The Maoist Communist Party of Turkey ( tr, Maoist Komünist Partisi abbreviated as MKP) is a Marxist–Leninist–Maoist insurgent organization in

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 ...

. It is the most significant of the Maoist organisations in Turkey; it upholds the legacy of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya. It maintains two armed wings: the ''People's Partisan Forces'' ( Turkish: ''Partizan Halk Güçleri'' or PHG) and ''People's Liberation Army'' (Turkish: ''Halk Kurtuluş Ordusu'' or HKO). MKP was a part of

Revolutionary Internationalist Movement The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) was an international communist organization founded in France in March 1984 by 17 various Maoist organisations around the world. It sought to "struggle for the formation of a Communist Internationa ...

and participated in the Conference of Communist and Workers’ Parties of the Balkans.

History

MKP emerged in 1987 as TKP/ML - Eastern Anatolia Regional Committee (''Doğu Anadolu Bölge Komitesi'' in Turkish, abbreviated as DABK) and broke away from the declining TKP/ML organisation. In 1993 it reunified with TKP/ML, but this proved unsuccessful; it broke away again in 1994 to become the Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist–Leninist) bbreviated as TKP(ML) - not to be confused with TKP/ML After an increasing ideological divide between the TKP/ML and the

, the Committee of RIM (CoRIM) eventually ejected the ideologically stagnant TKP/ML. In 2003 TKP (ML) morphed into the Maoist Communist Party (MKP). MKP became a member of RIM and over the years gained influence becoming the most significant Maoist organisation in Turkey. MKP is determined to carry out a "

People's War People's war ( Chinese: 人民战争), also called protracted people's war, is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to main ...

" in Turkey with its armed wing the People's Liberation Army. In 2013 the Party's 3rd congress established the People's Partisan Forces as a second armed wing.

Organisation

The party has two armed wings: in rural areas Peoples' Liberation Army (''Halk Kurtuluş Ordusu'' in Turkish, abbreviated as HKO) and in cities People's Partisan Forces (''Partizan Halk Güçleri'' in Turkish, abbreviated as PHG). Maoist Youth Union ( tr, Maoist Gençlik Birliği) is the youth organization of MKP. Maoist Women's Union ( tr, Maoist Kadınlar Birliği) - is women's organization of MKP. The party has two periodicals titled ''Devrimci Demokrasi'' (Revolutionary Democracy) and ''Sınıf Teorisi'' (Theory of the Class). Federation of Democratic Rights ( tr, Demokratik Haklar Federasyonu abbreviated as DHF) - is independent mass organization related to MKP.

Recent activity

In March 2009, Tamer Bilici, a doctor in service during a 2000 hunger strike in Kandıra F-type prison, was ''punished'' by MKP-HKO for being a ''public enemy'' because he was blamed for deaths and permanent disabilities of inmates. In September 2009 MKP-HKO claimed responsibility for the death of a retired colonel, Aytekin İçmez. In June 2015, MKP-PHG killed former colonel Fehmi Altinbilek.

Designation as a terrorist organisation

The organisation is listed among the 12 active terrorist organisations in Turkey as of 2007 according to Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security (

Turkish police The General Directorate of Security ( tr, Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü) or Turkish Police Service ( tr, Türk Polis Teşkilatı) is the national civilian police force responsible for law enforcement of the Republic of Turkey, which is affiliated w ...

Human resources

A study carried out by the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security over a sample of files about people convicted of being terrorists under Turkish laws including 826 militants from the organisation and the three other currently active left-wing organisations (see reference 1) 65% of the members are aged 14 to 25, 16,8% 25 to 30 and 17,5% are older than 30. University graduates make up 20,4% of the members, high school graduates 33,5%, secondary school graduates 14%, primary school graduates 29,9% and illiterates 1,9% (while they have no sampled literate non-graduate members).Zaman. 25.12.2007. "Dikkat: Hangi yasadışı örgüte kimler üye olur?". http://www.iyibilgi.com/haber.php?haber_id=47595

References

External links

*
Halkin Gunlugu - news portal related to MKP
Revolutionary Worker #1187

People's March {{Authority control 1994 establishments in Turkey 2002 establishments in Turkey Anti-imperialist organizations Banned communist parties Banned political parties in Turkey Communist militant groups Communist parties in Turkey Far-left politics in Turkey Kurdish organisations Left-wing militant groups in Turkey Maoist parties Maoist organizations in Turkey Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement Political parties established in 1994 Political parties established in 2002 Revolutionary Internationalist Movement