Turkish Left

Turkish Left (in Turkish: Türk Solu) was a weekly nationalist[1][2][3] and socialist[4] magazine and the official organ of the Turkish Left (in Turkish: Türk Solu) group in Turkey. It is the continuation of Yön, an influential political magazine in Turkey in the 1960s.[5] Türk Solu was formed following a split in the Workers' Party (İP). The magazine was led by Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu and was based in Istanbul.[6]

They consider themselves as nationalist, socialist and Kemalist. They often promote Nationalism, Socialism and Secularism. However, unlike many socialists, they criticise Marx often and they consider Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Sultan Galiev as ideologues of Turkic Socialism. They are influenced by Attila İlhan, Doğan Avcıoğlu and Şevket Süreyya Aydemir also. They have been in favour of Yasser Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Muammar Gaddafi and Hugo Chavez because of their Socialism and Third Worldism, Rauf Denktaş and Rebiya Kadeer because of their Pan-Turkism.

They supported good relations with Turkic and Islamic countries and they view the USA, Israel, EU, Russia and China as enemies of Turkey.

They were often criticised for their views on Kurds. Especially their "Kurdish Invasion in Turkish Cities" theory is famous. They defended themselves with saying that Turkey is a nation-state and even saying "I'm Kurd" is separatism. They defend it with Nation definition of Turkish constitution. According to it, "every citizen of Turkey is Turkish, regardless of ethnic group, race and religion." Türk Solu defended that Kurds should melt in Turkish pot.

Unlike most of Kemalists, they also admired Ottomans and defended its legacy except 19th-century Ottomans. They considered Osman I and Atatürk as similar leaders, who both created new states instead serving a defeated, perished state. Despite they also appropriate Mehmed II, Selim I and Suleiman the Magnificent, they considered Mahmud II, Abdulhamid II and Mehmed VI as traitors, they have a similar view of other last era Ottoman sultans.

The group published Türk Solu and İleri and founded a political party called Ulusal Parti.[7][8][9]

The magazine was closed following the July 15th, 2016 coup in Turkey and the magazine founder Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu was arrested.[10]

References
  1. Ulusal Parti Archived 7 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Turkish Left Archived 16 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Kürt sorunu yok, Kürt istilası var!". Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  4. "Yoksulların partisi olacağız!". Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  5. Ahmet Samim (1981). "The Tragedy of the Turkish Left - New Left Review" (PDF). New Left Review. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  6. "Künye (About Us)". Turkish Left. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  7. "Atatürkçü Parti Geliyor!". Atatürkçü Parti. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  8. "Gökçe Fırat Atatürkçü Parti'ye çağırıyor". TÜRKSOLU Gazetesi. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  9. "Ulusal Parti". Ulusal Parti. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  10. "FETÖ Medya Yapılanmasında Gerekçeli Karar Açıklandı". Beyaz Gazete. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
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