Anarchism in Turkey

Anarchism came to the political scene in Turkey only after the publication of "Kara", a monthly magazine. It was the starting point of anarchist movement in Turkey in 1986. Before the publication of this magazine, there was no visible anarchist movement in the country.

Marxism was an influential ideology in Turkey's revolutionary movements. In the 1980s, Marxism disintegrated in Turkey due to the military coup headed by Kenan Evren. Nearly all Marxist movements were crushed by the military government. In this situation, many Marxist militants were faced with a dilemma - the tension between the ultimate aim of Marxism which i.e. stateless and classless society, and the real-politic of Marxism (in achieveing the ultimate goal, Marxism argues that productive forces should be developed and the state should preserved). This dilemma led many Marxists to reject the real-politic of Marxism and sought ways to reach the ultimate aim of Marxism. Due to this many of them embraced anarchism. On the other hand, during the military rule, the left wing intelligentsia in questioned Marxist collectivism and the Leninist understanding of organisation. They inquired into the contradiction between society and the individual. Their inquiries led many of them to individualism. From there some of them started to defend the "responsible individual" and reached anarchism.

References

*Spunk|places/turkey/sp001840.html
* [http://libcom.org/history/1986-1996-anarchism-in-turkey 1986-1996: Anarchism in Turkey]