizational approach, in the beginning there is no difference between the party and the armed organization. The party must at the same time be an armed organization, and this base-organization must become integrated into all political organizations which deal with all aspects of life. It is impossible to reach a continuity in the struggle unless an organization can be created which broadens itself among the masses.
Devrimci Sol has not yet reached this stage of organization, but is in the process of developing into a party. Devrimci Sol does not view this as an endless process. At the same time, we don’t consider an organization adequate if it can’t carry out the functions a party can.
Devrimci Sol’s process of development into a party – although it had reached an advanced stage before September 12 – was interrupted by the attacks of the fascist junta of September 12. That’s why Devrimci Sol is still in the process of developing into a party.
Devrimci Sol has never considered this preparatory process as isolated from the rest of the struggle. Development into a party can only be reached through participation in the struggle dictated by the political conditions. Devrimci Sol has always viewed the political struggle as part of the process of development into a party and has never ceased in this attempt.=20
Despite the losses in strength after the seizure of power of the September 12 junta, Devrimci Sol has in the meantime compensated for these losses and has made great progress in the development into a party.
6. The Vision Of Devrimci Sol Concerning Unity/A Front
Devrimci Sol believes that the anti-oligarchical people’s revolution can be achieved through the union of different classes and layers of the population and defends the notion that a front, only under the leadership of a proletarian party, can be created. It’s impossible to establish a front to unite the working classes without a party to lead the workers’ struggle and without a revolutionary struggle reaching a level that the broad involvement of the working classes. That’s why fronts created today are doomed to fail and not to become more than ideas on paper.
Given the current conditions, couldn’t a unity be reached against fascism and imperialism? Devrimci Sol has defended this possibility and worked towards it for some time now. Even before September 12th, the organization called for a “unity of strength and action”, because such unity is necessary to bring about revolution.
In connection with this, Devrimci Sol has adopted a method of ideological struggle against other leftist groups, but seeks to avoid other conflicts on the left. The only revolutionary movement which has not resorted to in-fighting on the left and spilled the blood of fellow revolutionaries is Devrimci Sol. What’s more, Devrimci Sol has always sought to resolve conflicts among various leftist groups.
Devrimci Sol has always maintained that the only method of struggle which can effectively counter fascism and imperialism is an ideological one, and this is essential for “unity in strength and action”.
7. The Policy Of Devrimci Sol Regarding The Kurdish Question
Turkey is a multi-cultural nation, wherein many minorities, besides the Turks and Kurds, reside.
Although the Kurdish nation took part in the war of national liberation from the Kemalists, its right to self- determination was never recognized. Quite the contrary, repression and the forced assimilation have intensified.
The Kurdish nation rose in opposition to the Kemalist rule on many occasions. But the uprisings were unsuccessful and the Kemalists continued their process of genocide.
Devrimci Sol believes that the Kurdish question can be solved through an anti-imperialist, anti-oligarchical revolution, because the national bourgeoisie of the oppressed nation is not in a position to solve the national question. It is impossible to solve the national question with capitalism. Based on the analysis that the Kurdish workers also deserve a leading role in the revolution, Devrimci Sol seeks to organize both Kurdish and Turkish workers in the same organizations.
That’s why Devrimci Sol struggles against the chauvinism of the oppressor who is opposed to the revolutionary unity of two peoples. Devrimci Sol likewise opposes the chauvinism of the oppressed nation. But the organization supports nationalist reactions and the nationalist struggle of the Kurds because it realized that this has a just basis. The policy of Devrimci Sol is to draw a clear distinction between nationalism and the oppressed nation itself, but it also recognized this connection.
Devrimci Sol believes that both peoples will unite under the same cause and that an anti-imperialist, anti- oligarchical revolution will be achieved under the leadership of the proletariat. In this way, the Kurdish question will be resolved in line with the aims of the proletariat and the concrete conditions.
8. The Vision Of Devrimci Sol Concerning The Problems Of Socialism
The splits in the socialist world began around 1960 with the conflict between the CCP and the CPSU. In the beginning, the CCP followed the correct line. The CPSU, led by Kruschev-revisionism, followed an anti-Stalinist line and contended that the revolution could be achieved in a peaceful manner. They carried out a policy of appeasement with regards to the imperialists and they evaluated socialism from a purely economic standpoint, stating that communism could be reached through developing productive forces.
