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Karpat - The Turkish Left
Karpat - The Turkish Left
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Turkish
The
Left
Kemal H. Karpat
The rise of a modern secular left-wing movement in Turkey,
aimed at establishinga new social and politicalsystem, depended
first and above all on the eliminationof the traditionalconceptsof
authorityand social organization.Leftist ideas of governmentrest
on a materialistconcept of power and assume an economic explanation of social organizationwhich is irreconcilablewith the
traditionalistmoral understandingof governmentand authority.
It was natural, then, that the disintegrationof traditionalism
and the rise of leftist thought should begin only slowly in the
Ottoman Empire and become increasinglyrapid in Republican
Turkey. The reformsin governmentpreparedthe groundnot only
for modernizationof the countryin the generalsense, but also for
the developmentof leftist movements.
The first of these (clubs, politicalparties)were establishedduring the Young Turks era (I908-I8), after the power of the traditionalistdynastyhad been irrevocablyunderminedby nationalism
and secularism.The process had in fact begun much earlier,as a
result of the social changesoccurringafter Tanzimat (I839), and
especiallyafter the CrimeanWar in I853. The Young Ottomans
(1865-76), especiallyAli Suavi,ZiyaPasa,and Namik Kemal,held
views which might have evolvedinto a movementof socialprotest,
but they were stifled and divertedinto the demandfor a constitutional parliamentaryregime after AbdulhamidII, in 1877, prorogued Parliament indefinitely and maintained the sanctity of
traditionalinstitutions. Thereaftersocial ideas found an outlet in
literaturewhich bore little relationto political thought. Between
the years I880 and I908 the reformistintelligentsia,forced to flee
abroad,borrowedWestern political ideas without much concern
for theireconomicandsocialrelevance.1The resultingsocialvacuum
1 Cf. Serif Mardin, Jon Turklerin Siyasi Fikirleri (Ankara,
I964), and Kemal
H. Karpat. Turkey's Politics (Princeton, I959), Chapters 1-3.
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open.
The forms they took varied accordingto the degree of liberalization and the stage of social developmentreached.In 1930 the
intervalof liberalizationwas so shortthat they scarcelyhad time to
assert themselves,and became confusedwith the popularprotest
againstthe ruling RepublicanParty. They emergedmore clearly
after1946,but were soon forcedundergroundby the government's
repressive action.
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172
I accept my share of
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
craticorder.But the growthin theirsize, power,andfunctionwithin the nationaleconomymade them potentialcandidatesfor political power. Eventually,after the introductionof a multi-partysystem in I945-6, they assumedtheir own politicalrole and achieved
powerunderthe DemocraticPartyin I950. This was followedby a
markeddiminutionin the powerof the bureaucratswho had ruled
the countrysince the nineteenthcentury,while importantsections
of the intelligentsiawereattractedto the side of the risingbourgeoisie. Furthermore,the rise of new social groups to economic and
politicalpower challengedand underminedthe values and standardsof the upperclasses,the old Ottomanfamilieswho had led the
Republican revolution, and those who grew rich in 19I5-22, in the
of a series of leftist groups. Of these only the young spartacistmarxists, trained in Germany, notably Sefik Husnu (Degmer)
played a part in later movements.The Islamic-mindedsocialists
tookno partin the electionsof 1923,while the secularist,moderate
leftistswere absorbedinto the rulingRepublicanParty.After I925
the Law on Public Orderwas used to liquidateall extremistmovements.
The official acceptanceof economic statism in I931, and the
renewalof the treatyof friendshipwith the US SR, enabledsocial
questions to be discussed more freely. It was obvious that the
socialtransformationsunderway needed an explanationand justification,not only to placatethe intellectualsbut also to influence
their thinking. The review Kadro (I932-4) presented an amalgam of
5 See Kerim Sadi (Nevzat Gurken) Felsefenin Sefaleti (Istanbul, I934); Bir
Sakirdin Hatalari (Istanbul, I934); and several other works appearing in the
Insaniyet (Humanity) collection. See also the review Projector. On the Kadro see
Turkiye'deKapitalism (Tarihsel Maddecilik Yayinlari), vol. i (Istanbul, 1965),
p. I54 ff.
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munistwritersin particular,must createa literaturewhich will become one of the sourcesof knowledgeof reallife ... I would like to
write poems, novels, playswhich had this virtuefor my people and
for other peoples'.6
OrhanKemal, one of the best contemporaryTurkish novelists,
tells how he was convertedto such views by associationwith Nazim
Hikmetin jail.7His writingsalsomakeit clearthat personalfriendships and family attachmentsoften determineda writer'spolitical
and ideological orientation,and incidentallyprovide interesting
information about the lower strata of Turkish society. Nazim
Hikmet's celebrated poems MemleketimdenInsan Manzaralari
(Humanviews of my country),a descriptionof varioussocialtypes,
are based on observationand interviewswith men he met in jail.
Kemal Tahir, another well-known living novelist befriendedby
Nazim Hikmet,told this writerin I962 thatmost of his heroeswere
men he met in jail,while servinga sentencefor his associationwith
Hikmet. Similarly Sevket Sureyya, the leader of theKadro, was
awakenedto the realitiesof Turkishlife, accordingto his memoirs,
by men he met in jail. All this suggests that the early socialist
writershad only a limited knowledgeof life in Anatolia,and may
legitimately provoke the question whether men condemned for
ordinarycrimesaccuratelyreflectTurkey'ssocial problems.
