At the beginning of the 20th century, the Turkish state, which was established on genocide and massacres and in cooperation with the imperialist powers of this period, wanted to stop the progress of history by massacring the leading cadres of the Communist Party of Turkey, Mustafa Suphi and the 15’s, which it saw as the most dangerous enemy for its existence and future. With the murder of the leading cadres of the TKP, it was aimed to bury the scientific theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism in our geography in the dark waters of the Black Sea. After this massacre, all kinds of reactionary, class collaborationist, reformist and revisionist lines, especially the fascist Kemalist ideology of the Turkish ruling classes, were defended in the name of “communism”.
From the second half of the 1960s onwards, it was inevitable that the conjuncture in which the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China under the leadership of Chairman Mao raised the international proletariat, the oppressed peoples of the world and the youth movement, would not affect the class struggle and the revolutionary youth movement in Turkey. Because for the first time in history, under the leadership of a communist party that had made a revolution, the danger of “continuing the revolution under the dictatorship of the proletariat” and thus turning back from socialism was being opposed with another revolution. Consciousness was transforming into material power, the masses were rising up to protect and advance their own class power.
With Maoism, the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism was evolving into the stage of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism (MLM) as the science of the age of imperialism and proletarian revolutions. This glorious uprising of the international proletariat and oppressed peoples destroyed half a century of so called Marxist-Leninist theories in our geography. The youth movement in Turkey created revolutionary leaders in the person of Deniz Gezmiş, Mahir Çayan and Ibrahim Kaypakkaya. And these revolutionary youth leaders shattered all kinds of in-establishment, class collaborator and reformist understanding that had been defended in the name of revolution and communism since the establishment of the Turkish state. The leaders of the ’71 revolutionary movement responded to the demands of the masses of the people for liberation from exploitation, for freedom, independence and socialism. They became the revolutionary leaders of the people’s struggle. The struggle of the masses created its own leaders.
Within this struggle, İbrahim Kaypakkaya emerged as the representative of the communist line within the class struggle and revolutionary movement of the period. The basis that distinguishes İbrahim Kaypakkaya from other revolutionary leaders is his ideological stance and his understanding of MLM. For this reason, İbrahim Kaypakkaya synthesized his practical experience in the class struggle with MLM science and was able to respond to the contradictions of the class struggle in our geography on a scientific basis.
Comrade İbrahim Kaypakkaya’s Theses about the Kurdish National Question against the policy of denial, assimilation and extermination of the Kurdish nation and minority nationalities in our geography, especially the Turkish ruling classes and Kemalism, the founding ideology of their state, the class nature and historical process of the Turkish state, the issue of contradictions in socialism and other extremely important theses, as well as the understanding of the communist party has been decisive and shaped as the product of his communist line. Kaypakkaya led the founding of the TKP-ML with the awareness that the only way to lead the struggle of the masses of the people under the leadership of the working class on the right basis and the only way for this struggle to triumph is a Communist Party to be organized on an illegal basis within the armed struggle.
Our party, which declared its foundation on April 24, 1972, as the product, vanguard and organized power of the class struggles of our people from the Turkish and Kurdish nations, minority nationalities and beliefsö has taken from this date until today, part in the class struggle of the masses. In response to his call “We have tough but glorious days of struggle ahead of us. Let’s be thrown into the sea of class struggle with all our being!“, Comrade İbrahim Kaypakkaya saw it as a condition of his existence ”to be wherever there is resistance and struggle”.
Our party gained positions as the organizing and leading force of the struggles of the masses, as well as took organizational defeats, but always continued to wave the red flag raised by the leading comrade. In this struggle, our party sent dozens of leading cadres, hundreds of members and militants, especially our founding leader, to immortality. With thousands of wounded and tens of thousands of supporters, it became the will of our people’s demand for liberation from exploitation, freedom, independence and democracy, the demand for revolution and socialism and the struggle for communism.
As our party enters its 54rd year of struggle, it salutes the struggles of our people in our geography against all kinds of fascist attacks, rights usurpations and oppression practices of the AKP-MHP government, the resistance and actions that broke down the barriers and did not leave the streets for days. This struggle shows once again that no power can defeat a united and struggling people. The organized people are invincible.
As our party enters its 54rd year of struggle, it will aim to be a part of the resistance and struggle of our people, to learn from these resistances and struggles and to carry them further. Because as long as the party and the masses exist, all kinds of miracles can be created.
Long live TKP-ML, TIKKO, TMLGB and KKB!
Long live Marxism-Leninism-Maoism!
TKP-ML CC
April 2025
Source : https://www.tkpml.com/glory-to-our-partys-53rd-year-of-struggle/