Turkish Communist Party (official)

Turkish Communist Party
Türkiye Komünist Fırkası
AbbreviationTKF
PresidentHakkı Behiç Bayiç
FounderMustafa Kemal Atatürk
FoundedOctober 18, 1920 (1920-10-18)
DissolvedMarch 1921
HeadquartersAnkara
IdeologyCommunism (nominal)

The Turkish Communist Party (Turkish: Türkiye Komünist Fırkası, TKF), often referred to as the "official" (resmi) communist party, was a political party in Turkey.

History

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Foundation

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The TKF was set up by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in October 1920 in order to counter the influence of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP).[1] The party organ was Anadoluda Yeni Gün.[2] Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu was the editor of the party organ.[3]

TKF and Comintern

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At the end of 1920, the party applied for Comintern membership.[4] On 22 November 1920, with the approval of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Turkish government sent a four-member delegation led by Tevfik Rüştü Aras on a mission to establish links with the Soviet government.[2] On 8 June 1921, Tevfik Rüştü Aras published an article in support of the Turkish War of Independence in the French-language Comintern newspaper named Moscou.[5] Following the pressure by Communist Party of Turkey, TKF was not accepted to the 3rd World Congress of the Communist International as a member.[4]

Ban

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After the Çerkes Ethem uprising, all left wing parties including TKF were banned.[4] Atatürk disbanded the party after a short existence of 3 months.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Donald F. Busky (2002). Communism in History and Theory: Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Praeger. ISBN 0275977331.
  2. ^ a b George Sellers Harris (1967). The origins of communism in Turkey. Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. pp. 82, 84.
  3. ^ Metin Tamkoç (1976). The warrior diplomats: guardians of the national security and modernization of Turkey. University of Utah Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780874801156.
  4. ^ a b c Tunçay, Mete (2017). Türkiye Sol Tarihine Notlar: Tarih ve Toplum Yazıları (in Turkish). İstanbul: İletişim. ISBN 9789750522161.
  5. ^ Rouschdy, Tevfik (1921-06-08). "La riposte de l'Anatolie à l'occident impérialiste" (PDF). Moscou.