1968 has an important place in world history. So much so that, even after 55 years, it still preserves its vividness in the memories. Not only that, but a nightmare for the system forces of capitalist modernity, it turns into a nightmare as they remember it. It was the Youth Revolution, symbolized by the Paris-Sarbonne University resistance on May 4, 1968, that made 1968 for the forces of capitalist modernity. As with any major event, it begins with a spark in the Youth Revolution of 1968. What caused this spark was the closure of the University of Nanterre on 3 May 1968 by its dean.
Here, the events that took place in Istanbul Boğaziçi University (with the appointment of Melih Bulu as the rector) in Turkey in recent history come to mind. However, it should be noted at first that it would not be correct to compare them to each other. Because the difference between them is deep and they are not related to each other. The Dean of Nanterre University, who caused the spark of the 1968 Youth Revolution, and his connection with the rector appointed during the events at Istanbul Boğaziçi University do not require a different opinion. Of course, it should not be forgotten that the Youth Revolution that started in Paris developed as a result of a reaction.
Even so, what happened at Istanbul Boğaziçi University scared the AKP-MHP fascist ruling clique. Of course, this is not without reason. It was the role played by the Dean at Nanterre University and by the Rector at Boğaziçi University that led them to such fear. Accordingly, they fear that ‘Bogazici University’ might trigger other universities. Other than that, they had nothing to fear. Because there was no similarity between Paris and Istanbul in terms of the ground on which it was based, organization and leadership.
In fact, it was the smell he heard from any symptom that would remind him of the 1968 Youth Revolution that the genocidal Turkish State experienced. The events at Boğaziçi University revived this fear in him. It wasn’t fair to be afraid. Because in the recent past, with the Turkey Gezi Resistance/Commune in 2013, the sinister systems were turned upside down. On 7 and 9 October 2014, the anger of the people in Bakuré Kurdistan overflowed into the squares/streets in the face of the Kobané attack of ISIS, which was the feeder of Turkish fascism. It was not so surprising that any movement that would remind them of these had created such an uproar in the genocidal Turkish State.
There are other reasons that the 1968 Youth Revolution created such a way for the genocidal Turkish state, even making it paranoid. And that is the direct impact of the 1968 Youth Revolution on the youth of Turkey and Kurdistan and the results it revealed. The Turkish Youth Movements of 1968 and the Revolutionary Social Uprising in Turkey and Kurdistan between 1970-1980, which bears its direct traces, is one of these results.
With these aspects, it is necessary not to compare the 1968 Youth Revolution that started in Europe with what happened at Boğaziçi University and spread to the world from there, and the 1968 Revolutionary Youth movements in Turkey with each other.
The Spark of 1968 in Europe
Since the last quarter of the 18th century, Europe had the characteristic of being a continent where anti-slavery, the pursuit of democracy-freedom-equality-justice, class contradiction and conflict began to be experienced most intensely. With the increasing wave of immigration since the 17th century, he did not hesitate to carry this contradiction, search and contradictions to North America in the sharpest way.
Europe preserved this feature until the middle of the second half of the 20th century. In the 1960s, this contrast went down in history as the years when the search and contradictions did not lose their momentum. This happened in France, Italy, West Germany, England and many other European countries. While the increasing economic and political crisis created a surge in workers’ actions, it also affected different segments of the society. There was a great upsurge in youth actions and a different course from the traditional socialist movements; demands for more freedom came to the fore. And these demands embodied themselves in the form of anti-capitalism or anti-systemism. In this they differed from the institutionalized Communist and socialist or workers’ parties. They were critical of Real Socialism. The Czechoslovakian Prague trials of 1952 and the mass movements in Hungary in 1956 had an impact on this. These features would mark the 1968 Youth Revolution. They did not have a goal of power in front of them. They were in favor of an ‘autonomous’ organization and way of life, their demands for ‘Individual Freedom’ were becoming more and more evident. That’s why, although they had the opportunity to overthrow the power and replace it with power, they were rejecting it.
The spark that turned into a fire at Saorbonne University on May 4, 1968 created such an opportunity in France. President De Gaulle had left France. Workers’ general strikes and giant demonstrations, with the number of participants reaching up to 10 million, began to take place, and the youth revolution met with the workers. However, their aim was not to destroy power and carry themselves to ‘power’ instead. Although they got a little closer to ‘Anarchism’ with these approaches, they had not failed to contribute to the literature of revolution and socialism until then; Among these were the prominent issues such as “the role of youth in the revolution”. Thus, by moving away from the definition of ‘Proletarianized Youth’, it started to come to the fore as an accepted view/thesis that the youth, which is their own, could play a role as a leading and fundamental force in the revolution. However, as an ecological point of view began to develop, the determination of equality between men and women, which was expressed in the formula of “equal pay for equal work” by exceeding the boundaries of the Feminist movements until then, was replaced by all kinds of domination and inequality; left him to the search/struggle for freedom and equality.