But after 1970, the CCP went even further to the right than the CPSU. They defined the Soviet Union as “socially imperialist” and began collaborating with the imperialists.
Devrimci Sol, unlike other groups in Turkey, did not choose to follow either of these two groups.
Devrimci Sol criticized both Soviet and Chinese revisionism.
Devrimci Sol concluded that if revisionism was unavoidable, then it would become a basis for capitalist renewal in the socialist nations, and the organization made its opinion on this clear.
A new process began in the Soviet Union when Gorbachev came to power. Revisionism made the Soviet-style socialism of the CP wreck the economy. Gorbachev, with his Glasnost and Perestroika, sought to remedy socialism using capitalist recipes. Gorbachev’s reforms’ first influenced other nations in Eastern Europe. They either shared power with their bourgeois opposition, or handed power over to them entirely. The communist parties of Eastern Europe adapted to the new changes, they changed their names, and then either folded or reformed with new characters.
In Romania, things were different. When the leader of the Romanian Communist Party, Ceaucescu, refused to budge, he was brought down by a coup of the army with the ‘support of the people’. Ceaucescu and his wife were executed. Communists who defended socialism were murdered. Devrimci Sol defended Ceaucescu’s defense of socialism against the ‘reforms’, despite all the mistakes he had made in the past. Devrimci Sol organized protests against the counter-revolution in Romania in a time when most people were applauding the collapse of socialism.
Devrimci Sol believes that the problems of socialism (which are a result of revisionism) cannot be saved by collaborating with imperialism and by implementing capitalist reforms. These methods will have no results, except for reviving capitalism and leading to a capitalist renewal.
The problems of socialism can be solved by: forcefully opposing imperialist intrigues and bourgeois forces with a proletarian dictatorship; the active participation of workers and social forces in the creation of socialism; keeping bureaucracy, which estranges the people from the party, far away from the communist party; not flirting with imperialism; keeping up a high level of internationalism with regards to national liberation struggles; and the most important, creating a “socialist being”. All other recipes will simply lead to renewal of capitalism.
9. The Importance Of Turkey In The Middle East
Turkey’s position in the Middle East is especially important for imperialism. Neither the changes in the socialist countries, nor the Soviet Union’s flirting with imperialism have hindered its interests. Quite the contrary, these events have heightened the importance of the Middle East.
Imperialism needs to keep its grip on the oil reserves of the Middle East, and Turkey is to play the role of the gendarmerie against revolutionary developments. And Turkey has reacted positively to this. Part of this strategy is to let Turkey work together with other reactionary Arab regimes, and even Israel. As soon as a revolutionary movement rears its head, like the Palestinian or the Kurdish national liberation movements, pressure is applied to keep the progressive Arab regimes (Syria, Libya) in line, to prevent, for example, instability in Libya from erupting into a revolution.
Since its formation, Devrimci Sol has resisted the counter- revolutionary role of Turkey as the gendarmerie of the middle East.
That’s why Devrimci Sol carries out solidarity actions in support of the Palestinian people to bring about a solution to the Palestinian question – one of the most important questions in the Middle East – in a revolutionary manner. Devrimci Sol has ties with various revolutionary Palestinian organizations.
The Kurdish question is also an important question in the Middle East. The Kurdish nation, which has been denied all its rights, has struggled in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Devrimci Sol has always sided with the revolutionary side of the Kurdish national liberation movement and rejected chauvinism and social-chauvinism.
Devrimci Sol believes that revolutionary progressive movements in the Middle East need to be in solidarity with one another so as to adequately react to the union of countries such as Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc.
Devrimci Sol recognizes that developing a revolutionary movement in Turkey can influence imperialism’s plans and interests in the Middle East. A revolution in Turkey will accelerate the revolutionary struggle of people throughout the Middle East and will weaken imperialism. A revolution in Turkey will weaken imperialism across the globe and will give moral support to oppressed peoples and will renew faith in socialism for people in the socialist countries.
Devrimci Sol carries forth its struggle with this in mind. We believe that Marxism-Leninism is the only true ideology. We believe that socialism is the future for the people of the world.
