BANNEDTHOUGHT.NET

Suppression of Publications and
Arrests of Journalists in Turkey


      Turkey is a country where despite official claims that there is “democracy” and “a free press”, people are often arrested for their political beliefs and publications are often harrassed or suppressed.

      We are also posting news here (which is generally suppressed in Turkey and internationally) of the revolutionary movement and related struggles such as in support of the huge number of political prisoners being held in Turkey’s notorious prisons.

      Contact us at: freespeech@bannedthought.net


CONTENTS

Turkish Militarism and “Sub-Imperialism”

Press Freedom Issues:

Prisons and Prison Solidarity Movement:

Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist

Communist Party of Turkey — Marxist-Leninist

Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist Pre-2016 Split

Maoist Communist Party (MKP) of Turkey and North Kurdistan 2020s Third Congress

Maoist Communist Party (MKP) of Turkey and North Kurdistan 2013 Third Congress

Workers Party of Kurdistan [Parti Karkerani Kurdistan] (PKK) & its military wing HPG (People’s Defense Force)

Foreign and/or Academic Commentary on Turkey:

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Turkish Militarism and “Sub-Imperialism”:


Press Freedom Issues:

  • “Turkey Leads the World in Jailing Journalists”, by Rick Gladstone, New York Times, Dec. 13, 2018.   PDF format (70 KB)
  • “Mass Arrests of Journalists Aimed at Suppressing Pro-Kurdish Information and Voices”, by Alliance for Kurdish Rights, Dec. 21, 2011, 2 pages.   PDF Version (92 KB);   MS Word (60 KB)
  • “Press Freedom in Turkey: A Dangerous Place to be a Journalist”, The Economist, March 12, 2011, p. 61, 2 pages. Showing that even the mildest forms of exposures and criticisms within the ruling establishment itself are often being suppressed in a fascist manner.   PDF Version (122 KB);   MS Word (103 KB)
  • “More than 100 Journalists Face the Threat of Imprisonment”, Hürriyet Daily News, Nov. 5, 2010, 2 pages.   PDF Version (111 KB);   MS Word (87 KB)
  • “Two Kurdish Newspapers Suspended; Magazine Copies Seized”, IPS Communication Foundation, Sept. 7, 2010, 2 pages.   PDF Version (92 KB);   MS Word (68 KB)
  • Suzan Zengin Case:
    • “Revolutionary Journalist Suzan Zengin has Passed Away”, two news articles posted on the Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle website, Oct. 17, 2011, 3 pages.   PDF Version (116 KB);   MS Word (191 KB)
    • “For the Release of Suzan Zengin, Journalist and Political Prisoner”, statement from the International Association of People’s Lawyers, c. Sept. 5, 2010, 2 pages.   PDF Version (128 KB);   MS Word (38 KB)
    • “Imprisonment Against Journalist of Progressive Revolutionary Socialist Paper ISCI KOYLU!”, statement about the arrest of Suzan Zengin, Sept. 1, 2009.   PDF Version (151 KB);   MS Word (45 KB)


Prisons and Prison Solidarity Movement:

  • “Report back on March 18 Sympiosium In Stuttgart”, from UPOTUDAK – International Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, 2023, 5 pages.   PDF Version (41.8 KB);    
  • “Final Declaration” (On March 18 Sympiosium held in Stuttgart), from UPOTUDAK – International Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, 2023, 1 page.   PDF Version (25.8 KB);    
  • "18 March: International Day of Political Prisoners: Freedom For All Political Prisoners!", from UPOTUDAK – International Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, 2023, 2 pages.   PDF Version (29 KB);    
  • “Report on Rights Violations In Turkey Prisons”, from UPOTUDAK – International Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners, 2023, 6 pages.   PDF Version (75 KB);    
  • “Prisoners Punished for Singing Political Slogans”, from the Weekly Freedom of Expression Bulletin, #25, 2011, 1 page.   PDF Version (50 KB);   MS Word (31 KB)
  • “Inside, Outside Tear Down the Prisons!”, by the Solidarity Committee with Revolutionary Prisoners (Detudak), Dec. 6, 2009.   PDF Version (153 KB);   MS Word (32 KB)
  • “Turkey: Prison Massacre [of December 2000]”, by the Revolutionary Communist Group (Britain), Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, Feb./March 2001, 4 pages.   PDF Version (106 KB);   MS Word (41 KB)


Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist
        with websites at: https://ikk-online14.net [Note: government repression may sometimes force changes in this address.]


