East Rallies and repercussions on public opinion (1967-1968)

East rallies played an important role to raise the Kurdish national consciousness. The rally was supported by the Workers' Party of Turkey (TIP) and the illegal Turkey Kurdistan Democratic Party (T-KDP). Particularly Silvan, Diyarbakir, Siverek, Batman, Tunceli rallies should be evaluated within this scope. Political party organizations and local political structures in the region were influential in this process. At the rallies, the main focus was on constitutional right claim and equality principle. Other discourses were that the East was underdeveloped and had not benefited from investments sufficiently. The objective of organizing these rallies was to create a public opinion. For this reason, the organization committees of the rally would have made intensive efforts. The content of the previously prepared reports was very important. A number of positive and negative news were broadcasted in the process. There were many local presses supporting the Justice Party (AP), the governing party in the region. This led to a rivalry between the two sides in the rallying places. At the rallies, the discourse of underdevelopment was prioritized. There was a demand for the use of the mother tongue. The speeches were delivered and poems were read in Kurdish language. The Party Leader of TIP, Mehmet Ali Aybar attended the rallies as a speaker and the socialism was more emphasized at these rallies. TIP organizations contributed to all of the rallies of both groups. The situation of the Republican People's Party (CHP) was quite controversial in this process. AP and other political parties would also be visiting the region. Outdoor and indoor hall meetings were held. In this scope, the nationalist-conservative sections of the society also had activities in the region. The developments in this process are important to reveal the quality of the political debate in Turkey as of 1967-1968. The impact of this process would be permanent on the political, social and cultural environment in the following periods.