The difference between the Turkish left and right about Palestine

According to the international group Tasnim news agency, these days in Turkey, Many of Erdoğan’s critics criticize his government’s positions regarding the crimes of the Zionist regime. They believe that Erdoğan has cleverly reduced the issue of anti-Israel to opposition to Netanyahu and is not ready to say anything about the regime itself.

At the same time, Erdoğan He attaches great importance to economic interests and is not willing to stop the export of goods from Turkey to the occupied territories.

Many points have been raised in Turkey’s media and political circles about the reasons for Kejdar and Meriz Erdogan’s position towards Israel. But some journalists of this country have gone to the historical background and point out interesting cases that show that in the past, taking a position on Israel’s crimes was one of the main points of controversy and tension between There are left and right political factions in Turkey, and at some historical times, supporting the Palestinian fighters has practically become the ideal of the leftists and socialists of Turkey! , mentions the events related to the 6-day war in 1967 and points out that the killing of 8 Turkish citizens by this regime at that time has a special political and historical significance.

50 years ago, in the Palestinian camp

“The authority of the Israeli regime is rooted in support America’s financial and military influence and the influence of Jewish billionaires living in America. This regime has become a militant and crushing force in the Middle East. But since the development of Arab nationalism has developed rapidly in recent years and is considered a danger to the interests of England and America, we are once again witnessing the companionship and unity of Israel and America in the region”.

The few lines you read above are a paragraph from the Pro-Palestine Declaration written and published by the Central Executive Board of the Turkish National Youth Organization (TMGT) during the 6-day war between the Arab countries and Israel in 1967.

At that time, the Turkish Youth Union was under the complete influence and control of Turkish leftist students and intellectuals. Of course, we must point out the important point here that the support of the Turkish leftist students to the Palestinian fighters did not only include media rhetoric and publishing a statement. The support of Turkish leftist students for the cause of Palestine and their harsh positions against Israel led to the point that during the clashes between students and the police in Istanbul on June 9-10, 1969, the universities were closed and the house and dormitories of some students were searched. Deniz Gazmish among others was issued. jpg”/>

With increasing pressure from the Turkish government and police on the Palestinian leftists, a large number of students invited by the “Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine”, the Marxist branch of the Palestinian movement close to the Soviet Union, They left Istanbul and Ankara and went to Palestine.

Deniz Gazmish, Yusuf Kopli, Jehan Alpetkin were among the first students who packed their luggage and secretly went to Palestine. They stayed in the camps of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and received guerrilla training.

Deniz Gazmish told his family when he secretly went to Palestine to prevent himself and his comrades from being exposed. who goes with them to the Turkish island of Kusadasi to have some fun.

Some time after these events, just before the Yom Kippur War in 1973, a group of young The Maoist Enlightenment Movement went to Lebanon for training in Fatah camps led by Arafat. Among them, there were 12 Turkish intellectuals who often later became involved in the world of journalism.

People such as Fayek Bulot, Bora Guzan, Hossein Toisuz, Cengiz and Chandar and several other famous personalities. . They left Lebanon and went through the most difficult guerrilla training courses. (Chengiz Chandar, one of the prominent journalists and Middle Eastern experts from Turkey, was one of these people. Although he is a Turk, but because of his leftist beliefs, he is from Diyarbakir district and as a candidate of the PKK satellite party, this year He was admitted to the Turkish Parliament as a representative. /15/1402091514000052528929024.jpg”/>

Of course, there are different views about the movement of Turkish leftist students towards Palestine and Lebanon. Not all of them necessarily sought to support Palestine, some critics say. Some of them wanted to learn those trainings and then go to Europe and continue to carry out socialist propaganda among the Turkish workers abroad.

On the night of February 21, 1973, the Israeli army attacked a camp established by the PLO or Palestine Liberation Organization. But the problem was that, with the exception of the Turkish youth, no one else was in the camp that night.

The Israelis shot at all the tents and in the first few minutes, 8 people died. they lost Two people escaped with injuries and ran away. Faiq Bulot, who was arrested by Israeli soldiers, was imprisoned in Israel for 7 years and 2 months. Oral Harandalar, one of the famous journalists of Turkey, wrote a book about the full details of these events called Days of Rebellion. He himself was one of the witnesses of the incident and recorded all the events with accurate memory. That camp was killed by the Israelis, what was the position of the Ankara government? The answer is: none. The government remained silent and did not react at all. Why? Perhaps for the following reasons:

a) In 1970, a group of military coup plotters came to power in Turkey, who hated the left.

Israel, to justify the killing of Turkish youth, announced that the camp was attacked to foil the plan of guerrillas who were preparing to attack. But when it became clear that only Turks were present in the camp, they said that this was a proof of the global terrorism of the Palestinians. He considered himself ashamed and in debt, and as a result, he did not object to the killing of those 8 young men! Yes, Turkey and the region were like this 50 years ago.

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