Communist Party of Turkey — Marxist-Leninist [Formerly known as TKP-ML ÖK],
        with websites at: https://www.tkpml.com/ and https://www.tkpml.com/category/other-languages/english
        This party resulted from the split within the long established TKP/ML in late 2016 or thereabouts.


Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist [abbreviated as TKP/ML or sometimes TKP-ML],
      and its military wing TIKKO (Liberation Army of Workers and Peasants of Turkey)
        This is the party which which split into the two parties listed above at around the end of 2016. Our information about the reasons for
        this split and the differences between the two resulting parties is fragmentary and confusing.

  • Documents:

    • 2013:
      • “His Name is Our Pride, His Party is Our Honor, His Doctrine is Our Guide”, by the TKP/ML, International Bureau, April 2013. Document issued on the 40th anniversary of the murder of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, the founding leader of the TKP/ML.   Turkish: PDF (19 sheets, 2,560 KB);   English: PDF (15 pages, 227 KB);   English: MS Word (15 pages, 108 KB);   German: PDF (16 sheets, 2,165 KB);   French: PDF (18 sheets, 2,696 KB)
    • 2012:
      • “The Nepalese Revolution in the Clasp of Reformism and Revisionism”, by the TKP/ML. This is the revised and improved English translation of this important paper, dated October 2012, 14 pages.   PDF Version (400 KB);   MS Word (40 KB)
      • “Fully conscious of our responsibility towards the revolution in Turkey and in the world, TKP/ML at its 40th anniversary of its founding continues to stand for winning the future with protracted people’s-guerrilla war!”, by the TKP/ML, April 24, 2012.   Turkish: PDF (22 sheets, 2,530 KB);   English: PDF (17 sheets, 1,914 KB);   German: PDF (21 sheets, 2,288 KB)
    • 2011:
      • “Five Martyrs of TKP/ML-TIKKO Died in Dersim”, statement by the TKP/ML International Relations Office, April 20, 2011, 4 pages. About the death of 5 women guerrillas in an avalanche on Feb. 2, 2011.   PDF Version (190 KB);   MS Word (96 KB)
    • 2010:
      • “The Crisis of the Imperialist System, the Consequences and the Tasks of the Class Movement”, by the TKP/ML, October 2010, 15 pages.   PDF Version (358 KB);   MS Word (603 KB)
      • “The Situation in the World and People’s War”, by the TKP/ML, an essay published in the illegal journal Komünist, no. 64, after the 3rd CC meeting of the TCP/ML in February 2010, 5 pages.   PDF Version (287 KB);   MS Word (57 KB)
    • 2007:
      • “Either we Carry the Life to the Dead Stars or the Death will Come Down to Our World”, statement by the TKP/ML from the 8th Party Conference and on the 35th anniversary of the founding of the party, April 2007, 3 pages.   PDF Version (172 KB);   MS Word (42 KB)
    • 2006:
      • “On the Occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (GPCR) and the 50th Anniversary of the Struggle Against Revisionism”, document issued by the TKP/ML on Oct. 31, 2006.   Turkish: PDF (27 sheets, 2,923 KB);   English: PDF (23 sheets, 2,758 KB);   German: PDF (25 sheets, 2,800 KB)
    • 2003:
      • “Anti-Imperialism, Civil Society Politices and Our Tasks”, by the TKP/ML, n.d. (but circa 2003), 20 pages.   English: Searchable PDF Format (2,136 KB)
    • 2002:
      • “Historical Background of Turkey”, n.d. (but included in a collection of articles published circa 2002), 3 sheets (6 pages). Includes short sections on “What is Kemalism?” and “Breaking with Kemalism”.   English: PDF (397 KB)
      • “The Life and the Struggle of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya”, two short biographies, n.d. (but included in a collection of articles published circa 2002), 2 sheets (4 pages).   English: PDF (186 KB)
      • “There Is No Death For Us! We have our revenge oaths and war cries!”, on the martyrdom of Mehmet Demirdag and the Black Sea Martyrs, n.d. (but included in a collection of articles published circa 2002), 6 sheets (12 pages).   English: PDF (633 KB)
