Osmanlı Sosyalist Fırkası
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The Ottoman Socialist Party , Turkish Osmanlı Sosyalist Fırkası , was a socialist party in the Ottoman Empire , which also called Parti Socialiste de Turquie .
Ottoman Socialist Party
In the liberal atmosphere of the Young Turkish Revolution of 1908, socialist ideas that were already widespread among the Ottoman Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians could also develop among the Turks. The Ottoman Socialist Party was founded in September 1910 by Hüseyin Hilmi, who published the socialist magazine İştirak since February 1910 . The party was actually not a real political party in the modern sense, but rather an intellectual group. After the Young Turks took stricter measures against the opposition, the party began to support the opposition. In September 1911, a foreign organization of the party was founded in Paris with the aim of establishing contacts with the international labor movement. Although the activities of this group remained limited, Hüseyin Hilmi managed to correspondence with Jean Jaurès . But the party could not take part in the Second International .
After the military coup of the Young Turks in 1913 , which massively suppressed the opposition, difficult times also began for the OSF. Hüseyin Hilmi was arrested in the same year and remained either in custody or in exile until 1918. This was practically the end of the party.
Socialist Party of Turkey
After the armistice of Mudros , the Young Turks could no longer remain in power. Therefore, Hüseyin Hilmi managed to return to Istanbul in 1919. There he founded the party again, this time under the name of the Socialist Party of Turkey. With the exception of Hüseyin Hilmi, however, all of the party's major cadres were new. From the beginning the party had contact with the Second International, at whose congresses in Bern, Amsterdam and Geneva it was represented.
Although the establishment of the Socialist Workers and Peasants Party of Turkey ( Türkiye İşçi ve Çiftçi Sosyalist Fırkası ), the III. International ties, which led many members to leave the TSF, it successfully led the great wave of strikes of 1920. In a short time the party, which actually only organized trade union activities, gained great popularity among the workers. On the other hand, Hüseyin Hilmi successfully used the conflicts between the British occupation command in Istanbul and the French companies. Therefore he was able to get support from the British authorities in Istanbul. After the conflicts between the French and the British were eased and the party became a threat to international companies, the TSF lost its power. The firms founded and supported competing workers' organizations such as Amele Siyanet Cemiyeti and forced workers to join these organizations. Compulsory membership was one of the main reasons for the great defeat of the tram workers' strike in 1922. After this defeat, Hüseyin Hilmi was arrested and the party was dissolved. Some successor parties, such as the Socialist Party of Workers ( Türkiye İşçi Sosyalist Fırkası ) or the Independent Socialist Party ( Müstakil Sosyalist Fırkası ) were unsuccessful.
The Socialist Party of Turkey was organized almost exclusively in Istanbul. She kept her distance from the Kemalists , who led a national movement against the occupation of Anatolia, and from the Communists, who tried to unite the workers' organizations. The TSF was more of a trade union than a political party.