The spark that turned into a fire at the Sorbonne University was not limited to France. There was a lot of ground for this in other European countries as well. Workers and youth were active and active there for a long time. Demonstrations were happening. The actions that started in France brought them together in a holistic mobility and continentalized them. Of course, there were other reasons for this; The social movements that started with them were beyond the limits of being youth-oriented. While the influence of the Chinese, North Korean and Cuban Revolutions was still warm, the national liberation struggles in Africa and the Far East had deeply shaken the European society. All kinds of special dirty war policies carried out by the imperialist and colonialist states of Europe in the countries that are colonized, massacres caused a reaction on European society against their own dominant power and power. These were among the important factors in the development and spread of social movements in Europe in the 1960s. Therefore, its boundaries were not determined only by youth.
Another aspect of the social movements that became more and more widespread in the 1960s, North America and France in the last quarter of the 18th century, followed a similar course of development to the European revolutions that took place when the first half of the 19th century was about to be completed. The dynamism experienced in one country created a reaction and paved the way for similar dynamism in other countries.
Simultaneously in North America, as in Europe, mass protests had become commonplace. However, these mass demonstrations that became effective in North America also had their own peculiarities. The black movement against racism had made great progress. Demands for freedom and equality came to the fore, and it was demanded to put an end to policies and “laws” based on racial discrimination as soon as possible. The accumulated reaction of the society against the colonial, neo-colonial policies carried out in many countries, especially Vietnam, against the private-dirty war, spilled over into the streets and turned into a pro-peace and anti-war. All of these had led to the political crisis and the emergence of different pursuits in the society.
Thus, the 1968 Youth Revolution played a universal role by uniting the reactions against the capitalist modernity system in the society on a common front. It started on May 4, 1968 in Paris. But its roots go back to the past and to the anti-capitalist struggles in many countries. In this respect, it was a revolution in which International values were synthesized. That’s why it wasn’t limited to Paris; spread internationally. The youth and peoples of other countries took over the banner of revolution from the youth of Paris, and it was flown on the squares and mountains of the struggle.
Che Guevara Lived in the Youth Revolution of 1968
In fact, it was Che Guevara who stood up in the Youth Revolution of 1968, it was his revolutionary spirit, his utopia. Che Guevara, who became a legend with the Cuban revolution, accepted the slogan “One, Two, Three more Vietnams” as a basic principle and based on living and fighting according to its requirements. As a requirement of this, he turned his direction first to Africa and then to the vastness and mountains of South America. He was now a seemingly fighting legend that was around the world. The capitalist imperialist powers had become afraid of him, even to hear his name. They experienced this fear even more deeply when it was heard that he was in Bolivia. They could not bear the weight of another revolution in South America after Cuba. Che Guevara, the rebellion of the accumulated anger of the world humanity against the capitalist system of modernity, It was now an obstacle for them to overcome. The only way to overcome this obstacle was the physical termination of his existence. They convinced themselves that if they succeeded, the legend of Che Guevara and the ideals and dreams of world humanity, represented in it, would also come to an end. When they were murdered on October 9, 1967 in Bolivia – La Higuera, they did not hesitate to announce it to the whole world. Thus, they thought that Che Guevara and his utopias had disappeared with his physical presence. When they were murdered on October 9, 1967 in Bolivia – La Higuera, they did not hesitate to announce it to the whole world.
Eight months later, on May 3, 1968, they saw that this was not what they thought it was. Che Guevara stood before them as the Youth Revolution; was challenging them. They themselves had to admit that this was so. Che Guevara was alive. He was everywhere. His utopia had cost the world humanity. The progress made by the Revolutionaries of Turkey and Kurdistan, which started with 1968 and was its heir, since the middle of the first half of the 1970s, was the most concrete indication of this.
