Bloody Sunday ( tr, Kanlı Pazar) is the name given to a

counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "counter-revolut ...

response to a leftist protest that occurred on February 16, 1969, in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Beyazıt Square Beyazıt Square ( tr, Beyazıt Meydanı) lies to the north of Ordu Caddesi in the district of Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey. Officially named ''Freedom Square'' (), it is more generally known as Beyazıt Square after the early Ottoman Bayezid II Mosq ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. At eleven o'clock ten thousands of left-wing students supported by labor unions and the labor party started gathering in Beyazıt in order to protest against the dropping anchor of the American Sixth Fleet at the

Bosporus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

. The route of demonstration began at the Beyazıt Square, went over

Karaköy Karaköy (), the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus. Karaköy is one of the oldest an ...

Tophane Tophane () is a quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, running downhill from Galata to the shore of the Bosphorus where it joins up with Karaköy to the southwest and Fındıklı to the northeast. In the Ottoman era, it was the ...

and Gümüşsuyu where they paid tribute to death of the student Vedat Demircioğlu at the

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University ( tr, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, commonly referred to as ITU or The Technical University) is an international technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical universit ...

. Meanwhile, right-wing students met at the

Dolmabahçe Mosque The Dolmabahçe Mosque is a baroque waterside mosque in Kabataş in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, close to the Dolmabahçe Palace. It was commissioned by Queen Mother Bezmialem Valide Sultan and designed by the Turkish Armenian arc ...

for the suppression of the leftist protest and prayed before they moved on. The police, the official representative of the state, was already waiting at Taksim to both wings. Around four pm, finally, the clash occurred at the Taksim Square and turned the streets into a battlefield. Batons and knives were pulled, Molotov cocktails were hurled. The day resulted in the death of two leftist people and numerous injured.

Background

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in 1960 had allowed a group of Turkish military officers to take control of the country. Under this established government, labor tensions grew and anti-American sentiment rose. Elements of the Turkish left and labour movement were protesting against what they regarded as

US imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...

. Protests increased after the

United States Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

arrived in Turkey. Unrest peaked on February 16, 1969, when 30,000 people marched on

Taksim Square Taksim Square ( tr, Taksim Meydanı, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the c ...

. The demonstration was broken up by the police, but several thousand continued the march towards Taksim. It was at this point that a counter-revolutionary force attacked a large group of these protesters with knives and sticks. During this confrontation, two protesters, Ali Turgut and Duran Erdogan, were killed.

Feroz Ahmad Feroz Ahmad (born 1938) is a retired academic, historian and political scientist who taught at different universities, including the University of Massachusetts Boston, Tufts University, Harvard University, Columbia University and Yeditepe Univer ...

, a prominent Indian Turkey expert, refers to Bloody Sunday as "an example of organized, fascist violence", alluding to

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

elements responsible for most of the violence. Left-

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

political tensions ran high for most of the 1960s and 1970s. Similar attacks on labor groups by right-wing elements in the government and Turkish politics occurred in 1971 and 1977. The 1977 massacre is referred to as Turkey's "second Bloody Sunday".Ahmad, Feroz. Military Intervention and the Crisis in Turkey. ''MERIP Reports'', No. 93, Turkey: The Generals Take Over (Jan., 1981), p. 10,22

References

{{reflist 1969 in Turkey 1969 riots 1969 protests 1960s in Istanbul February 1969 events in Asia February 1969 events in Europe History of the Republic of Turkey Human rights abuses in Turkey Riots and civil disorder in Turkey Political repression in Turkey Protests in Turkey 1969 murders in Turkey

Background

See also

References