Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front

Encyclopedia : R : RE : REV : Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front

The Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front, (Turkish: Devrimci Halk Kurtuluş Partisi/Cephesi or DHKP/C) is a militant Marxist-Leninist party in Turkey. It is in the terrorist organization lists in the U.S., the UK and the EU.

It was originally formed in 1978 by Dursun Karataş as Revolutionary Left (Turkish: Devrimci Sol or Dev Sol), a splinter faction Devrimci Yol ("Revolutionary Way", also known as Dev Yol), which splintered from the Turkish People's Liberation Party-Front (THKP-C), which in its turn was a splinter of Revolutionary Youth (Turkish: Dev Genç).

A 1994 factional infighting within Dev Sol resulted in two factions: the main group led by Dursun Karatas was renamed into DHKP/C, while Bedri Yagan created a new THKP/C (not to be confused with the original one).

In all cases of "Partisi/Cephesi" (Party/Front) names "Party" refers to a group’s political activities, while "Front" is a reference to a group’s military operations. Theoretically they are separate entities.

The group espouses a Marxist-Leninist ideology and holds an anti-U.S., anti-NATO position. It considers that the Turkish government is under the control of Western imperialism and seeks do destroy this control by violent means.

It finances its activities chiefly through donations and extortion raised in Turkey and Europe. First designated as a terrorist organization in October 1997 by the US State Department and continues to be there through 2005. According to some sources, the organisation probably has several dozen operatives inside Turkey, with a large support network throughout Europe.

Its main allies are International Solidarity (Solidarieta Internazionale, Italy) and PFLP.

Activities

Since the late 1980s, the group has targeted primarily current and retired Turkish security and military officials. It began a new campaign against foreign interests in 1990, which included attacks against U.S. military and diplomatic personnel and facilities.

To protest what it describes as US imperialism during the Gulf war, the DHKP/C assassinated two U.S. military personnel, wounded an Air Force officer and bombed more than 20 U.S. and NATO military, commercial and cultural facilities.

In its first significant terrorist act as DHKP/C on January 9, 1996, it assassinated Özdemir Sabancı, a prominent Turkish businessman, and two others: an associate Haluk Görgün and a secretary Nilgün Hasefe. The murders were carried out by hired assassins who had been given access to the Sabanci Towers by a member, the student Fehriye Erdal, working there at that time. DHKP/C later claimed responsibility for the act.

DHKP/C added suicide bombings to its operations in 2001, with successful attacks against Turkish police in January and September of that year.

Security operations in Turkey and elsewhere have weakened the group, however. DHKP/C did not conduct any major terrorist attacks in 2003, although a DHKP/C female suicide bomber Sengul Akkurt's explosive belt is detonated by an accident on May 20, 2003 in Ankara, in a restroom, while she is in the preparation before the action.

On July 24, 2004, another mistaken detonation, on a bus in Istanbul, occurred, killing Semiran Polat of DHKP/C and three more people and injuring 15 others.

On July 1, 2005, Eyup Beyaz of DHKP/C was killed in Ankara in an attempt of a suicide bombing attack on the ministry of justice.

In late February 2006, female member Fehriye Erdal was convicted in Belgium, while being under house arrest. However, shortly before her conviction she escaped and still hasn't been found.

Source

External links

[pro-Revolutionary People's Liberation Front page]
[DHKC International]
[DHKP-C profile], MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base

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