The Flag of the 1968 Revolution Waved in Türkiye and Kurdistan
Youth movements started in Turkey in the early 1960s. Youth once again took their place at the forefront of the reactions and demonstrations against US Imperialism and its domestic collaborators. This showed itself very concretely in the big demonstrations that started on April 28, 1960 in Istanbul, where university student Turan Emeksiz was killed by a police bullet, and spilled over to Ankara on April 29. After the May 27, 1960 coup, especially after 1965, the student youth movements began to gain great momentum. But these youth movements, which gained momentum, were different from what happened on 28-29 April 1960. Being under the intense influence of Kemalism, not only in terms of being anti-imperialist; They also had revolutionary and Socialist ideas. They were in the struggle and creating the organization of it. China, Cuba, Vietnam revolution, They were under the influence of the national liberation struggles that developed in Africa, the Palestine Liberation Movement. Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara were the names that became symbols for them. They came to a more active position with the 1968 Youth Revolution. They entered into a widespread organization and activities in universities. They participated in the land occupations of the peasants, they sided with the strikes of the miners. They organized a big demonstration to prevent the US 6th Fleet, which came to Istanbul, from approaching the shore. They lost Vedat Demircioğlu, who was killed by the police during the demonstrations against the 6th Fleet, which was among these actions they participated in, and revolutionary pioneer militants such as Taylan Özgür as a result of a murder with a certain perpetrator in Istanbul on September 23, 1969. They have also faced other attacks of the same type. They were under the influence of the Palestine Liberation Movement. Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara were the names that became symbols for them. They came to a more active position with the 1968 Youth Revolution. They entered into a widespread organization and activities in universities. They participated in the land occupations of the peasants, they sided with the strikes of the miners. They organized a big demonstration to prevent the US 6th Fleet, which came to Istanbul, from approaching the shore.
In fact, these attacks on socialist, revolutionary youth were directly related to the fact that the ‘Mobilization Trigger Board’, which was organized as the ‘deep state’ in 1952, stepped in against the revolutionary youth, workers and laborers’ movements. In those years (1967) with the mobilization of para-military and fascist contra-organizations, which were formed and prepared in connection with this organization, which was organized/called the Special Warfare Department, the attacks against socialist revolutionary youth, workers and laborers increased even more. These include the “Re-National Struggle Movement” in which today’s AKP’s main core is involved, and the “Republican Peasant Nation Party”, which changed its name to the “Nationalist Movement Party” (MHP) in those years, and the “Association for Struggle against Communism”, which was structured as a counter-fascist organization. ‘ were the most active of the fascist contra-organisations. They were the ones who attacked the revolutionary youth who took action against the 6th Fleet and were the first revolutionary killers. These counter-fascist forces were directly attacking students, workers, universities, who were demonstrating under the protection and support of the police. By giving the appearance of a “right-left conflict” with these attacks, the revolutionary youth and worker/laborer movements were tried to be taken out of their main agenda/targets and presented to the society as such. It was these who attacked the revolutionary youth who took action against the flotilla and were the first revolutionary murderers. These counter-fascist forces were directly attacking students, workers, universities, who were demonstrating under the protection and support of the police.
In such a process, in which the state-led fascist and counter attacks intensified, there were some among them who went to Palestine for military training. And to these were added the severe social problems caused by the political and economic crisis of the capitalist modernity system, which was experienced throughout the world and moved to the Middle East. In such an environment, mass demonstrations began to spread in Turkey. Influencing Turkey on 15-16 June 1970; There were major workers’ strikes and demonstrations in which three workers, Yaşar Yıldırım, Mustafa Bayram and Mehmet Gıdak, lost their lives. These demonstrations were supported by different segments of the society.
In the face of this social revolutionary upheaval in Turkey, the genocidal Turkish State, which intensified its attacks, intensified its attacks against the socialist-revolutionary and democratic forces. On March 12, 1971, these attacks were followed by the seizure of power by the military memorandum given by the NATO fascist generals. The meaning of this was very clear. From then on, the attacks against the socialist-revolutionary and democratic forces would be directly carried out by the state; He would do this by putting the army himself into action. As a result of this, they first declared ‘Martial Law’ throughout the country.
The seizure of power by the NATO generals in Turkey on March 12, 1971 was the beginning of a new era for the societies of Turkey and Kurdistan, socialists and revolutionaries. In such a process, which has been entered into, the ranks have become clear in every aspect, and there has been an ideological and political clarification. The last veil curtains that the genocidal Turkish state concealed its truth were lifted. It was a full special war regime and its NATOist, collaborative, colonialist-fascist character was revealed with all its nakedness.
