Devrimci Yol
|
Revolutionary Path
Devrimci Yol |
|
|---|---|
| Leader | Nasuh Mitap |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Dissolved | 1985 |
| Preceded by |
THKP-C Devrimci Gençlik |
| Headquarters |
Ankara (1977-1980) Istanbul (1980-1980) |
| Ideology |
Communism Marxism–Leninism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Colours | Red, yellow |
Devrimci Yol (Turkish for "Revolutionary Path", shortly DEV-YOL) was a Turkish political movement (as opposed to a tightly structured organization) with many supporters in trade unions and other professional institutions. Its ideology was based on Marxism-Leninism but rejected both the Soviet and the Chinese model in favor of a more native Turkish model, although it was influenced by the latter. Devrimci Yol entered the political scene in Turkey on 1 May 1977 with its manifesto called bildirge. Its roots can be seen in a movement that called itself Devrimci Gençlik ("Revolutionary Youth", short DEV-GENÇ), and it followed the thesis of Mahir Çayan.
The defence in the central trial against members of Devrimci Yol at Ankara Military Court included the following lines:
The brochure published in Hamburg in November 1980 carried the emblem of the organization (fist on top of a star) and therefore the views expressed there reflect the attitude of the organization:
In a report on the central trial against Devrimci Yol in Ankara Amnesty International wrote in June 1988:
In April 1997, the Swiss Refugee Support Organization (in German , SFH) published a report simply called "Türkei - Turquie". The report included detailed information on many legal and illegal Turkish and Kurdish organization. On Devrimci Yol, it stated inter alias:
"The journal and supporters of Dev-Yol were not opposed to violence, but tried to put into practice a defence policy centred around the idea of 'committees of resistance', which were to counter attacks against the population by right-wing militants known as the Grey Wolves." The first resistance committees (direniş komiteleri) were formed since Devrimci Yol believed that there was a civil war in Turkey. Arms were to be used in defence. One of the main goals of the committees was the establishment of cooperatives of production. In Fatsa, for instance, a hazelnut cooperative was founded.
Yet, militants of Devrimci Yol were not only engaged in bitter fightings against right wing militants but also clashed with other left groups. In these fights some 5,000 people lost their lives until the military coup of September 1980. Actually the defence in the central trial against Devrimci Yol presented more detailed figures. According to these figures among the total of 5,388 victims 2,109 had been left-wingers, 1,286 had been right-wingers and 268 had belonged to other groups. Besides 94 children killed in these fightings 281 members of the security forces had been killed. In 1,350 cases it had been impossible to determine the background.
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