SUMMARY
Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi (DHKP-C or Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front) - originally Devrimci Sol (DEV-SOL or Revolutionary Left) - was an armed group that fought an intrastate armed conflict over government against the Government of Turkey. DHKP-C’s predecessor DEV-SOL was founded in 1978. In 1994, the organization was rebranded after a leadership struggle and became DHKP-C. The organization was an advocate of a Marxist-Leninist style revolution in Turkey. Aside from opposing the Turkish government, the group also targeted US officials in Turkey after the launch of Operation Desert Storm in 1990.
DHKP-C had its roots in leftist movements of 1960s. After the constitutional change in 1961, with the introduction of political liberalization to a certain extent, socialist ideas started to be discussed relatively more freely than before in Turkey. Newly emerging left-wing organizations such as Türkiye İşçi Partisi (TİP or Workers Party of Turkey) in 1961 and Fikir Kulüpleri Federasyonu (FKF or Federations of Thought Clubs) in 1965 attracted many people, particularly university students. Especially within the FKF, there were different views on how the socialist revolution should take place. Those discussions triggered the dissolution of the FKF and the emergence of a new organization called Devrimci Gençlik (DEV-GENÇ or Revolutionary Youth) in 1969.
The political liberalization had also created certain concerns and led to some friction between organized left-wing and right-wing actors. On 12 March 1971, the military released a memorandum blaming the government for the “anarchy, fratricidal strife, and social and economic unrest.” Eventually, the government had to resign and a new government led by Nihat Erim was formed according to the military’s wishes. Thousands of people from both right-wing and left-wing organizations were jailed immediately after the memorandum. DEV-GENÇ was banned and TIP, which was a legal political party, was also closed down.
Two years later, elections were held and the new government declared a general amnesty in 1974. The amnesty led to the release of young militants who had been detained in 1971. In addition, there was a high level of unemployment and for many university applicants, there were no university places available. These factors together pushed many young people into the ranks of right-wing or left-wing militant groups.
Among the left-wing groups, Türkiye Halk Kurtuluş Partisi-Cephesi (THKP-C or People’s Liberation Party-Front of Turkey) - founded in 1971 by a former member of DEV-GENÇ, Mahir Çayan - was coming to the forefront with its armed attacks. After the death of its leader Çayan in an event known as Kızıldere Olayı in 1972, the group was inactive for a while but Çayan’s ideological principles were adopted by another group named Devrimci Yol (DEV-YOL or Revolutionary Path) which was established in 1977. That group remained active until 1985.
Devrimci Sol emerged out of DEV-YOL as a splinter group in 1978. The group was founded by Dursun Karataş and a number of high-ranking DEV-YOL members from the organization’s Istanbul branch. Through the end of 1970s, the level of political violence between the right-wing and the left-wing organizations was rising gradually again and in 1980, DEV-SOL emerged as an armed actor.
On May 1980, a parliamentarian from Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi (MHP or Nationalist Action Party), Gün Sazak was killed in Ankara. On July 1980, Nihat Erim, who was the prime minister in the government established right after the 1971 military memorandum, was assassinated in Istanbul. DEV-SOL claimed responsibility for both attacks.
On 12 September 1980, the military returned to the political scene and seized power in a coup. It was the third military intervention to overthrow the government after the ones in 1960 and 1971. The military formed a junta named National Security Council and ruled the country for the next three years. Approximately 650 000 people were taken into custody. Almost all high-ranking DEV-SOL members, including the group’s leader Dursun Karataş, were jailed.
Although the military interrupted the DEV-SOL’s organizational attempts, many militants had a chance to flee to Europe or the Middle East. Especially after the formation of the civilian government in 1983 and with the gradual relaxation of the state of emergency, DEV-SOL started to reorganize. The reconstruction period primarily took place in Europe and it was led by the militants who fled after the coup. Meanwhile, prison breaks of the DEV-SOL members in late 1980s were significant for the group’s revival; in 1989 Dursun Karataş and another high-ranked DEV-SOL member named Bedri Yağan escaped from prison. These escapes were crucial for the leadership of the organization in that reconstruction period.
In 1993, DEV-SOL was faced with internal problems as disagreements between the two leaders of the group, Bedri Yağan and Dursun Karataş caused infighting. In the same year, Yağan was killed during an operation led by the Istanbul police. In March 1994, DEV-SOL was renamed Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi by the faction behind Karataş.
Since then DHKP-C has continued its armed activities on a low level.
The group has reportedly cooperated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the late 1970s and in 1991; its militants were trained in Lebanon’s Syrian-held Bekaa Valley. It has also been claimed that DEV-SOL and its successor DHKP-C cooperated with the PKK from time to time. Most reports cannot be positively confirmed though.
