Kanlı Pazar: A Step-by-Step Account
Day by Day Toward Kanlı Pazar — ed.
28 January: The Solidarity Committee — ed.
The Sixth Fleet was due to return to Istanbul in February. Word of this reached the youth beforehand, and preparations for action began even before the Fleet's arrival. Twenty-two youth organizations, including the FKF, the DÖB, and the İTÜ ÖB, came together on 28 January and formed a "Solidarity Committee" to organize the actions to be carried out. At this meeting, responsibility for organizing the actions was given to Harun Karadeniz. The Committee decided that the actions would begin before the Sixth Fleet's arrival, would continue for as long as the Fleet remained in Istanbul, and would come to a close with a large rally.348
The decisions taken at the first meeting were as follows:348
- Public opinion would be prepared against the Fleet ahead of its arrival.
- Declarations explaining the Sixth Fleet to the public would be published.
- Wall newspapers and cloth banners would be prepared.
- Contact would be established with the revolutionary Anatolian press, and coverage would be requested in advance.
- Marches would be organized from the surrounding villages and neighborhoods of Istanbul toward the center.
- Joint actions would be organized with local associations.
- A call to resistance would be issued to all revolutionary organizations in Anatolia.
6 February: Telegram to the Presidency and the Chief of the General Staff — ed.
The actions were launched on 6 February with a telegram sent to the Presidency and the Chief of the General Staff. The telegram read: "We are tired of seeing this fleet and its soldiers, watchdogs of American imperialism, treated with more regard than our own navy and our own Mehmetçiks. We do not want to see the American soldiers responsible for the killing of Vedat and Atalay — a killing whose investigation has still not been opened."349
7 February: The First Declaration and the Meeting with the Governor — ed.
On 7 February, a press conference was held at the entrance of the İTÜ-Gümüşsuyu building — the site where Vedat Demircioğlu had been "left for dead, believed to be in a coma" — and the first press declaration was published.
The first press declaration, published on 7 February 1969
"As youth organizations standing with the people, we declare that we will resist the arrival of the American Sixth Fleet. We call on all youth standing with the people to protest the Fleet's arrival as well.
The Sixth Fleet is the guardian of 54 bilateral agreements and 101 American bases, and is a force hostile — not friendly — to our people.
The Sixth Fleet stands guard not for the workers made to labor under heavy conditions for low wages, but for the exploitative companies that exploit these workers, that make them work as wage slaves.
The Sixth Fleet stands guard for the exploitative firms that laid off 1,400 workers at Keban in a single stroke, that do not allow workers to seek their own rights.
The Sixth Fleet stands guard for those who obstruct the establishment of heavy industry in Turkey and who prepare the ground for exploiting Turkey more easily through assembly manufacturing.
The Sixth Fleet stands guard for those who buy tobacco from tobacco growers at 8 lira and sell it at 80.
The Sixth Fleet stands guard for those working to exclude from education the students who have begun to think about the country's interests.
In short, the Sixth Fleet serves as guardian to this rotten, people-hostile order. Put another way, it serves as guardian to the imperialism that plunders Turkey.
While pursuing its interests in Turkey through the Fleet's guardianship on the one hand, imperialism is on the other hand pursuing plans for even better exploitation. To this end, it has sent Komer to Turkey as ambassador.
As youth organizations standing with the people, we will convey the Sixth Fleet's true face to the public. We believe that the people, once they see this fleet's true face, will cast their enemy out from among us.
ÖB – İTÜ TB – İYTO TB – DGSA ÖD – İÜ Ec. Fak. Tal. Cem – İÜ Or. Fak. Tal. Cem. – İÜ Kim. Fak. Tal. Cem. – Elazığ İlerici Toplumcu Kalkınma Derneği – Konya Ereğlisi Kültür ve Tesanüt Cemiyeti – Anadoluhisarı Fikir Klübü – Diyarbakır Öğrenci Derneği – FKF – DÖB – İÜ Diş. Hek. Fak. Tal. Cem. – Sivas Devrimci Yük. Öğr. Derneği – Ordu İli Yük. Öğr. Ve Kalkınma Der. İst. Şubesi – Elazığ Fikir Kulübü – Kırklareli Lisesinden Yetişenler Cemiyeti"350
Another important event of 7 February was the meeting held with the Governor of Istanbul, Vefa Poyraz. Although Demirel, leaving the National Security Council meeting on 30 January, had told reporters that there was "no need for measures" regarding the Sixth Fleet's arrival, measures were nonetheless being taken. Governor Poyraz's summoning of representatives of youth organizations to the governor's office and addressing them was part of these measures. Representatives of both right-wing and left-wing youth organizations were invited to the meeting. Governor Poyraz addressed the leftist youth organization representatives, saying that "the fleet of a friendly and allied state has arrived in our city" and that unlawful acts would not be tolerated.351 It was a tense meeting, one that carried the character of a warning and an intimidation. The newspaper Bugün ran this meeting on its front page under the headline "Communists are preparing to cause unrest."
