Socialist opposition in Turkey from the Ottoman Empire to 1971

The subject of our study is the struggle and efforts of the left/socialist movement in Turkey from the Ottoman Empire to 1971. The study, which started from the last period of the Ottoman Empire, examined the socialist opposition in Turkey before and after 1960. In the first part of the study, the emergence of socialism in Anatolia, the first workers' organizations, the first socialist parties, the period of national struggle, leftist thought and the illegal activity period with the prohibition of socialism are explained. In the second part, the 1960 coup, Doğan Avcıoğlu and his activities, some socialist magazines and youth movements were examined. Socialist ideology was able to find a suitable and legitimate ground only thanks to the freedoms brought by the 1961 Constitution. The emergence of the Workers' Party of Turkey into politics after 1961 and the fact that socialism now has the right to be represented in the parliament with 15 deputies gave great impetus to the left of Turkey. Socialism, which was ignored before, has relatively succeeded in the struggle for existence in Anatolia. Those who wanted to bring socialism to the country through parliamentary struggle in the democratic environment after the 1961 constitution resorted to illegitimate methods after 1965, some youth organizations started an armed struggle, and some intellectuals such as Doğan Avcıoğlu tried to bring socialism to power with a military coup. As a result, this struggle ended in failure with the 1971 arrests and trials.