      • “Turkish Comrades Release a Message on the F-Type Prisons, U.$. Imperialism”, Partizan, June 5, 2002, 5 pages.   English: PDF (254 KB)
      • “To the Turkish, Kurdish and Different Minorities in Turkey, To Our People”, statement by the TKP/ML on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the party, April 2002, 6 pages.   PDF Version (82 KB);   MS Word (43 KB)
    • 1999:
      • Statement on the Izmit Earthquake, “This Many Casualties is Out of the Common; the State is Responsible for It!”, Aug. 20, 1999. This earthquake needlessly caused the deaths of well over 20,000 people, and injured another 50,000 people. [HTML format.]
      • May Day Statement: “Intensify the Struggle Against the Imperialist Offensive on the Occasion of May 1st”, by the TKP/ML, May 1, 1999. [HTML format.]
    • 1998:
      • “Contemporary Marxism-Leninism-Maoism”, by the TKP/ML, Summer 1998, 39 pages. This is an extensive and important presentation of the views of the TKP/ML and a polemic against Enver Hoxha, Trotskyists, and other trends.   PDF Version (367 KB);   MS Word (159 KB)
      • “Mao Zedong’s Theory of People’s War is the Military Strategy of the Proletariat and Oppressed Peoples of Semi-Colonies”, by the TKP/ML, Summer 1998, 13 pages. This article along with the next two is taken from the pamphlet “Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism: TKP/ML on Some Important Issues” (Summer 1998).   PDF Version (1,127 KB)
      • “The Strategy of ‘Low Intensity Warfare’ means blockade, embargo, force immigration, massacre, torture and exploitation! The People’s War Strategy means People’s Democratic Power!”, by the TKP/ML, Summer 1998, 16 pages.   PDF Version (217 KB);   MS Word (85 KB)
      • “‘Low Intensity War’ is the strategy of counter-guerrilla and People’s War is the strategy of the proletariat”, by the TKP/ML, Summer 1998, 13 pages. This article is taken from the pamphlet “Long Live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism: TKP/ML on Some Important Issues” (Summer 1998) which also includes the above two articles.   PDF Version (989 KB)
      • “Imperialism: The Problem of the Balkans and Kosovo”, by the TKP/ML, 1998, 10 pages.   PDF Version (162 KB);   MS Word (69 KB)
    • 1997:
      • “Imperialism: Petrol, the Middle East and the Caucasus”, by the TKP/ML, Autumn 1997, 12 pages.   PDF Version (304 KB);   MS Word (75 KB)
      • “There is No Death for Us! We have our revenge oaths and war cries”, 1997, 8 pages. This is a lament on the murders of Mehmet Demirdag and the Black Sea Martyrs. (It appears that this document was issued by the leadership of the Party, though it may have been issued by a faction. It promotes what it calls “Party restructuring”.)   PDF Version (85 KB);   MS Word (49 KB)
      • “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and its Teachings (Summary)”, by the TKP/ML, 1997, 15 pages. About the Cultural Revolution in China and its lessons for the world.   PDF Version (202 KB);   MS Word (115 KB)
    • Early and Mid-1990s:
    • Early Documents:
      • “On Mao Tsetung”, by the TKP/ML, Sept. 1979, on the 3rd anniversary of the death of Mao, 2 pages. From Revolution, Vol. 4, #10-11 (Oct.-Nov. 1979), published by the RCP,USA.   Searchable PDF image format (526 KB)
      • [Book:] Selected Works — Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, (Nisan Yayimcilik/Nisan Publishing: July 2014), 432 pages. Printed copies of this fine volume are extremely difficult to locate, so we are providing it here in digital form.   Searchable PDF format (24,179 KB)
      • [Book:] Selected Works — Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, in Turkish, not dated, but from 2003 or a little later, 423 pages.   Searchable PDF format (3,494 KB)
      • “Ibrahim Kaypakkaya on the Kurdish National Question”, 1972, 15 pages.   English: PDF Version (245 KB);   English: MS Word (86 KB);   German: PDF Version (80 pages: 5,653 KB)