8 February: The Confiscated Declarations — ed.
8 February passed in a series of actions. A group of students went down to Dolmabahçe and took an oath to struggle against the Sixth Fleet, declaring: "This force stands against the Sixth Fleet. They cannot roam Istanbul as they please without trampling over us." Forums against the Sixth Fleet were held at the universities. That same day, while at the printer's, police confiscated 20,000 copies of two separate declarations, and the two students who had gone to collect them were taken into custody. The full text of one of the confiscated declarations reads as follows:352
WE ARE RESISTING THE AMERICAN INFIDEL AND THE SIXTH FLEET, JOIN US TOO
To the People of Turkey
THE AMERICAN SIXTH FLEET IS COMING AGAIN… IT WILL COME 6 TIMES IN 1969. YOU REMEMBER THE FLEET THAT BLOCKED THE PATH OF THE TURKISH NAVY GOING TO HELP OUR BROTHERS IN CYPRUS — WELL, THAT SAME FLEET IS ON ITS WAY.
When our brothers were being killed in Cyprus, our veterans, understanding that they had fought in KOREA not for peace but for America's interests, sent back the medals they had received in KOREA. It is the ships of that same American Sixth Fleet — the fleet that told us "YOU CANNOT USE THE WEAPONS I GAVE YOU FOR YOUR OWN PURPOSES" — that are coming now.
Before this, a fleet had come this past July. At that time, as university youth, we began protesting the fleet in order to expose its true face, to expose whose interests it stood guard for.
Our standing against this American infidel did not please those who have made common cause with the Americans who are plundering this country.
EVERY TIME THE AMERICAN FLEET ARRIVES, ISTANBUL'S LUXURY HOTELS OPERATE LIKE AN AMERICAN BROTHEL. THE POLICE DO NOT ARREST THESE AMERICANS — INSTEAD THEY BEAT THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO STAND AGAINST THESE AMERICANS.
The police, who do not even conduct searches in the hotels operating like American brothels, raided the Gümüşsuyu Student Dormitory one night. They beat the students with truncheons, and killed one. The police had been given orders to do so.
Our brother VEDAT DEMİRCİOĞLU died from a police beating in this raid. Then, in the protests that followed in Ankara, our brother ATALAY SAVAŞ died.
SOME TIME LATER. Because they were "disturbing" the American Fleet's soldiers, an American shot several of the police officers who had been beating the students. Three police officers and two civil servants died. Several other police officers were wounded. Among those shot was one of the officers who had drawn his pistol on students at Dolmabahçe in order to protect American soldiers.
THEN SOME MORE TIME PASSED. America sent, as ambassador to Turkey, a man who had worked for a full 12 years in the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It was this man's car that young people burned in Ankara.
WHY IS ALL THIS HAPPENING? WHY DOES THE SIXTH FLEET KEEP COMING BACK? THERE'S MONEY IN IT, AND THAT'S WHY IT KEEPS COMING.
American companies are plundering us. It is their companies that sell us kerosene and gasoline at whatever price they please. It is they who sell us cars and car parts at exorbitant prices. It is their companies that plunder us by buying up all our minerals cheaply and carrying them away. In a single year, these companies take 250,000,000 (two hundred fifty million) lira out of Turkey in patent fees and profits. In short, they are plundering our entire nation.
The Sixth Fleet stands guard for these plundering, profiteering infidel companies. Is there anything this American infidel has not done: THEY USED THE TURKISH FLAG AS A DOORMAT AT THE EFES HOTEL, WIPING THE FLOOR WITH OUR FLAG. THEY EVEN SHOOT AND KILL THEIR OWN PRESIDENTS WHILE TALKING ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS. THEY HAVE SET UP MILITARY BASES IN 101 LOCATIONS ACROSS OUR TURKEY. THEY DO NOT EVEN LET OUR OWN MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENSE INTO THESE BASES. THEIR PRESIDENT SAYS "AMERICA'S BORDERS BEGIN AT KARS" (IN OTHER WORDS, TURKEY LIES WITHIN AMERICA'S BORDERS).
