Kemalismo e socialismo nella sinistra turca (1960-1971)

The aim of this research is to define the different trends which made up the Turkish Left in the aftermath of the 27 May “Revolution” with a special attention on the relationship between Kemalism and Socialism. Such a study cannot prescind from a consideration of the experiences of the Turkish Labor Party (Türkiye İşçi Partisi or TİP), the first lawful political organization unequivocally committed to Marxism, that of the Left Kemalists gathered around the periodicals Yön (“Direction”) and Devrim (“Revolution”), and finally that of the so called “Proletarian Revolutionaries”. The 1960’s can be considered the birth of the socialist movement as an influential actor in Turkish politics. In the same time the years between the 27 May coup and the 12 March memorandum, stand as a period particularly rich also on a theoretical level analyzing the debate between the spokesmen of the Turkish socialist movement during the 60’s. One of the most discussed issue was the consideration over the revolutionary potential of Kemalism as the hegemonic ideology in the ranks of military-civilian bureaucracy. As the Yön-Devrim movement is certainly the best example of the radicalization of some sections of Kemalist intelligentsia both the TİP and the “Proletarian Revolutionaries” developed a contradictory relationship with Kemalism. The study questions if and how the Kemalist tradition had an influence over the ideas, the perceptions of social groups and so the power strategies of the different sections of the socialist movement reflecting upon their outcomes on the political praxis. The survey has been conducted through the direct analysis of political journals, party documents and the works by the main Turkish leftist thinkers of the period.