Communist Party of Turkey (historical)

250px|thumbnail|Communist Party of Turkey founder [[Mustafa Subhi|Mustafa Suphi (left), general secretary Ethem Nejat (middle), and İsmail Hakkı (right) (bottom row)]]

The Communist Party of Turkey (, TKP) was a political party in Turkey. The party was founded by Mustafa Suphi in 1920, and was soon to be banned. It worked as a clandestine opposition party throughout the Cold War era, and was persecuted by the various military regimes. Many intellectuals, like Nâzım Hikmet, joined the party's ranks. In 1988, the party merged into the United Communist Party of Turkey, in an attempt to gain legal status. The TKP was active from 1920 until its dissolution in 1988, and it was banned in Turkey in 1925 in order to ensure the country's security after the Sheikh Said Rebellion in Eastern Turkey. The party was legalized again after the Second World War, albeit with very limited power and it was heavily monitored by the Turkish government. Initially adopting non-violent methods of introducing reform, the party began to adopt revolutionary viewpoints in the 1960s until its dissolution.

Early history

thumb|Stamp of the TKP Central Committee, 1920. It shows a cutlass, [[hammer and sickle|hammer, sickle, and a star in the emblem in the middle. 'Communist Party of Turkey – Central Committee' is written in Ottoman Turkish and French languages.]]

The party was founded at a congress in Baku on 10 September 1920, The congress elected Mustafa Suphi as the party chairman, and Ethem Nejat as the general secretary.

The party was formed by individuals who believed that the Ottoman Empire could no longer support its people, especially after the First World War. Most of the party's members were learned individuals, and they did not belong to the military wing of the Ottoman Empire. He took the Sheikh Said rebellion as an opportunity to crack down on all opposition that he deemed to be a threat against the new Turkish government, with the passing of the Law for the Maintenance of Order (Ottoman Turkish: Takrir-i Sükûn Kanunu). Turkey thus became a one-party state and the TKP was forced to go underground after they were banned.

On 28 January 1921, the founders of TKP, Mustafa Suphi and his 14 other comrades, were murdered.

Fourth congress

The fourth TKP congress was held in 1932. Hüsnü was reelected as the party general secretary.

Collapse and resurgence

In 1951, the TKP effectively collapsed after many of its leaders were arrested by the authorities. This era of progress for TKP and the other left wing organisations in Turkey was ended by the 1980 Turkish coup d'état.

Fifth congress

The fifth TKP congress was held in 1983. İsmail Bilen was elected as party chairman and Haydar Kutlu as general secretary. TKP criticized the US intervention in Lebanon, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Dissolution and merger into TBKP

As a result of the 1980 military coup, left-wing and communist parties were forced to go underground. The TKP merged with the TİP and formed the United Communist Party of Turkey (TBKP) in 1988 under the motto "unity, renewal and legality". After the "rebirth meeting" in 1993, the contributors of the meeting restarted the periodicals publication in 1997. Almost after a decade, the group which summoned up around this publication, expanded enough to reestablish the TKP again. In 2012, they officially announced the reestablishment of the TKP. But this initiative resulted as a dichotomy, because of the existence of another party (Former SIP) which started to use the same name in 2001. So the contributors of the rebirth initiative decided to change the official name of the TKP as 1920 TKP.