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Al‐Fatah in Turkey: its influence on the March 12 coup

1973; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 9; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263207308700240

1743-7881

Robert W. Olson,

Middle East Politics and Society

The March 12 military coup in Turkey depoliticized the student unrest and delivered a crushing blow to the leftist movement. The purpose of this article is to examine some of the major events which led to the coup. Three major 'precipitators' will be considered. The returned Turkish members of al-Fatah, the Palestinian guerrilla organization, and their role as leaders of Dev-GenV (Revolutionary Youth Party), the leftist student organization; second the role of the al-Fatah members and Dev-Genf in the Turkish People's Liberation Army (TPLA) as one of the major perpetrators of urban guerrilla actions in the weeks preceding the coup; third, the connection among the al-Fatah members, Dev-Geng and the Turkish Labor Party (Turk Isci Partisi-TIP), the only socialist party in Turkey. These three groups: Turkish Fatah members, Dev-Geng, the Turkish Workers' Party and their relations with the Kurdish minority in eastern Turkey were among the major contributors to the March 12 military coup. The emergence of al-Fatah, the Palestinian Arab guerrilla movement, after the six-day Arab-Israeli war has been called, 'the most important consequence thus far as a major factor in the Middle East'.' Two years after this statement was made 'the most important consequence' has become of little or no consequence. The crackdown on the guerrillas by King Hussein of Jordan during July 11-16, 1971, for all revolutionary purposes put an end to the four-year old guerrilla organization which had been the major instrument of those who wished for a Palestinian state.2 Before their effective demise the impact of al-Fatah and the other Palestinian commando organizations3 on Middle East and North African politics was constant and widespread. Literally hundreds of scholarly and polemic articles have been written about the impact, theoretical and actual, of the commando operations since its formation in 1967.4 The exploits of the guerrillas, especially the hi-jacking, forced landing and blowing-up of three commercialjet-liners in the fall of 1970 captured world-wide attention. While the Palestinian guerrillas were staging their most effective resistance in the fall of 1970, the influence of their main organization, al-Fatah, was reaching its end in Turkey. Al-Fatah began to influence social and political events in Turkey in 1969 as Turkish al-Fatah volunteers began to trickle back across the Syrian border into Turkey. Since many of the returnees were students or student dropouts, they soon found their way back to the campuses in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir where they began engaging in revolutionary activities. The Turks serving in al-Fatah were