TURKEY: the imperialists captive 'ally'

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Between the Second World War and the September 1980 coup, Turkey has suffered two previous military coups.

However, the latest crackdown is of a completely different character from those of 1960 and 1971.

And the two earlier coups were different in important respects, Which we hope to describe in this two-part series.

The left' coup of 1960 overthrew the corrupt government The military regime of 1960 came to power in response to a situation of complete economic and political crisis.

This was a crisis of a regime that had prospered in the conditions of the post-war boom which US dominance established for imperialism after the war.

But to understand the crisis of this regime we must look at its background and historical roots.

On 19 March 1945 Stalin repealed the 'Friendship Agreement' between Turkey and the In negotiating a new one, Molotov made territorial claims both on the straits between the Black a Sea and the Mediterranean, and on some Eastern Turkish cities such as Rize and Trabzon.

In response, Turkey refused to negotiate, and looked for support from Britain and the In this period, before the onset of the 'cold war' in 1947 the imperialists stood by the deal done with the degenerated workers' state at Potsdam and Yalta, which had carved the world up into "peacefully coexisting" spheres of influence. of Menderes' Democratic Party, and it found itself forced to recognise the right of workers to organise and strike.

In response to the movement of the working class it introduced a democratic constitution.

In contrast, the coup of onser was a response to the O Sei O repress the working class in defence of capitalist interests that Demirel's right wing Justice Party government was unable to adequately defend.

Turkey received no imperialist support. Only after the advent of the Cold War was the US Navy dispatched to the straits, supporting Turkey against Stalin's claims, and bringing Turkey firmly into the imperialist fold.

The first twenty-five years of the Turkish Republic's history from its foundation in 1923 had been marked not only by the failure to establish an independent capitalist economy but also a failure to establish even a stable dependent position within imperialism.

Because of the economic condition of imperialism in the Thirties, no credit was available to develop the Turkish economy.

'Beneficiaries'

But with the stabilisation of imperialism after the war, by agreement with Stalin, and its expansion of credit, Turkey became one of the prime "beneficiaries' of the strategy of the Truman Doctrine and associated Marshall Aid.

But if a stable capitalist economy was to take full advanAs expected, Helmut Schmidt was re elected Chancellor following the Social Democrat/Free Democrat (SDP/FDP) coalition victory in last month's tage of the boom, a government committed to imperialism was necessary. The Democratic Party was founded to fulfill this role.

The leading members of this party broke from the Republican People's Party, the party of Ataturk's nationalist one-party state.

The hostility of the masses to RPP repression combined with the bourgeoisie's desire to be free of state controls to give the Democratic Party victory in the elections of 1950.

With US aid, and an make any concessions and the ballot is expected to go in favour of Christmas strike action-a 75% vote is the legal requirement before a strike is permitted by West German laws.

This rise in militancy runs alongside a worsening of West tural boom associated with the Korean War, the Democratic Party's programme of economic development was largely successful.

In return, Turkey became a member of NATO and agreed to the establishment of US bases in Turkey. Military integration was the price paid by the Turkish bourgeoisie for imperialism's "aid'.

The history of class struggle between 1950 and 1960 is marked by rapid unionisation.

The Democratic Party government tried to accomodate The "Berufsverbot" (professional ban) is a law which effectively bans all those who the state considers "enemies" (i.e. communists), from getting jobs ın the public sector and can even have people sacked for the party which independent working class. to the reality of the class struggle by recognising the right to unionise, but denying the right to strike.

The yellow trade unionism exported by the USA was used against any attempt to form independent trade unions.

All independent unions were accused of being nests of communists, divisionists, etc., and were suppressed by the police and army, while the yellow confederation Turk-Is (whose leaders had been trained in the USA by the AFL-CIO and the CIA) was promoted.

starts from the interests of the Despite this, strikes for unionisation, wages and conditions grew. The highest point of struggle was the miners' strike which was smashed after a short time by the intervention of the army.

After the initial economic success, based on Marshall Aid and agricultural boom, the problems of the Menderes government mounted.

Borrowing

Marshall Aid was replaced not by imperialist investment but by government borrowing. The overall failure to build an independent, capitalist economy led to policies-borrowing from abroad and printing money at home-that resulted in roaring inflation.

In August 1958 the Turkish lira was devalued by 265%!

The growing discontent of the masses was met by government repression of all kinds of opposition.

Even the RPP was attacked, with some of its leaders being imprisoned. Despite the loss of any base of support, the Democratic Party continued in power, winning the 1958 elections only by means of general repression.

Kemalism-Turkish nationalism in the traditions of Kemal Ataturk-has been the dominant ideology in the Turkish army since its formation during the liberation struggle of 1920-23.

The active anti-imperialism of the army ended with that struggle; but the weakness of the bourgeoisie in Turkey allowed Kemalism to remain in power, in the shape of the RPP, until the late forties.

The RPP directly represented the state bureaucracy, which itself played the role of unifying the two major sections of exploiters; the landowners and the new and inexperienced