As soon as the NATO fascist junta seized power, the first thing it did was to start a war against the societies of Kurdistan and Turkey. Villages began to be raided by gendarmerie and commando, and people began to be tortured by gathering in village squares. Thousands of people were tortured in the torture centers where they were taken and put in dungeons. As a result of counter-guerrilla attacks carried out in rural areas and cities, revolutionaries began to be massacred. There were revolutionary prisoners sentenced to death and heavy imprisonment. Sinan Cemgil, Kadir Manga, Alparslan Özdoğan on May 31, 1971 in Nurhak Mountain, Hüseyin Cevahir on June 1, 1971 in Maltepe, Istanbul, on February 19, 1972 in Arnavutköy, Istanbul, Mahir Çayan, Cihan Alptekin, Ömer Ayna , Saffet Alp, Sinan Kazim Ozudogru, Hudai Arikan, Ahmet Atasoy, Ertan Saruhan,
While the military fascist coup of March 12, 1971 went down in history as a declared war against the peoples of Turkey and Kurdistan, their socialist-revolutionary-democratic forces, their youth, workers and laborers, it found an honorable resistance that cost history. Heroically resisting in the mountains, in the cities, in the squares of the execution stands; revolutionary youth, workers and laborers at the expense of the price they pay; They handed over to the peoples of Turkey and Kurdistan, to their youth, women, workers and laborers, the flag of revolution they carried until that day. In doing so, they have clearly demonstrated the sharp distinction between the ruling powers, their ideologies, and colonial-special war regimes. in Nurhak; Sinanlar, in Kizildere; In the Cities; Husseins, Ulas, Seas, Yusufs, Husseins, in torture benches; The holy legacy left by Abraham had such a meaning.
The Flag of the 1968 Youth Revolution Keeps Flying
The NATO generals who carried out the military fascist coup d’etat on March 12, 1971 thought that they could achieve their goals by murdering the leaders of the revolutionary youth movements in Turkey and suppressing the resistance of students, workers and laborers. But they were wrong. It was not too late to realize that this was not so. Two years after the military fascist coup d’état of March 12, 1971, they saw that the revolutionary flag of the murdered revolutionary leaders of the past continued to be waved by those who followed them.
In 1973, the revolutionary youth movement in Universities gained even more strength and recorded a rise. Leader Apo took on duties and responsibilities by playing a historical role in the rise experienced. Mahir Çayan and his comrades were detained in the attack by the police on the students of the Faculty of Political Sciences, who were protesting the murder of his comrades in Tokat-Niksar-Kızıldere. After being detained for seven months, it was not long after he was released. However, by playing the leading role, he embarked on the struggle to fulfill the duties and responsibilities he assumed in the recovery and organization of the university’s revolutionary youth.
The revolutionary struggle, in which it started to regroup and rise in universities, was not limited to universities, but also included secondary education institutions, shantytowns where the poor and laborers lived, and entered a period of great upheaval. How the university revolutionary youth movement, which rose after 1965, opposed the workers’ and laborers’ struggle, by the state; If paramilitary fascist counter gangs were launched and attacks were launched, the same forces were put into action in the same way. And as a result these paramilitary counter-fascist forces; they started to carry out bomb and armed attacks against universities, secondary education institutions, poor slums, places where people are gathered together, and the vehicles used. Hundreds of socialists, revolutionaries and democrats were killed and wounded in these attacks. The attacks were not limited to these. People who are known, known and respected in the society began to be killed by directly targeting them. Not being limited to these, while trying to infiltrate agents and provocateurs into the Revolutionary organizations, groups and organizations with these features, with “left” or “democratic” masks on their faces, were formed.
Among the targets of these agent provocateur gang groups, which are organized by the MIT itself and attacked revolutionary organizations and individuals; Leader Apo and his comrades who acted with him also took part. Haki Karer was murdered as a result of such an attack on May 18, 1977 in Antep.
Haki Karer with Kemal Pir; He was one of the comrades that Leader Apo first met in Ankara after he was released from the Mamak military prison, with whom they shared the same house. Haki Karer, whom Leader Apo said was like “my secret soul”, was designated as Leader Apo’s assistant at the meeting of the Apoist group held in Ankara Dikmen in the days connecting 1975 to 1976. Although he is from Turkey, he went to Kurdistan before anyone else and took part in organizing activities. As a revolutionary leader, he played the role with his life, his behavior, his high sense of renunciation, his determination and courage. He was an activist as much as he was an organizer. As much as he carries out propaganda works; He trained everyone he organized and made supporters of. He devoted 24 hours of his day to the revolution. He was a laborer in constructions to meet the needs necessary for life and activities. He shared the most beautiful, newest and cleanest with his comrade. He was a leading revolutionary who was taken as an example for a revolutionary in every way.