IT CAME IN AS A FRIEND, AND IS QUIETLY PLUNDERING US.
CITIZEN… THIS HOMELAND IS YOURS. THIS HOMELAND BELONGS TO ALL OF US. WE MUST SAVE THIS HOMELAND FROM THESE SLY INFIDELS. WE MUST RESIST FOR THIS REASON. JOIN THIS RESISTANCE BY ORGANIZING THE PROTEST RALLIES THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW GRANT CITIZENS, BY SENDING PROTEST TELEGRAMS TO THOSE WHO WILL NOT SAY STOP TO THE SIXTH FLEET'S SIX VISITS A YEAR, BY PUBLISHING DECLARATIONS. THE YOUTH WILL ALWAYS STAND WITH YOU IN THE RESISTANCE YOU UNDERTAKE.
WE SEND OUR GREETINGS AND OUR RESPECT TO ALL CITIZENS WHO ARE THE TRUE OWNERS OF THIS HOMELAND.
9 February: A Banner on the Governor's Door — ed.
On 9 February, young people protesting the confiscation of the declarations and the detention of their two friends sent a telegram to Governor Poyraz and hung a large cloth banner beside the entrance to the Governor's Office, reading "We Have Not Forgotten Vedat Demircioğlu. We Do Not Want the Sixth Fleet."
10 February: The Fleet Arrives, Protests at Taksim and Harbiye — ed.
On 10 February, the Sixth Fleet arrived in Istanbul and anchored off Dolmabahçe-Kabataş. In accordance with the Solidarity Committee's decision, graffiti was written, posters were hung, and leaflets were pasted up in many parts of Istanbul, in a feverish burst of activity. Thousands of students, learning of the Fleet's arrival, began gathering at İTÜ from the early hours of the morning. Toward midday, the crowd steadily grew, and excitement rose along with it. The crowd decided to march. They went first to Taşkışla, and from there up to Taksim. A wreath signed by the TMGT and bearing the words "Our Ata left as they came — they came again — they will leave again as they came" was laid at the Atatürk monument in Taksim. From there, they marched to Harbiye "so that the complaint made to Atatürk would also be conveyed to the army."353
While marching toward Harbiye, a "Mobil" flag near the Hilton Hotel was pulled down and torn up, and stones were thrown at the "Turkish-American Foreign Trade Bank." In front of Harbiye, the young people chanted slogans such as "National Army," "Army and Youth, Hand in Hand," and "Independent Turkey." The students requested a meeting with the commanders, and a delegation met with the Commander of the First Army. Upon hearing the students speak out against the Sixth Fleet and imperialism, the Commander rebuked them, saying, "Clear the entrance to the Officers' Club at once. I am telling you this as a soldier on duty. If you do not leave immediately, I will intervene." The crowd turned back from there and dispersed.
11 February: A Flag on the Beyazıt Tower, and Provocations — ed.
11 February saw a development that would become one of the key waypoints on the road to Kanlı Pazar. Wanting to commemorate Vedat Demircioğlu — killed by police when the Sixth Fleet had last arrived in July 1968, and who had, for that reason, become a symbolic name for leftist youth in the struggle against the Sixth Fleet and imperialism — and to demonstrate their resolve to continue the struggle, young people, following a forum they held at Istanbul University, hung a red flag bearing Vedat Demircioğlu's picture on the fire-watch tower. The day before, a 4-by-6-meter cloth banner reading "Sixth Fleet Get Out! We Have Not Forgotten Vedat Demircioğlu!" had been hung on Istanbul University's main entrance gate.
Following the forum, the group marched from Beyazıt to Taksim. Police intervened at Taksim. More than 50 students were wounded and 68 arrested as a result of the police assault.
