''Turkish Left'' (in Turkish: ''Türk Solu'') was a weekly

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

magazine and the official organ of the Turkish Left (in Turkish: ''Türk Solu'') group 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 continuation of ''

Yön ''Yön'' ( Turkish: ''Direction'') was a weekly Turkish political magazine published between 1961 and 1967. It was a Kemalist and leftist magazine. In fact, ''Yön'' was more than a publication in that its contributors represented a political mov ...

'', an influential political magazine in Turkey in the 1960s. ''Türk Solu'' was formed following a split in the Workers' Party (İP). The magazine was led by

Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu (born 8 March 1974) is the chairman of National Party and journalist. He is the Head-Columnist of '' Turkish Left''. He was arrested and sent to prison with the accusation of " Insulting the President" on 31 May 2015, b ...

and was based in Istanbul. They consider themselves as

and

Kemalist Kemalism ( tr, Kemalizm, also archaically ''Kamâlizm''), also known as Atatürkism ( tr, Atatürkçülük, Atatürkçü düşünce), or The Six Arrows ( tr, Altı Ok), is the founding official ideology of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurche ...

. They often promote Nationalism, Socialism and Secularism. However, unlike many 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 Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central Europe ...

Doğan Avcıoğlu Doğan Avcıoğlu (1926–1983) was a Turkish writer, journalist and politician. Biography Doğan Avcıoğlu was born in Mustafakemalpaşa ilçe (district) of Bursa Province in 1926. After completing high school, he traveled to France for studie ...

and

Şevket Süreyya Aydemir Şevket Süreyya Aydemir (1897–25 March 1976) was a Turkish writer, intellectual, economist, historian, and one of the founders, publisher and a key theorist of ''Kadro'' ("Cadre"). ''Kadro'' was an influential left-wing political journal publi ...

also. They have been in favour of

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

Kim Jong Il Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...

, Muammar Gaddafi and

Hugo Chavez Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

because of their Socialism and Third Worldism,

Rauf Denktaş Rauf Raif Denktaş (27 January 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish Cypriot politician, barrister and jurist who served as the founding president of Northern Cyprus. He occupied this position as the president of the Turkish Republic of Nor ...

and

Rebiya Kadeer Rebiya Kadeer ( ug, رابىيە قادىر, translit=Rabiye Qadir; born 15 November 1946) is an ethnic Uyghur businesswoman and political activist. Born in Altay City, Xinjiang, Kadeer became a millionaire in the 1980s through her real estate ...

because of their Pan-Turkism. They supported good relations with Turkic and Islamic countries and they view

the USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, EU,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and China as enemies of Turkey. They were often criticised for their views on Kurds. Especially their "Kurdish Invasion in Turkish Cities" theory is famous. They defended 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." ''Türk Solu'' defended that Kurds should melt in Turkish pot. Unlike most of Kemalists, they also admired Ottomans and defended its legacy except 19th-century Ottomans. They considered

Osman I Osman I or Osman Ghazi ( ota, عثمان غازى, translit= ʿOsmān Ġāzī; tr, I. Osman or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4), sometimes transliterated archaically as Othman, was the founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as the Ottoman Bey ...

and Atatürk as similar leaders, who both created new states instead serving a defeated, perished state. Despite they also appropriate Mehmed II,

Selim I Selim I ( ota, سليم الأول; tr, I. Selim; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute ( tr, links=no, Yavuz Sultan Selim), was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite las ...

and

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

, they considered

Mahmud II Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...

Abdulhamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

and Mehmed VI as traitors, they have a similar view of other last era Ottoman sultans. The group published ''Türk Solu'' and ''İleri'' and founded a political party called Ulusal Parti. The magazine was closed following the July 15th, 2016 coup in Turkey and the magazine founder Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu was arrested.

References

External links

Türk Solu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turkish Left 2002 establishments in Turkey 2016 disestablishments in Turkey Banned magazines Defunct political magazines published in Turkey Left-wing nationalism Magazines disestablished in 2016 Magazines established in 2002 Magazines published in Istanbul Socialism in Turkey Socialist magazines Turkish nationalism Turkish-language magazines Weekly magazines published in Turkey