Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist

TİKKO
	Türkiye İşçi Köylü Kurtuluş Ordusu Participant in the Political violence in Turkey (1976–80), Maoist insurgency in Turkey, Syrian Civil War
Ideology	Communism; Marxism–Leninism-Maoism
Leaders	TİKKO General Command (collective leadership tied to Party)
Area of operations	Turkey, Rojava
Part of	Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist
Allies	Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement
Opponent(s)	Turkey; Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army; Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Battles and war(s)	Maoist insurgency in Turkey; Battle for Kobanî; Manbij offensive; 2015 Al-Hawl offensive; Al-Shaddadi offensive (2016); Raqqa campaign (2016–present) Battle of Raqqa (2017); Turkish military operation in Afrin

Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist
Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist; Türkiye Komünist Partisi/Marksist-Leninist
General Secretary	İbrahim Kaypakkaya; Süleyman Cihan; Kazım Çelik; Mehmet Demirdağ; Unknown (present);
Founder	İbrahim Kaypakkaya
Founded	April 24, 1972
Split from	Revolutionary Workers and Peasants Party of Turkey
Newspaper	Communist; Liberation of the Workers and Peasants;
Youth wing	Marxist-Leninist Youth Union of Turkey (TMLGB)
Armed wing	Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey (TİKKO)
Ideology	Communism; Marxism–Leninism–Maoism
Political position	Far-left
National affiliation	(formerly) Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement[1][2]
International affiliation	International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations; International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (formerly) Revolutionary Internationalist Movement; International Freedom Battalion
Party flag
	Politics of Turkey; Political parties; Elections;

The Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (Türkiye Komünist Partisi/Marksist-Leninist in Turkish, abbreviated as TKP/ML) is a Maoist insurgent organization in Turkey involved in the Maoist militay strategy of people's war against the Turkish government. It was founded in 1972 by a group of former members of the Revolutionary Workers and Peasants Party of Turkey (RWPPT), organised by İbrahim Kaypakkaya as TKP (M-L), who wished to carry out armed struggle.

The TKP/ML participates in the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the Turkish state.

Organisation

The armed wing of the party is named the Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey (Türkiye İşci ve Köylü Kurtuluş Ordusu in Turkish, abbreviated as TİKKO).

Marxist-Leninist Youth Union of Turkey (Türkiye Marksist Leninist Gençlik Birliği in Turkish, abbreviated as TMLGB) is the youth organization of TKP/ML. TMLGB, founded in 1972 as an organisation for youth workers, peasants, students and other youths from different production sectors under Istanbul Province Committee. In the first Mehmet Zeki Şerit (died in 1977 under torture) was the first Chair of it until his designation for another position in the same year. TMLGB did not work actively until its first congress in 1987.

History

Following the military memorandum of 1971 the Turkish government cracked down on the communist movement in Turkey. Kaypakkaya and several of his colleagues were arrested. The party machinery was destroyed, while Kaypakkaya died in prison in 1973, because of torture.

The Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist–Leninist) re-organized between 1973 and 1978. The first party congress took place in 1978 (TKP (M-L) I. Kongresi in Turkish). In 1981 the second congress was organized (TKP (M-L) II. Kongresi). The party split following the second congress, the splinter group taking up the name TKP/ML (Bolşevik), later Bolshevik Party (North Kurdistan-Turkey).

This was neither the first nor the last split in the party. The Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist – Hareketi had already split in (1976) during the re-organisation period. Other splits followed the second congress: Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (Revolutionary Partisan) (1987), Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (Maoist Party Centre) (1987) and Communist Party of Turkey (Marxist-Leninist) (1994).

Activities

TKP/ML banner during 1 May demonstration in Berlin (2005)

On 17 May 1985, TKP/ML broadcast a propaganda message to millions of television viewers in Istanbul, replacing the soundtrack for the evening news.[3]

On 29 June 2010, two guerillas of the TIKKO were killed in the mountains of Tunceli by the Turkish state forces.

On 2 February 2011, five guerillas of TIKKO in Tunceli died as a result of an avalanche.[4][5]

On 26 July 2013, the control building of a hydroelectric power plant regulator was bombed in the countryside of Tunceli Province by TIKKO militants.[6]

On 14 March 2014, TİKKO guerrillas attacked a police station in Tunceli. TKP/ML declared that the attack was revenge for death of Berkin Elvan.[7][8]

In 2016, the organization allegedly kidnapped Erkan Doğan, a civilian, who was later found executed.[9]

The fight against ISIS

In 2014, the organization sent a group of fighters to support the Kurds and other minorities in the fight against ISIS in Kobanî. Since then, the group has actively trained and supported the minorities in the fight against the extremist groups.