During the war years I939-45 conditions favouredthe development of left currents;the rise of wealthy groups living in luxury
gave a sharperoutline to social injusticeand illiteracy.At Ankara
6 Nazim Hikmet,
Anthologie Poetique (Paris, I964), pp. 357-8.
7
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activities,such as oppositionto the KoreanWar,sporadicpublications, and the VatanPartisi establishedby Hikmet Kivilcimli in
I957, were quickly liquidated by the Menderes government.10
Left-wing activities after the second world war were initiated by
urban intellectuals,many of them from the upper classes. They
attracteda numberof universitystudents(theuniversitiesremained
the main centres of leftism) but were unsuccessfulin gaining the
supportof the workingclass. Althoughusing marxistslogans,they
seemed to criticize chieflyconservatismand traditionalismrather
than any specificsocial class. In fact the 'bourgeoisie'seemedto be
the conservativereligioussmall shopkeeperand the self-employed
businessmanrelyingon his own effortsfor a living, ratherthan the
bankeror capitalist.
The numberof convincedleftistsin Turkeyin the nineteen-forties
probablynever exceeded a thousand. Isolated from society, they
appearedunable to affectthe course of events. But a new generation of intellectualswas being educatedin the West. Some of them,
alreadycommittedto socialismor communism,assembledin Paris
and organizedthe ProgressiveYoung Turks, which served as a
communicationcentre with marxist groups in Turkey; but the
majorityof socially-mindedstudents in the West preferrednot to
compromisethemselvesby overtadherenceto a leftistideologyand
awaiteda suitable chance upon their returnhome.
The chance came as the liberal economicpolicy of the DemocraticPartypromotedthe developmentof entrepreneurialactivities
of all kinds.1l In 1950 the industrialmiddle class (includingtheir
families), probablyaccountedfor about five per cent of the total
population.By I965 the figurehad risen to over twenty per cent,
and exerteda powerfulinfluenceon the government.The number
of wage earnersmeanwhilerose fromfewerthan400,000in 1950 to
close on two millions in I965. At the same time improvementsin
agriculturalmethods and an extended road programmeincreased
10One of the first acts of Mendereswas to stiffenthe legal provisionsoutlawing communist activities. For legal aspects of leftist trials see Remzi Balkanli,
Mukayeseli Basin ve Propaganda (Ankara, I96I), p. 445 ff.
Development and Cultural Change, July I960; Arif Payaslioglu, Turkiye'de Ozel
Sanayi Alanindaki Mutesebbisler ve Tese busler (Ankara, I96I). There is a comprehensive symposium in Social Aspects of Economic Development (Istanbul,
I963).
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I8I
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necessity of socialism. See also Hilmi Ozgen, Turk Sosyalizmi Uzerinde Denemeler
(Ankara, 1963), Ali Faik Cihan, Sosyalist Turkiye (Istanbul, I964).Yon published
Nazim Hikmet's poems along with translations of marxist writings.
184
socialistat heart, and the entirehistoryof the Republicwas evaluated from a socialistviewpoint. The reviewYon, heartenedby its
initial success (circulationwent to 30,000 but then droppedconsiderably),intensifiedits attackson Parliament,the landlords,and
the rich, as well as privateenterpriseof any kind. The opposition
to Yoncame chieflyfrom conservativenationalistswho appealedto
traditionalsymbols and loyalties and condemnedall socialists as
communists.26
The socialismproposedby Yon as a method of action was defended on philosophicalgroundsby the SosyalistKulturDernegi
(Socialist Cultural Society). It was establishedin February1963
by a group of intellectualswho had resignedfrom the State Planning OrganizationafterParliamenthad curtailedits radicalauthoritariandevelopmentschemes. The Society included a sizable segment of the writers for Yon, some independentintellectuals,and
also some extreme leftists. Its aim, accordingto its statutes, was
the scientificstudy of socialistideas and their propagation.More
specifically,the Societywantedto 'studyin the light of sciencethe
conditions necessaryfor the establishmentof a true democratic
order'.27The centreof this socialistmovementwas in Ankara(and
not Istanbulas in the past), and notablyin the School of Political
Science. Under its old name Mulkiye(est. 1859) this School had
trained the elite which ruled Turkey well into the Republic.
Activists in the socialistmovementalso included severalRepublican Party deputies, some formerofficers,and a sizablenumberof
governmentofficials.28Some of the intellectualsin Yon were of
peasant origin (teacherseducated in village institutes), but most
from families of lower-rankingbureaucrats.They belonged predominantlyto the generationraisedin the waryears.Their vehement animositytowardsthe rich revealedthe accumulatedhatred
of a social orderwhich had forced them to spend their childhood
and adolescencein draband wretchedsurroundings.The socialist
26 See the publications of Komunizmle Mucadele Dernegi
(Society for
Struggle against Communism),and the dailiesYeni Istanbul,Son Havadis, the
reviews DusunenAdam, Toprak,etc. There were also clashes between left and
right wing student groups.
27 For two differentviews on this
society see Namik Zeki Aral, 'Memlekette
Sosyalist Cereyan', Yeni Istanbul, 7 February 1963; Cahit Tanyol, 'Bir Bildiri',
Cumhuriyet, 8 February I963.
28 The Turkish socialistsestablishedrelationswith Western
socialists,hoping
to win their support. See Socialist International Information, vol. xiii, i June
1963.
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