Ideology of left wing in Turkish politics in the 1960s and National Democratic Revolution

The military coup in May 27, 1960 has created a turning point in Turkish politics. After the coup, the military administration-imposed restrictions on the governments that would come to power in order not to experience a Democratic Party case again and to protect the state, in accordance with the rule of law. These restrictions resulted in a freedom in which political participation expanded and spread to different segments. In the created environment of freedom, the left wing had the chance to introduce itself and to enter in politics with an organized structure. Left wing, which got itself place in the parliamentary system through these developments, has become a new hope for the masses who are not satisfied with the current system and the economic course. The aim of this thesis is to explain the path of leftist thought in Turkey and the breaking points it experienced between the years 1960-1970, through the National Democratic Revolution movement. Studies on the left in Turkey have periodically addressed either the 12 September 1980 military coup process or the years when the Democrat Party was active, and it remained unclear what the leftist thought was and what it advocated. In the period specified in this thesis, this gap will be tried to be filled by determining the place of the National Democratic Revolution thesis in Left thought. Document analysis and comparative methods were used in the study. In this context, various newspaper articles, programs and statements of left-based parties between the years 1960-1970 were scanned and analyzed. There is a general consensus within the Turkish left on issues such as democracy, internationalism-nationalism, and the class structure of society. The difference is "how" to come to power and how the revolution will take place. The basis of the thesis of the National Democratic Revolution is the "Progressive Revolution", which "remains radical in action" to be carried out under the leadership of "civil-military intellectuals". The National Democratic Revolution was able to become massive by using the concepts of nationalism and Kemalism. However, due to the distrust of workers, Kemalism and the influence of Soviet Russia, the problems peculiar to the Turkish left of the National Democratic Revolution continued. In addition, the National Democratic Revolution turned the socialist struggle into a national anti-imperialist struggle in order to become massive. This movement, which was especially popular among the youth thanks to the favorable conditions of the country, became the igniter of youth actions that would start from the end of the 1960s and could not be prevented and resulted in the coup of September 12, 1980. Key Words: Movement of Yön-Devrim, National Democratic Revolution Movement, Doğan Avcıoğlu, Mihri Belli, 1968 Youth Actions.