Bugün presented the flag raised on the fire-watch tower in a rather different light. Bugün's headline the following day covered the entire front page: "A Red Flag Was Raised on the Beyazıt Tower." This report in Bugün was followed by protest statements from right-wing individuals and organizations "against the red flag raised on the Beyazıt Tower."354
İstanbul University Rector Prof. Ekrem Şeref Egeli:
Istanbul has only two great monuments meant for the raising of the Turkish flag alone. Whatever the purpose — even that of commemorating and honoring something — the idea that any flag other than the Turkish flag should be raised there can never be accepted. Because the red of the Turkish flag represents the sacred blood of all the country's martyrs, past and future, the flag itself must be regarded as the symbol of these great martyrs.
Nejat Karacagil, Türk-İş 1st Regional Representative:
We wish to see in the hands of Turkish youth the star-and-crescent Turkish Flag that Atatürk entrusted to them. Wherever a red flag is raised, and by whomever, we, as nationalist Turkish workers, stand against this movement.
Ahmet Muşlu, Chairman of the Turkish United Food Workers' Union:
Those foolish enough not to believe in the existence of a communist danger for our Turkey will no longer subject so open and base an act as this to interpretation. The sides have now made themselves clear. The Turkish worker, undoubtedly standing in the ranks of the patriots, is determined to struggle against these sellouts as well.
Ekrem Özer, Chairman of the TMTF:
We view with hatred the lowering of the Turkish Flag and the raising, in its place, of a piece of cloth resembling, in shape and color, the flag of a hostile nation. In the face of this, I want to make clear that the nation's own children will do more than merely grieve.
İlhan Egemen Darendelioğlu, Chairman of the TKMD Executive Council:
Let no one be in doubt that yesterday's raising of a red flag on Istanbul's tallest tower has stripped the mask from the faces of those who wish to bury our Turkey in red darkness. The time has long since come, as a nation, for us to say stop to this crude, red mentality, in order to protect our honor and dignity. Proof that our patriotic people will stand by the side of the security forces in defending the homeland will surely not be long in coming.
Harun Karadeniz, on the other hand, describes as follows the event that Bugün and right-wing organizations characterized as "a red flag raised on the tower":355
On 11 February a forum was held at Istanbul University, and the Vedat Demircioğlu flag was raised on the fire-watch tower (…) Following the meeting held at the Faculty of Law, the Vedat Demircioğlu flag, which we had had made, was raised to the top of the tower by a few friends. We had lost Vedat during the Fleet's previous visit. For us, Vedat was both our first martyr and, having been killed while resisting the Fleet, truly a banner in his own right. Vedat was present in all our speeches, all our declarations, and all our cloth banners. Indeed, the large cloth banner we had hung at the entrance of the Istanbul governor's office, and the one we hung at Istanbul University's outer gate, both read "We Have Not Forgotten Vedat Demircioğlu" and "SIXTH FLEET GET OUT." It was we who planned the raising of the Vedat Demircioğlu flag on the Beyazıt tower, and we who had the flag made. This action was one of nearly fifty proposals that had come to us. It was an action that could be carried out whenever we wished, and that we had held in reserve. Yes, we had the flag bearing Vedat's picture made, and a few friends raised it on the tower on 11 February, at our request. We had not imagined that the entire right-wing press would call this flag a "Red Flag." In fact, this made little difference to us, since this press was going to write against us no matter what we did.
Although Karadeniz says it "made little difference to us," it was the right-wing press, Bugün foremost among them, that turned this event into one of the important stones paving the road to Kanlı Pazar. The event was openly distorted. Through its coverage of this matter, and through similar reports it ran in the days that followed, Bugün secured for itself an important place among the instigators of Kanlı Pazar.
12 February: Marches — ed.
On 12 February, students who had gathered in the courtyard of Istanbul University, led by DÖB members, first marched to the Courthouse, then went to the front of City Hall to protest Mayor Fahri Atabey, who had gone out to the Fleet by helicopter to say "welcome" before it had even entered Istanbul's harbor. Wanting to march from there to Taksim, they were blocked at the Unkapanı Bridge.
13 February: Declarations — ed.
On 13 February, statements by a spokesman for the U.S. State Department reached the press: "The American Consulate holds the view that the visit of the ships attached to the Sixth Fleet was a success. The Americans have found excellent cooperation from Turkish authorities."
While America was declaring it had found "excellent cooperation," Bugün's headline that same day read "The Nation's Patience Is Running Out." The MTTB and the Associations for the Struggle Against Communism published declarations matching the content of Bugün's headline.
