Devrimci Sol
The Devrimci Sol (German: Revolutionary Left , also Dev-Sol) was a Marxist - socialist militant organization that had been in existence since 1978 and originated in Turkey . According to an assessment by the Lower Saxony state authority for the protection of the constitution, it was considered a militant Turkish group and split in 1993 into the successor organizations DHKP-C and THKP / -C Devrimci Sol .
history
prehistory
In 1971, Mahir Cayan in Turkey, the " People's Liberation Party-Front of Turkey " (THKP-C), which is in its further course, among others, that of Deniz Gezmiş founded " People's Liberation Army of Turkey " (THKO) and founded in 1972, " Communist Party of Turkey / Marxists Leninists ”(TKP / ML) organized and led the armed struggle in Turkey with the aim of a violent overthrow.
After Mahir Çayan, along with many other leading members of the THKP-C, was killed in a firefight with Turkish security forces on March 30, 1972, the organization split into several small groups. The group, Federation of Revolutionary Youth of Turkey ( Dev-Genç ), which was formed in 1969 and later became the group “ Revolutionary Way ” ( Devrimci Yol ) in 1977, oriented itself strongly towards the THKP-C . Due to differing ideas, many sympathizers and militant supporters left the Devrimci Yol again and founded Devrimci Sol, a new politico-military organization in 1978, which represented the views of Mahir Çayan and saw itself as the rightful successor of the THKP-C.
On March 28, 1980, a supporter of the Devrimci Sol killed MIT intelligence worker Ahmet Öztürk in the Feriköy district of Istanbul.
After the establishment
After a series of actions (e.g. the assassination of Nihat Erim , Prime Minister of Turkey from March 1971 to May 1972), the organization was banned in Turkey in September 1980 because of numerous attacks for which it was responsible. The organization was badly hit with the military coup on September 12, 1980. She lost many of her sympathizers and leading cadres were jailed. However, it was not completely crushed and its members continued their actions in the prisons.
In 1984, the group organized a hunger strike with another left-wing organization to improve prison conditions, as a result of which four prisoners died. On October 25, 1989, the general secretary of the Devrimci Sol Dursun Karataş and Bedri Yağan managed to escape from Bayrampaşa prison in Istanbul . In the early 1990s, the organization suffered severe setbacks due to fighting with security forces. In 1991 and 1992, almost the entire Central Committee of the Devrimci Sol was killed in armed clashes with government forces.
In 1993 the organization split into two factions . The starting point of the division of the Devrimci Sol that still exists today were differences around Karataş. Dursun Karataş was charged with leadership errors that contributed to the deaths of members of the organization. The split was not recognized by the large part of the Devrimci Sol under the leadership of Dursun Karataş and the opposing group under the leadership of Bedri Yağan was referred to as a coup . This finding led to armed clashes between the two wings, which also resulted in deaths, even though both had the same ideological bases and political goals. While the Devrimci Sol, under the leadership of Dursun Karataş, announced the founding of the DHKP-C in 1994 and continued their armed actions, the other faction lost after Bedri Yağan's death, who was shot during a police operation in 1993, and was renamed “ People's Liberation Party” in 1994. Front of Turkey - Revolutionary Left ”(THKP / -C Devrimci Sol) is of great political importance.
Ideology and actions
The organization saw itself as a Marxist-Leninist and anti-imperialist popular movement. With the help of an armed revolution, she wanted to smash what she saw as the “ fascist - oligarchic ” Turkish state structure and establish a Marxist - socialist social system. To this end, the Devrimci Sol and their successor organizations carried out terrorist attacks in their home country , mainly on public figures and members of the security forces. She is held responsible for well over 200 homicides, to which she usually confessed.
Activities in Germany
The decisive factor behind the ban on the organization in Germany issued by the Federal Minister of the Interior on February 9, 1983, was a hostage-taking on November 3 and 4, 1982 in Cologne . Nine armed and masked members of the organization occupied the Turkish consulate general there and took around 30 hostages. It was the first ever association ban against a foreign organization in the FRG. In the period that followed, the Devrimci Sol continued their conspiratorial activities.
After its split, the Federal Ministry of the Interior classified the DHKP-C as a substitute organization for the banned Devrimci Sol and issued an association ban against it in 1998 . At the same time, the Ministry issued a ban on activities against THKP-C / Devrimci-Sol, which is less important in Germany . These restrictive measures resulted in the two organizations relocating their activities, such as general assemblies and commemorations, to other European countries. The DHKP-C has around 700 followers nationwide.
Web links
- Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia : Historical development of the political left movement in Turkey , August 2006
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Constitutional Protection of Lower Saxony: DEVRIMCI SOL (Dev Sol) / DHKP-C and THKP-C-Devrimci Sol accessed in November 2006
- ↑ http://www.cumhuriyetarsivi.com/katalog/192/sayfa/1980/3/29/3.xhtml
- ↑ a b c State Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hamburg: Endangering and extremist efforts by left-wing extremist and extremely nationalist Turkish organizations in Germany November 16, 2005