Labour Party of Turkey

The Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) was banned in 1971. With the March 14, 1974 amnesty for political and trade union activists, many jailed TİP cadres were released from jail. TEP was founded on February 12, 1975 by Mihri Belli, a former leader of the Communist Party of Turkey who had returned to the country in 1973. Other prominent founding members of TEP included Vecdi Özgüner, Şaban Ormanlar, Sevki Aksit, Mustafa Özçelik, Halil Oyman, Erol Yüce, Sefer Yılmaz and Faik Kalkavan. TEP distinguished itself from the other contemporary legal socialist parties by upholding the ('MDD', per its Turkish acronym) line. The party argued that Turkey would have to undergo a democratic transformation, abolishing remnants of feudalism, before being ready for transition to socialism. The party program called for "an independent and genuinely democratic Turkey heading towards socialism". The party program put forth as immediate tasks "the attainment of full independence for the country economically and politically and the democratization of political life within Turkey", and sought to build a 'Patriotic Front' of democratic forces under the leadership of the working class. TEP refused to take sides in the conflict between the Communist Parties of the Soviet Union and China, citing the Ho Chi Minh line of the Communist Party of Vietnam appealing for reconciliation between Moscow and Beijing on the basis of proletarian internationalism. The party challenged the legitimacy of the exiled TKP leadership based in the Socialist Bloc. ==Leadership, party organization and publications==

TEP was founded as a legal party. The party had two general secretaries - Hamza Özkan and Şaban Ormanlar. ==1975 elections==

In August 1975, TSİP appealed for a united front of socialist and leftist forces ahead of the October 12, 1975 Senate election. By early September 1975, a four party conference was held in Istanbul with the participation of TSİP, TEP, SP and the Turkish Unity Part (the latter, although not a socialist party, had an anti-Western outlook). The Istanbul conference was followed by a similar meeting in Ankara a few days later. In the end the meetings did not result in a united front, as the participating parties could only agree to the formation of a Consultative Socialist Bureau. The different socialist parties had different viewpoints on which party to support in the Senate election. TEP declared that it would support neither the TBP nor the Republican People's Party (CHP) in the election, with TEP followers being instructed to vote for the 'most progressive' candidate in their respective province. Belli argued that TEP "cannot support the CHP, as the CHP is not a progressive party, merely the least reactionary". ==Trial and ban==

In November 1975 Belli was detained for refusing to present party documents at a security trial. They were charged per Article 141 of the Turkish Penal Code. The investigation alleged that the party was pursuing 'communist and Kurdish goals'. On May 8, 1980 the Constitutional Court of Turkey banned the party, reacting to the wordings in the party program supporting the right of the Kurdish people to have access to education in their mother tongue. The verdict made a reference to Article 83 of the Turkish Constitution, stating that official correspondence, education and national culture should only be in Turkish. On May 24, 1980 there was another Grey Wolves attack on the party – in which TEP executive committee member Vecdi Özgüner was wounded at his residence and his wife Sevinç was shot to death. Belli went into exile after the September 12, 1980 coup d'état. ==Later period==

In 1982 TEP took part in the founding of the Unified Resistance Front against Fascism (FKBDC), in which the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Dev-Yol were the dominant factions. The 1976 trial of 33 TEP leaders concluded March 1986 with the acquittal of the defendants. After the TEP trial was over, Belli returned to Turkey in 1987 and joined the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP). ==External links==