Declaration signed by "Muslim Turkish Youth"356
DEAR TURKISH NATION
Taking the American Sixth Fleet's arrival in Istanbul as their pretext, the communist ringleaders who have sprung into action have, in recent days, been disturbing our peace under the guise of rallies and marches, trying to bring about a proletarian revolution. Have no doubt that these militants take their orders from the north.
Sheltered by well-known centers, these amateur guerrillas have gone so far as to lower the Turkish flag from its pole and raise a red flag in its place.
Newspapers long known for their godlessness and leftism have sunk so low as to write that the flag raised on the Beyazıt tower was not red but merely crimson. Meanwhile, the black-robed informants nesting within the university looked the other way at the red flag before their very eyes.
Dear nation, you cannot remain indifferent to the state of the homeland, cannot go about your daily business as usual.
As Turkish youth respectful of our national and spiritual values, we are carrying out our duty to warn you. You are capable of proving that this country is not without an owner.
A HOMELAND WITHOUT AN OWNER IS BOUND TO SINK. IF YOU TAKE OWNERSHIP, THIS HOMELAND WILL NOT SINK.
Müslüman Türk Gençliği [Muslim Turkish Youth]Declaration signed by "Members of the Istanbul Association for the Struggle Against Communism"357
Who are these people? These long-haired, unkempt types — who are they? Who are they, that they dare to call the Turkish police sellouts and the Turkish army an un-national army? Who are these drunks, their mouths reeking of liquor?
Who are they, that they dare to occupy universities? Who are they?
Who are they, that they can call the men your own vote brought to power a "Morrison's Süleyman," a murderous lackey? Who are they? Who are they, daring every kind of injustice in the streets, parading about in the clothing of Red Chinese? Who are they?
Who are they, that they can raise a red flag on the tower in the courtyard of Istanbul University, founded by the great Conqueror? Who are they?
Who are they, that they can curse everything you hold sacred? Who are they?
Who are they, that on Sunday, with bombs carried in the bags of the prostitutes at their side, they attacked your police, your soldiers? Tell me, brother, who are they? Who are these wretches?
Who are these ………. , who, having provoked the people and taken a beating for it, now, like the Jews (sic), raise an uproar to make themselves look pitiable?
Such wretchedness of spirit deserves only to be spat upon. No Turk would sink so low — so these unidentifiable types cannot be Turks.
Brothers, these wretches, with the newspapers in their hands, are trying to lull you to sleep, to intimidate you, and so to prepare a communist revolution. Do not be deceived, do not be afraid, do not believe them.
İSTANBUL KOMÜNİZMLE MÜCADELE DERNEĞİ ÜYELERİ [MEMBERS OF THE ISTANBUL ASSOCIATION FOR THE STRUGGLE AGAINST COMMUNISM]Leftist youth, for their part, carried out marches and actions in Istanbul, Ankara, and İzmir on 13 February. In Istanbul, those marching were "female students." The march was organized by the Çemberlitaş Women's Student Dormitory. Joined from outside by women from the general public, the march ran from Beyazıt to Sultanahmet. As a banner, they carried a black cloth measuring 5 by 7 meters. On this black cloth, a white star and crescent had been stitched, along with the words "INDEPENDENCE OR DEATH." Other banners bore slogans such as: "Turkish Women Will Defend Their Honor," "We Do Not Want a Government That Offers Turkish Women to the Sixth Fleet Like an Object," "Turkey Is Not the Sixth Fleet's Brothel," "Demirel, Resign or Hang," "New Fatmas Are Coming, New Halide Edips Are Coming," "Independent Turkey," "American Dog, Go Home."
At the demonstration held in Ankara, 39 students were taken into custody. In addition, the cars of two American generals were vandalized. In İzmir, 9 students began a "Hunger and Speech Strike" that would continue until the Sixth Fleet's departure.
According to a report in the 14 February issue of Bugün, in Konya as well, people who called on the citizens of Konya to protest the Sixth Fleet through a declaration signed "Konya Higher Education Youth" nearly faced a lynching once they were "found out to be communists and TİP supporters."
Meanwhile, the anti-Sixth Fleet coalition formed by the coming-together of 22 youth organizations had, with new members joining, grown to encompass 76 organizations. For the rally these organizations were planning to hold on 16 February, they published a declaration titled "Our Call to the Turkish People" on 13 February.
