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Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Aug. 22, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- Turkey's political crisis, part 2
U.S. ALLIED WITH MILITARY TO SUPPRESS
RESISTANCE
By Cemile Cakir and Frank Neisser
[Part 1 appeared in the Aug. 8 issue
of Workers World.] In 1950, a right-wing party, the Democrat Party
(DP), won
the Turkish elections. Its leader, Adnan Menderes, became prime minister. Menderes said that he was going to turn Turkey into a "little America." At that time Harry Truman was president of the U.S. and his doctrine was to "help" underdeveloped countries become U.S. satellites. The first thing Menderes did was send soldiers to
aid the
U.S. war against north Korea. The U.S. established many bases in Turkey aimed at the USSR. Washington and Wall Street also started to make
loans to
Turkey. The total interest on these loans became much greater than the principle. It became an avalanche. Turkey's politics were based on U.S. Cold War
politics.
During Menderes's term, every kind of opposition was prohibited, including some actions of Ataturk's Republican Populist Party (CHP). At that time, power was shared by the capitalist
class, some
pre-capitalist groups and feudal landlords. It was no peaceful coexistence. The war among these classes continued openly until the capitalist class won decisive battles with the workers in the 1980s and firmly established its domination. In 1960, the Turkish army took over the government
from
Menderes's corrupt regime and hanged him. The army established a new constitution and allowed certain freedoms to organize. Under these conditions, it was possible to distribute socialist literature, and leftist and Marxist- Leninist groups began to grow. When the left started to grow very quickly, the right wing started to organize some groups against the left. Mehmet Eymur, a former leader of the secret police
agency,
the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), used to keep his own Web page. On it he explained what went on behind closed doors. He wrote that the CIA founded two organizations in the late 1960s: the first one in the Turkish army, and the second one among civilians. In reality, he wrote, these organizations decide
who will be
prime minister, or ministers, or governors in big cities, like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. Eymur wrote: "Even though Bulent Ecevit used to be
against
this kind of contra organization in the 1970s, he was chosen by them." The Turkish Army took over the government again in
1971 to
eliminate the pre-capitalist groups from the government and to crush the rising leftist groups. Even though three revolutionaries were hanged, and many members of leftist groups were killed, the left continued to rise. After 1975, there was a civil war between leftist
groups and
right-wing nationalist fascist groups. At that time there were two important parties. The first was the CHP, whose leader at that time was Bulent Ecevit, the current prime minister. The second one was the MHP, a nationalist-fascist right wing party, which currently shares the government with Bulent Ecevit. MHP members and leaders have killed a lot of leftists and social democrats, including CHP members. In the mid-1970s, with Ecevit as prime minister,
Turkey
removed some U.S. bases and also occupied Cyprus. But the time since 1980 has been a succession of
military
regimes and right-wing governments largely under military control. The Turkish military served to crush the left and enforce International Monetary Fund policies and U.S. interests. 1980 MILITARY COUP
Before 1980, the Turkish government and IMF had
made an
agreement to bring down workers' salaries in return for a loan. All government-owned economic enterprises were to be privatized. Because the Turkish unions were powerful, it was almost impossible to carry this out. Then army General Tahsin Sahinkaya came to the Pentagon to discuss taking over the government. With the Pentagon's blessing, the army did take
over the
government. All political parties, civil organizations and even most unions were shut down and their leaders went to jail, including Bulent Ecevit and Alpaslan Turkes, the leader of MHP. During this junta's rule, more than 200 people were
hanged,
hundreds more were killed and thousands were imprisoned. Every kind of leftist organization and leftist book was banned. The army leaders eliminated every part of the constitution that allowed people to organize. Kenan Evren, the chief of the Turkish army, became
president. The government started to help ultra-right Muslim organizations against the leftist movement. They gave these organizations money and power. The Turkish secret police intelligence organization had used MHP members as paid killers against the Turkish leftists and the Armenian organization ASALA. The 1980s and 1990s saw a succession of right-wing
coalition
governments. At the same time, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) opened a guerrilla war against the Turkish government for an independent Kurdish state. This liberation war of the Kurds changed the face
of every
Turkish political party. Social democratic parties leaned to the right, including the CHP, which was founded again after the 1981 Junta, and DSP, which was founded by Bulent Ecevit. He said that he didn't want any leftists in his party. DSP's doors were closed to every kind of left politics even though it has "left" on its name. Center-right-wing parties became ultra right, like
the True
Path Party (DYP) and the ANAP. The MHP nationalist fascist party members worked
with the
Turkish army against the Kurdish guerrilla war. Also, its members and leaders were in the criminal gangs known as mafia. After other parties' coalitions failed, in 1999 the
current
three-party government was established: DSP, ANAP and MHP. But it has a lot of contradictions. There are conflicts over aligning more closely with the U.S. or with the European Union. There are conflicts over the governmental changes EU membership would require, including an end to the death penalty and severe economic austerity measures. There are also contradictions between the parties
with
strong mafia connections and non-mafia capitalist groups. Another contradiction is between the extreme right wingers and the slightly more moderate groupings. But these three parties have met in the same
coalition and
worked in relative harmony until this time. None of them, nor any of the parties in Parliament that are competing to replace them, can bring independence from the dictates of the U.S. and the IMF. The same applies to the proposed new party and to the political forces outside the coalition, including the pro-Islamic party that is leading in the polls. It would require a thoroughly anti-imperialist,
socialist
party to solve the crisis. Bush's plan has been to invade Iraq and he needs
Turkey's
help, not only to use the air base at Incirlik, but also every kind of help. When the Turkish government said no to the U.S. plan to invade Iraq, the CIA had to look for a way to eliminate this opposition to U.S. policy. So seven ministers resigned. The coalition government can't last. Turkey needs a
new
government. The U.S. also needs a new Turkish government. Whatever form that government takes, it will bend to the U.S. until it is replaced by a genuinely popular, anti- imperialist force. - END -
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