Turkey's political crisis, part 2
U.S. allied with military to suppress resistance
By Cemile Cakir and Frank Neisser
Part 1 appeared in the Aug.
8 issue of Workers World.
In 1950, a right-wing party, the Democrat Party (DP), won
the Turkish elections. Its leader, Adnan Menderes, became prime
minister. Menderes said that he was going to turn Turkey into a
"little America." At that time Harry Truman was president of
the U.S. and his doctrine was to "help" underdeveloped
countries become U.S. satellites.
The first thing Menderes did was send soldiers to aid the
U.S. war against north Korea. The U.S. established many bases
in Turkey aimed at the USSR.
Washington and Wall Street also started to make loans to
Turkey. The total interest on these loans became much greater
than the principle. It became an avalanche.
Turkey's politics were based on U.S. Cold War politics.
During Menderes's term, every kind of opposition was
prohibited, including some actions of Ataturk's Republican
Populist Party (CHP).
At that time, power was shared by the capitalist class, some
pre-capitalist groups and feudal landlords. It was no peaceful
coexistence. The war among these classes continued openly until
the capitalist class won decisive battles with the workers in
the 1980s and firmly established its domination.
In 1960, the Turkish army took over the government from
Menderes's corrupt regime and hanged him. The army established
a new constitution and allowed certain freedoms to organize.
Under these conditions, it was possible to distribute socialist
literature, and leftist and Marxist-Leninist groups began to
grow. When the left started to grow very quickly, the right
wing started to organize some groups against the left.
Mehmet Eymur, a former leader of the secret police agency,
the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), used to keep his
own Web page. On it he explained what went on behind closed
doors. He wrote that the CIA founded two organizations in the
late 1960s: the first one in the Turkish army, and the second
one among civilians.
In reality, he wrote, these organizations decide who will be
prime minister, or ministers, or governors in big cities, like
Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.
Eymur wrote: "Even though Bulent Ecevit used to be against
this kind of contra organization in the 1970s, he was chosen by
them."
The Turkish Army took over the government again in 1971 to
eliminate the pre-capitalist groups from the government and to
crush the rising leftist groups. Even though three
revolutionaries were hanged, and many members of leftist groups
were killed, the left continued to rise.
After 1975, there was a civil war between leftist groups and
right-wing nationalist fascist groups. At that time there were
two important parties. The first was the CHP, whose leader at
that time was Bulent Ecevit, the current prime minister. The
second one was the MHP, a nationalist-fascist right wing party,
which currently shares the government with Bulent Ecevit. MHP
members and leaders have killed a lot of leftists and social
democrats, including CHP members.
In the mid-1970s, with Ecevit as prime minister, Turkey
removed some U.S. bases and also occupied Cyprus.
But the time since 1980 has been a succession of military
regimes and right-wing governments largely under military
control. The Turkish military served to crush the left and
enforce International Monetary Fund policies and U.S.
interests.
1980 military coup
Before 1980, the Turkish government and IMF had made an
agreement to bring down workers' salaries in return for a loan.
All government-owned economic enterprises were to be
privatized. Because the Turkish unions were powerful, it was
almost impossible to carry this out. Then army General Tahsin
Sahinkaya came to the Pentagon to discuss taking over the
government.
With the Pentagon's blessing, the army did take over the
government. All political parties, civil organizations and even
most unions were shut down and their leaders went to jail,
including Bulent Ecevit and Alpaslan Turkes, the leader of
MHP.
During this junta's rule, more than 200 people were hanged,
hundreds more were killed and thousands were imprisoned. Every
kind of leftist organization and leftist book was banned. The
army leaders eliminated every part of the constitution that
allowed people to organize.
Kenan Evren, the chief of the Turkish army, became
president. The government started to help ultra-right Muslim
organizations against the leftist movement. They gave these
organizations money and power. The Turkish secret police
intelligence organization had used MHP members as paid killers
against the Turkish leftists and the Armenian organization
ASALA.
The 1980s and 1990s saw a succession of right-wing coalition
governments. At the same time, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)
opened a guerrilla war against the Turkish government for an
independent Kurdish state.
This liberation war of the Kurds changed the face of every
Turkish political party. Social democratic parties leaned to
the right, including the CHP, which was founded again after the
1981 Junta, and DSP, which was founded by Bulent Ecevit. He
said that he didn't want any leftists in his party. DSP's doors
were closed to every kind of left politics even though it has
"left" on its name.
Center-right-wing parties became ultra right, like the True
Path Party (DYP) and the ANAP.
The MHP nationalist fascist party members worked with the
Turkish army against the Kurdish guerrilla war. Also, its
members and leaders were in the criminal gangs known as
mafia.
After other parties' coalitions failed, in 1999 the current
three-party government was established: DSP, ANAP and MHP. But
it has a lot of contradictions. There are conflicts over
aligning more closely with the U.S. or with the European Union.
There are conflicts over the governmental changes EU membership
would require, including an end to the death penalty and severe
economic austerity measures.
There are also contradictions between the parties with
strong mafia connections and non-mafia capitalist groups.
Another contradiction is between the extreme right wingers and
the slightly more moderate groupings.
But these three parties have met in the same coalition and
worked in relative harmony until this time. None of them, nor
any of the parties in Parliament that are competing to replace
them, can bring independence from the dictates of the U.S. and
the IMF. The same applies to the proposed new party and to the
political forces outside the coalition, including the
pro-Islamic party that is leading in the polls.
It would require a thoroughly anti-imperialist, socialist
party to solve the crisis.
Bush's plan has been to invade Iraq and he needs Turkey's
help, not only to use the air base at Incirlik, but also every
kind of help. When the Turkish government said no to the U.S.
plan to invade Iraq, the CIA had to look for a way to eliminate
this opposition to U.S. policy. So seven ministers
resigned.
The coalition government can't last. Turkey needs a new
government. The U.S. also needs a new Turkish government.
Whatever form that government takes, it will bend to the U.S.
until it is replaced by a genuinely popular, anti-imperialist
force.
Reprinted from the Aug. 22, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
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