  • Journals:

    • Ísçi Köylü Kurtulusu [“Salvation of the Peasants and Workers”], the central public organ of the TKP/ML, in Turkish:
      • Number 132: Kasim [November] 2018, 20 pages.   PDF format (14,412 KB)
      • Number 131: Mayis [May] 2018, 16 pages.   PDF format (4,811 KB)
      • Number 130:   [Not yet available.]
      • Number 129: Haziran [June] 2017, 52 pages.   PDF format (7,389 KB)
      • Number 128: Mart [March] 2017, 36 pages.   PDF format (1,688 KB)
      • Number 127: Ocak [January] 2017, 36 pages.   PDF format (1,047 KB)
      • Earlier Issues:   [Not yet available.]

  • Videos:

  • Criticisms of the TKP/ML:

    • “Maoism Versus Opportunism in Turkey”, a polemic against the line of the TKP/ML by the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (CoRIM), mid-2001, 16 pages. [This is the excerpted version as published in RIM’s magazine, A World To Win, #28, 2002. We will also post a response to this criticism by the TKP/ML if it becomes available.]   PDF Version (352 KB);   MS Word (99 KB)
    • “On the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Foundation of the TKP ML”, statement of the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (CoRIM), A World To Win, #23, 1998, 3 pages.   PDF Version (131 KB);   MS Word (38 KB)
    • “On the Occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Founder of the of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist, Ibrahim Kaypakkaya”, statement of the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (CoRIM), May 1993, 3 pages. In A World To Win, #19, 1993.   PDF Version (18 KB);   MS Word (36 KB)

[Note that the TKP/ML (above) and the TKP(ML) (below) are (or were) different parties, even though their names differ only in the punctuation!]

Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist-Leninist) [TKP(ML)]

  • Documents:

    • “Maoism—Lives, Fights, Wins and Keeps Winning!”, by the TKP(ML), from A World To Win, #24, 1997, 16 pages.   PDF Version (189 KB);   MS Word (82 KB)

Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (Maoist Party Centre)

        [Split off from the TKP/ML in 1987. We do not know if this Party still exists.]

  • Documents:

    • “The Rabid Yankee Dogs and Their Allies Are Asking For It: Let’s Turn Every Inch of Land in the Region and the Gulf into their Graves!”, by the TKP/ML (Maoist Party Centre), Aug. 19, 1990, 4 pages.   PDF Version (18 KB);   MS Word (38 KB)

Maoist Communist Party (MKP) of Turkey and North Kurdistan [“Maoist Komünist Partisi”]:

  • Statements and Documents:

    • Message to the International Revolutionary Movement with Regard to the Situation in the Maoist Communist Party of Turkey and North Kurdistan, June 17, 2021, 5 pages.   PDF format   (34 KB)
    • “MKP/MGB: Kaypakkaya is the Weapon of Victory in the Hands of Turkey and Northern Kurdistan’s Proletariat!”, n.d. (but June 2021), 2 pages.   PDF format   (44 KB)
    • “MKP CC-PB: Our Immortals are the Cornerstones of MLM Science, Thrown at the Forefront of Our March with the Slogan of Victory!”, June 2021, 4 pages.   PDF format   (66 KB)
    • “Defend Party Principles, Advance on Kaypakkaya’s Route, Stand against Right Opportunism with MLM Ideology!”, by the Maoist Communist Party—Temporary Central Committee, June 2021, 8 pages.   PDF format   (70 KB); MS Word format (.docx)   (25 KB)
    • “MKP 3rd Congress Documents”, June 2021. (Not available in English.)   Turkish: PDF format   (299 pages: 1,717 KB)
    • “MKP — Our 17 Comrades are Immortal in Our People’s War”, n.d. but issued or re-issued in June 2021, 6 pages.   PDF format   (170 KB)
    • “Honour to the comrade ‘Rosa’, Leading member of the Communist Party of Turkey and North Kurdistan (MKP)”, who was murdered by the Turkish fascist regime on 16 June 2005 with 16 other communist leaders and fighters. This pamphlet includes the “Report of the meeting between the comrades of the PCm Italia and the MKP Turkey North-Kurdistan”, (March 8, 2004). (Taranto, Italy: Movimento Femminista Proletario Rivoluzionario, n.d.), 32 pages.   PDF format (In pamphlet-printing layout; 1,745 KB)

