Anarchism in Turkey
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Anarchism in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
only began to emerge in 1986 with publication of the magazine ''Kara''.


Historical background


Ottoman Period

The first signs of anarchism in the Ottoman period emerged around
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
intellectuals. '' Hamanykh'' magazine, published in 1895 by Aleksandr Atabekyan, one of the pioneers of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
, has a rich content regarding both anarchist philosophy and the Armenian revolutionary movement. In the same period,
Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...
Kıbrıslızade Osman Bey's French work ''Socialisme et Anarchisme'' (1895) became the first anarchist book published in the
Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
. Baha Tevfik, who is often regarded as the first Turkish anarchist, states in his ''Felsefe-i Ferd'' (1913) that from wage slavery to socialism and from socialism to anarchism, a new age will be achieved.


Republican Period

The first written source of Turkish anarchism is Kropotkin's ''Ethics'', translated by
Ahmet Ağaoğlu Ahmet Ağaoğlu, also known as Ahmet Bey Ağaoğlu ( az, Əhməd bəy Ağaoğlu; December 1869 – 19 May 1939), was a prominent Azerbaijani and naturalized Turkish politician, publicist and journalist. He was one of the founders of Pan-Turkism ...
and published in 1935. There is an ongoing debate on why anarchism has not gained visibility as an alternative leftist policy in the first half of the Republican period. In the 1970s, while Marxist approaches dominated the leftist perspective, interest in anarchism remained pale in left-wing publishing. While articles on anarchism were featured in the '' Yeni Ufuklar'' magazine published in the 1960s, Proudhon's book ''
What Is Property? "Property is theft!" (french: La propriété, c'est le vol!) is a slogan coined by French anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in his 1840 book ''What Is Property? or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government''. Overview By "pro ...
'' was translated into Turkish and published. After the
1980 Turkish coup d'état The 1980 Turkish coup d'état ( tr, 12 Eylül Darbesi), headed by Chief of the General Staff General Kenan Evren, was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been the 1960 coup and the 1971 coup by ...
, anarchism began to take its place in Turkey's political scene. In particular, anarchism gained a lot of traction in the Turkish diaspora in Germany, where many people had fled from the coup. Launched in 1986, ''
Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
'' magazine was taken as a turning point in terms of the anarchist movement in Turkey. ''Kara'' was published at a time when the mainstream Turkish left could not overcome the shock of the 1980 military coup d'état, defined itself as "libertarian" instead of "anarchist", due to the general perception of ''anarchy'' as chaos. In addition to broader social movements, anarchist groups and publications formed in the late 1990s and early 2000s, such as Anarşist Kadınlar, Anarşist Komünist İnisiyatif, and Devrimci Anarşist Federasyon.


See also

* Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria#Politics


References


Further reading

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Turkey, Anarchism in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...