List of illegal political parties in Turkey
Encyclopedia
Illegal political parties in Turkey lists those organisations founded in or carried out activities mainly targeted to Turkey that (a) consider themselves to be political parties
as indicated in their self-assigned names, (b) are not or cannot be established under the laws of Republic of Turkey.
Some of these organisations have carried out terrorist activities and hence can also be classified as terrorist organisations. Indeed Turkish public authorities prefer either that denomination or that of illegal organisations (yasadışı örgütler in Turkish). However the term illegal political party (yasadışı siyasal parti or yasadışı siyasi parti in Turkish) is also used in official documents.
) there are 12 active terrorist organisations in Turkey 11 of which are illegal political parties:
Teyrêbazên Azadiya Kurdistan
(TAK), that is Kurdistan Freedom Falcons in Kurdish, is not on the list despite being designated as a terrorist organisation by the USA, EU and the UK. However US designation of TAK as a terrorist organisation has taken place in January 2008. It is not clear whether or not TAK carries out militant activities only or both militant and political activities.
Other organisations that can be categorized as illegal political parties in Turkey include the following:
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
as indicated in their self-assigned names, (b) are not or cannot be established under the laws of Republic of Turkey.
Some of these organisations have carried out terrorist activities and hence can also be classified as terrorist organisations. Indeed Turkish public authorities prefer either that denomination or that of illegal organisations (yasadışı örgütler in Turkish). However the term illegal political party (yasadışı siyasal parti or yasadışı siyasi parti in Turkish) is also used in official documents.
Active illegal parties
According to Counter-Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate General for Security (Turkish policeLaw enforcement in Turkey
Law enforcement in Turkey is carried out by several departments and agencies, all acting under the command of the Prime Minister of Turkey or mostly the Minister of Internal Affairs....
) there are 12 active terrorist organisations in Turkey 11 of which are illegal political parties:
- Communist Workers Party of TurkeyCommunist Workers Party of TurkeyCommunist Workers Party of Turkey is an illegal communist party in Turkey. TKİP was founded in November 1998 by EKİM , a group that had split away from the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey in 1988...
(TKİP) - Devrimci Halk Kurtuluş Partisi/Cephesi (DHKP/C)Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-FrontThe Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, is a Marxist-Leninist party in Turkey.-History:...
(Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front) - Maoist Komünist PartisiMaoist Communist Party (Turkey)Maoist Communist Party is a clandestine communist organization in Turkey. It was founded in 1994 when a faction split from Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist .MKP is a part of Revolutionary Internationalist Movement and participates in the Conference of...
(MKP) (Maoist Communist Party) - TKP/ML - KONFERANSCommunist Party of Turkey/Marxist-LeninistCommunist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist is a clandestine communist organization in Turkey currently waging a war against the Turkish Government. It was founded in 1972 with İbrahim Kaypakkaya as its first leader...
(Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist) - Marksist Leninist Komünist Parti (MLKP)Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (Turkey)Marxist-Leninist Communist Party is an underground Anti-Revisionist Marxist-Leninist and Hoxhaist communist party in Turkey.-History:...
(Marxist Leninist Communist Party) - PKK/KONGRA-GELKurdistan Workers PartyThe Kurdistan Workers' Party , commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL , is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights...
(Kurdistan Workers Party) - Kürdistan Devrim Partisi (PŞK)Revolutionary Party of KurdistanRevolutionary Party of Kurdistan, known as Kürdistan Devrim Partisi in Turkish and Partiya Şoreşa Kürdistan in Kurdish is an illegal political party active in Turkey...
(Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan) - Kürdistan Demokrat Partisi/BakurDemocrat Party of Kurdistan/NorthDemocrat Party of Kurdistan/North, Kürdistan Demokrat Partisi/Kuzey in Turkish and Partiya Demokrat a Kürdistan/Bakur in Kurdish is an illegal political party active in Turkey. The aim of the party is to create an independent state for Kurdish people...