That’s why Haki Karer was murdered by being chosen as a very conscious target. In fact, it was the Apoist Movement that wanted to be destroyed in his person. It was intended to achieve such a goal by murdering Haki Karer. However, Leader Apo did not allow this. To the murder of Haki Karer; The Apoist Movement responded with a decision to party. Thus, the rising revolutionary struggle after March 12, 1971 was raised even more; The flag of the Youth Revolution, which rose in 1968 both in Europe and in Turkey, continued to be waved even higher.
The 1968 Youth Revolution had begun on May 4. As the owner of that revolution in Haki Karer, he contributed his presence to this universalizing revolution on 18 May. His comrades took over the flag of revolution carried by Haki Karer. There were some among them who became martyrs in May. Halil Çavgun, who was murdered by the police and collaborator gangs in Hilvan on 19 May 1978, was among them.
Halil Çavgun took Haki Karer as an example in every aspect. He also led the resistance of the patriotic poor Kurdish peasants against the aghast order and collaborator betrayal under the leadership of the Apoist Movement in Hilvan. His comrades continued to watch Haki Karer and Halil Çavgun and wave the flag they had taken over. After the colonial military fascist coup of September 12, 1980, this flag was taken over by those in the hot struggle area where preparations for a new revolutionary move were made, and by the Zindan resisters. Four in Diyarbakir dungeon; Ferhat Kurtay, Eşref Anyık, Necmi Önder, Mahmut Zengin took their places among those who took over this flag. They also set their bodies on fire, representing the PKK’s resistance against torture and imposed betrayal at the highest level, on the night of May 17th, 1982 to May 18th. With these actions they carried out, they handed over the flag of revolution they carried to their comrades, to the Freedom guerrilla on the mountain. Abdulkadir Çubukçu, who took over this flag from the dungeon resistance, on May 1, 1982- When Mehmet Karasungur and İbrahim Bilgin reached martyrdom in the Kandil Mountains on May 2, 1983 in Beirut, they carried this flag with great honor until that day; Celal Hoca (Ramadan Kaplan- May 1, 1985), Sarı Ömer (Mustafa Ömürcan – May 25, 1987), Sabri (May 1, 1988), Cemşit (Ahmet Kesip – May 25, 1988), (Ozan Mizgin (Gurbet Aydın – May 11, 1992) , Hamza (Ziver Sarıyıldız-2 May 1998), Sinan Amed (Murat Demrihan-13 May 1999), Rojbin Serhat (Sadegül Ökmen- 13 May 1999), İsmail (Hıdır Özgen Bingöl-21 May 2001), Melsa Munzur (Sakine Kıyançiçek- 21 May 2001), Kasım Engin (Ismail Nazlıkul-27 May 2020) and hundreds more, thousands of freedom guerrillas reached their martyrdom in such a month of May and handed over the flag of revolution, which they carried until their last breath, to their comrades. They joined the immortals as comrades of Che Guevaras, Mahir Cayans, Deniz Gezmiş and İbrahim Kaypakkaya.
1968 Youth Revolution Continues to Be the Nightmare of the Capitalist Modernity System
The spark of the 1968 Revolution was struck at the University of Sarbonne in Paris on 4 May. Then it gained a universal dimension. The revolutionary youth movement in Turkey also took its place in this rising wave of revolution. A great price had been paid. But the flag of the revolution was never allowed to fall to the ground, and this flag was always waved high by hand, like a relay race.
In the years that started after the military fascist coup of March 12, 1971, this revolutionary flag was taken over by the revolutionary youth movements from Turkey and Kurdistan, which started under the leadership of Leader Apo, and continued to fly. After the military fascist coup d’etat of September 12, 1980, this flag was waved in the hot struggle areas where preparations for a revolutionary move were made and in the hands of the dungeon resistances; It was handed over to the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla and continues to be waved by the Freedom Guerrilla in the mountains of Kurdistan since 1984.
On this occasion, we greet the 1968 Youth Revolution in a new May, and we commemorate with respect and gratitude those who fell martyrs in the struggle for labor, freedom, revolution and socialism in the person of our heroic martyrs who watered May with their blood and embroidered it on history and the consciousness of humanity.