On 25 March 2016, the organization's headquarters in Serêkaniyê were targeted by a motorcycle bomb causing slight injuries to two members and damage to the headquarters.[10][11][12]

On 14 August 2017, one of the commanders of TİKKO, Fermun Çırak (alias Nubar Ozanyan) died in the fight against ISIS. Ozanyan had trained Kurdish, Turkish, Armenian, Arab, Palestinian, Greek, Canadian, Sardinian, Belgian and French internationalist fighters against ISIS and other Islamist groups.

In 2018, ISIS tried to assassinate the members of the organization by mining the roads that were leading to the organization's headquarter. No casualties were reported.

Designation as a terrorist organisation

The organisation is listed among the 12 active terrorist organisations in Turkey as of 2007, according to the Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of the Directorate General for Security of the Turkish police.[13]

Notable members

gollark: They have something like 2KB of RAM.

gollark: Your arduino will not actually run a C compiler.

gollark: How often will you have a new OS which nobody wrote python for for some reason?

gollark: And going to *vast* amounts of effort to avoid using any higher-level language whatsoever is using tons of your time for bad reasons.

gollark: With a hyperoptimized implementation, which this almost certainly isn't, yes.

References

"Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement established for a joint struggle". Firat News Agency. 1 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
"STATEMENT OF OUR PARTY, COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY/MARXIST-LENINIST (TKP-ML) … | İşçi Köylü Kurtuluşu". https://www.tkpml.com. External link in |website= (help)
A World to Win Magazine, 1985, "TKP/ML seizes the airwaves 8PM News Break"
To the Press and the Public: 5 martyrs of TKP/ML-TIKKO died in Tunceli
Mike Ely. "Turkey: Five Communist Fighters Killed in Avalanche". Kasama Project. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
"Hydroelectric Plant Regulator Bombed in Dersim – english". Bianet – Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
"TÄ°KKO'dan Berkin Elvan iÃ§in misilleme eylemi". BestaNÃ»Ã§e Bestanuce.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
Özgür Gelecek. "Gerilladan Berkin Elvan için misilleme eylemi". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
"Tunceli'de TKP/ML TİKKO'lu teröristler, kaçırdıkları Erkan Doğan'ı öldürdü – Son dakika haberleri".
"Islamic State bomb attack against Serêkaniyê HQ of TKP-ML-TIKKO". Signalfire. 28 March 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
"TKP-ML TİKKO'ya yönelik bombalı saldırı". Hawar Haber Ajansı (in Turkish). 26 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
The Carter Center (2017), pp. 2, 3.
TÜRKİYE'DE HALEN FAALİYETLERİNE DEVAM EDEN BAŞLICA TERÖR ÖRGÜTLERİ: https://web.archive.org/web/20130114042731/http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

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[anfenglish.com-1] "Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement established for a joint struggle". Firat News Agency. 1 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.

[2] "STATEMENT OF OUR PARTY, COMMUNIST PARTY OF TURKEY/MARXIST-LENINIST (TKP-ML) … | İşçi Köylü Kurtuluşu". https://www.tkpml.com. External link in |website= (help)

[3] A World to Win Magazine, 1985, "TKP/ML seizes the airwaves 8PM News Break"

[4] To the Press and the Public: 5 martyrs of TKP/ML-TIKKO died in Tunceli

[5] Mike Ely. "Turkey: Five Communist Fighters Killed in Avalanche". Kasama Project. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2015.

[6] "Hydroelectric Plant Regulator Bombed in Dersim – english". Bianet – Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi. Retrieved 5 February 2015.

[7] "TÄ°KKO'dan Berkin Elvan iÃ§in misilleme eylemi". BestaNÃ»Ã§e Bestanuce.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.

[8] Özgür Gelecek. "Gerilladan Berkin Elvan için misilleme eylemi". Retrieved 5 February 2015.

[9] "Tunceli'de TKP/ML TİKKO'lu teröristler, kaçırdıkları Erkan Doğan'ı öldürdü – Son dakika haberleri".

[10] "Islamic State bomb attack against Serêkaniyê HQ of TKP-ML-TIKKO". Signalfire. 28 March 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2016.

[11] "TKP-ML TİKKO'ya yönelik bombalı saldırı". Hawar Haber Ajansı (in Turkish). 26 March 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.

[FOOTNOTEThe_Carter_Center20172,_3-12] The Carter Center (2017), pp. 2, 3.

[13] TÜRKİYE'DE HALEN FAALİYETLERİNE DEVAM EDEN BAŞLICA TERÖR ÖRGÜTLERİ: https://web.archive.org/web/20130114042731/http://www.egm.gov.tr/temuh/terorgrup1.html. Archived from the original on 14 January 2013. Retrieved 12 April 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)