Turkish Left
Turkish Left (in Turkish: Türksolu) is a weekly ultra-nationalist[1][2][3] and socialist[4] magazine as the official organ of the Turkish Left (in Turkish: Türk Solu) is a nationalist [5] group in Turkey. It is the continuation of Yön, an influential political magazine in Turkey in the 1960s.[6] Türk Solu was formed following a split in the Workers Party (IP). The magazine is led by Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu and is based in Istanbul.[7]
They consider themselves as nationalist, socialist and kemalist. They often promote Nationalism, Socialism and Secularism. However, unlike other 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 support good relations with Turkic and Islamic countries and they view the USA, Israel, EU, Russia and China as enemies of Turkey.
They are often criticised for their views on Kurds. Especially their "Kurdish Invasion in Turkish Cities" theory is famous. They defend 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." TürkSolu defends that Kurds should melt in Turkish pot.
Unlike most of Kemalists, they also admire Ottomans and defend its legacy except 19th-century Ottomans. They see 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 Suleyman the Magnificent, they see Mahmud II, Abdulhamid II and Mehmed VI as traitors, they have a similar view of other last era Ottoman sultans.
The group publishes Türksolu and Ileri and founded a political party called Ulusal Parti.[8][9][10]
References
- ↑ Ulusal Parti
- ↑ Turkish Left
- ↑ http://www.turksolu.org/sehit/2.htm
- ↑ http://www.ulusalparti.net/yazilar/soylesi2.htm
- ↑ http://www.ulusalparti.net/yazilar/ilkeler.htm
- ↑ Ahmet Samim (1981). "The Tragedy of the Turkish Left - New Left Review" (PDF). New Left Review. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
- ↑ "Künye (About Us)". Turkish Left. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
- ↑ "Atatürkçü Parti Geliyor!". Ataturkcu parti. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ↑ "Gökçe Fırat Atatürkçü Parti'ye çağırıyor". TÜRKSOLU Gazetesi. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
- ↑ "Ulusal Parti". Ulusal Parti. Retrieved 13 January 2012.