  • Videos:

    • Video dedicated to the l7 leaders and members of the MKP massacred by the Turkish Army in 2005 [6:30 minutes]   [Formerly on YouTube, but now apparently no longer available.]
    • Video of MKP and affiliated contingents in urban areas [0:50 minute]   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-SZ4FQOE7A&feature=related
    • Video of MKP-HKO meeting in the mountains of Kurdistan [3:15 minutes]   [Formerly on YouTube, but now apparently no longer available.]

  • News Reports:

    • “On the Massacre of 17 Revolutionary Leaders and Fighters in Turkey”, news report in the RIM magazine A World To Win, #32, 2006, about a massacre of MKP leaders and fighters which occurred on June 16, 2005. 2 pages.   PDF Version (68 KB);   MS Word (33 KB)

[Note that the MKP of Turkey and North Kurdistan (above) and the party with the same name in English (below) are different parties since 2013 and have slightly different names in Turkish.]


Maoist Communist Party (MKP) of Turkey and North Kurdistan [“Maoist Komünist Parti”]:

  • Statements and Documents:

    • [To be added when available.]

  • Criticisms of the MKP from its “Third Congress” (2013) [actual beginning] on:

    • “MKP’s III Congress: A New Stage in Liquidationism”, by Ibrahim Suphi, et al. This is the English translation of an article originally written in Turkish and published in a special edition of the magazine Partizan in June 2014. It is in response to the propositions, analysis and the general line presented in the documents of the 3rd Congress of the MKP (Maoist Communist Party of Turkey and North Kurdistan). The MKP Congress was held sometime in 2013 and its documents were made public in the Turkish language sometime in 2014. Red-Path.net, March 20, 2015, 57 pages.   English: PDF format (A4 paper size) (1,904 KB)

Workers Party of Kurdistan [Parti Karkerani Kurdistan] (PKK) & its military wing HPG (People’s Defense Force)

        [No longer a Marxist party since its leader Abdullah Öcalan was imprisoned in 1999 and then abandoned Marxism.]

  • Videos:

  • News Reports:

    • “PKK Revokes Cease-Fire in Turkey”, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28, 2011, 2 pages.   PDF Version (72 KB);   MS Word (29 KB)
    • “Mass Violent Protests Rock Turkish Kurdistan”, A World To Win News Service, April 19, 2006, 2 pages.   PDF Version (72 KB);   MS Word (33 KB)

  • Articles:

    • “Turkey and Kurdistan: In the Cauldron of the Iraq War”, by B. Bahrumi & G. Malik, A World To Win, #30, 2004, 10 pages.   PDF Version (46 KB);   MS Word (63 KB)
    • “Abdullah Ocalan Must Be Freed!”, statement by the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (CoRIM), Feb. 18, 1999, from A World To Win, #25, 1999, 2 pages.   PDF Version (11 KB);   MS Word (30 KB)

Other Revolutionary Movement News and Information:

  • "Stand Up for Rojava and the Oppressed People of Syria!", a statement from the Federation of Workers from Turkey in Europe (ATIK), May 3, 2024, 2 pages   Searchable PDF Format   [90 KB]

Foreign and/or Academic Commentary on Turkey:

  • “Turkey’s Radical Left: History, Current Situation and Differences of Opinion (a short summary) Author: Istämi Translator: Jason Bourne, Early 2024 48 pages.   Searchable PDF Format   [ 623kb]     also see Chinese original:   Searchable PDF Format   [ 2.9 mb] Please contact the the editors at Bannedthought freespeech@bannedthought.net for replies or corrections to this analysis.
  • “Rise and Fall of Communism in Turkey — 1 (1917-1980)”, by Arslan Ayan, May 6, 2019, (Internet: “The Circle”), 13 pages. Focuses mostly on the early history of the Communist movement in Turkey.   Searchable PDF Format   [229 KB]
  • “Support the Patriotic and Just Struggle of the Turkish People”, (Peking: FLP, 1960), 42 pages.   PDF Format   [2,589 KB]



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