(PDK/Bakur) (Democrat Party of Kurdistan/North) - (Turkish) Kurdish-Hizbullah (Hezbollah)
- Hilafet Devleti (HD) (The Caliphate State) (also known as Kaplancılar)
- İslami Büyük Doğu Akıncılar Cephesi (İBDA/C)Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' FrontThe Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front is an Islamic militant organization which follows the Büyük Doğu ideology of Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, a well-known Turkish author, poet and Islamist ideologue...
(Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front) - Tevhid-Selam (Kudüs Ordusu) (The Army of Jerusalem)
- Hizb ut Tahrir - Working to reestablish the Caliphate and working with a pure version of Islam
Teyrêbazên Azadiya Kurdistan
Kurdistan Freedom Falcons
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons , also known as the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks or the Kurdish Vengeance Brigade, is a militant group that has committed attacks throughout Turkey, operating in southern Turkey and northern Iraq with a goal of securing Kurdish secession from Turkey...
(TAK), that is Kurdistan Freedom Falcons in Kurdish, is not on the list despite being designated as a terrorist organisation by the USA, EU and the UK. However US designation of TAK as a terrorist organisation has taken place in January 2008. It is not clear whether or not TAK carries out militant activities only or both militant and political activities.
Inactive illegal parties
According to H. A. Özhan there are eight important organisations that are illegal political parties in the history of modern Turkey. Only TKP/ML from his list is still active. The other seven are as follows:- Türkiye İhtilalci İşçi Köylü PartisiRevolutionary Workers and Peasants Party of TurkeyTürkiye İhtilâlci İşçi Köylü Partisi , a pro-Chinese communist party in Turkey. TİİKP was founded in 1971 by the Proleter Devrimci Aydınlık group, that had broken away from Dev-Genç . The chairman of TİİKP was Doğu Perinçek...
(Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Party of Turkey) - Türkiye Halk Kurtuluş OrdusuPeople's Liberation Army of TurkeyPeople's Liberation Army of Turkey was an armed underground far-left movement in Turkey. It was founded at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey in 1970 by Hüseyin İnan, Yusuf Aslan, Sinan Cemgil, Deniz Gezmiş, Taylan Özgur and Cihan Alptekin....
(People's Liberation Army of Turkey) - Türkiye Halk Kurtuluş Partisi-Cephesi (People's Liberation Party-Front of Turkey)
- Türkiye Komünist Emek PartisiCommunist Labour Party of TurkeyCommunist Labour Party of Turkey is an illegal communist party in Turkey. TKEP was founded on May 1, 1980 by the People's Liberation Army of Turkey-Unity in Struggle . THKO-MB was the pro-Soviet faction that developed out of the crumbles of the original THKO.The general secretary of TKEP was...
(Communist Labor Party of Turkey) - Türkiye Komünist Partisi/BirlikRevolutionary Communist Party of Turkey-Socialist UnityRevolutionary Communist Party of Turkey-Socialist Unity was a clandestine Marxist-Leninist political party in Turkey...
(Communisty Party of Turkey/Union) - Türkiye Devrimci Komünist PartisiRevolutionary Communist Party of TurkeyRevolutionary Communist Party of Turkey is a clandestine communist party in Turkey. TDKP considers itself to be the continuation of the People's Liberation Army of Turkey . The THKO Conference gathered in October 1978...
(Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey)
Other organisations that can be categorized as illegal political parties in Turkey include the following:
- Islamic Party of Kurdistan
- Kurdish Islamic MovementHereketa Islamiya KurdistanHereketa İslamiya Kurdistane is a Kurdish Islamic movement in South-Eastern Turkey. It movement was established 1993 led by Seyda Mele Abdullah....
See also
- List of political parties in Turkey
- Communist Party of TurkeyCommunist Party of TurkeyThe Communist Party of Turkey 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 Nazım...
for a list of communist parties in Turkey