Declaration of the rally organizing committee, dated 13 February 1969358
OUR CALL TO THE TURKISH PEOPLE;
We, industrial workers who have been able to make contact with one another in and around Istanbul, believing that all Turkish workers think as we do, wish to point out that merely working — that is, producing goods — is not enough for the development either of ourselves or of our country.
We cannot afford to buy what we ourselves produce. Those who have grown rich off what we produce use their wealth against us. What we create enslaves us. The cause: THE SYSTEM OF EXPLOITATION.
Those who uphold this system of exploitation have made common cause with the imperialist American infidels. They struck an agreement against our people. They divided up what we produce among themselves. To keep this course going, they merged our country's politics with America's. As a result, they have turned Anatolian soil into a shield, making it a target for a possible atomic bomb.
THEY ASK WHERE AMERICA IS: In the oil we work, in our yellow unions, in the soft drinks we drink… In Singer, which we bombed; in Keban, where we were shot at and thousands of us were thrown out of work; in our 35-million-square-meter homeland.
And now, this so-called Sixth Fleet — which supports the Israeli invaders against the Arabs in the Mediterranean, which blocks our Mehmetçik in the waters of Cyprus — brings its warships into our harbors, supposedly to pay us a visit… The reason: to break our resistance to exploitation, to give strength to its local partners.
Here is their commander's own open statement: "WE ARE PROTECTING AMERICA'S INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST."
We cannot become a nation of men until these American infidels are driven out from among us. The suffering of all the oppressed peoples of the world is caused by this world's tyrants.
The year 1918: imperialist warships in Istanbul's harbor, and the Liberation Rally in Sultanahmet Square. The year 1969: the American Sixth Fleet in Istanbul's harbor, and our march against imperialism — and, alongside it, leaders of ours capable of saying, "WE CANNOT TELL THE SIXTH FLEET NOT TO COME."
We know these things now. We were deceived. We will not be deceived again. We will resist.
The Turkish people, who carried the world's first war of liberation to victory, will once again carry out their decisive duty, never to turn back.
This is why we, as workers, say YES to our student brothers resisting the American infidel. We carry within us the bitter grief of the two martyred brothers given in this cause.
With the "WORKERS' MARCH AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND EXPLOITATION," whose program we set out below, we declare that we have formally entered our War of Liberation. We call on the parties, deputies, senators, unions, students, associations, the press, and all PATRIOTS who support this action of ours to join this march.
THE OPPRESSED PEOPLES WILL ONE DAY SURELY DESTROY THEIR OPPRESSORS.
PROGRAM: On Sunday, 16 February 1969, we will gather at 14:00 in Beyazıt Square and march to Taksim.
NOTE: This march of ours had originally been planned to begin from Pendik Dörtyol. But, as with every just demand of ours, they have once again interpreted the law against us and obstructed it.
TERTİP KOMİTESİ ADINA YAVUZ ÜNAL [ON BEHALF OF THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE, YAVUZ ÜNAL]14 February: The Rally to Honor the Flag — ed.
On one side stood leftist organizations formally declaring that they had entered "a war of liberation against imperialism and exploitation"; on the other stood right-wing organizations declaring that they would "prove they stood by the homeland alongside the security forces." Tensions were rising — and being raised — steadily.
The action that would define 14 February was the "Rally to Honor the Flag" the MTTB organized in Beyazıt. The stated reason for the rally was "the disrespect the Reds had shown by raising a red flag on the Beyazıt tower." Against this "disrespect," the "Rally to Honor the Flag" was organized. On the day of the rally, Bugün ran the headline "A Final Warning to Those Who Raised the Red Flag," calling: "Muslim People of Istanbul! Come to Beyazıt Square today at 2 o'clock to give the Reds the answer they deserve."
The "proclamation" the MTTB prepared for the rally read as follows:359
The MTTB's rally proclamation
GREAT TURKISH NATION
Taking advantage of your innocent and noble tolerance, the anarchist leftists have not stopped their days-long rallies and demonstrations, held under one pretext or another. These handful of lackeys of Moscow have even dared to disrespect and insult the glorious TURKISH FLAG, which draws its color from our very blood. On the Beyazıt Tower, where the Turkish Flag had flown for years, a red rag bearing the picture of a communist ringleader was raised.
These traitors to the homeland are preparing to raise the hammer-and-sickle red flag. How far will the treachery of these lackeys, hostile to this nation, go? If you continue to tolerate this, all the way until Turkey becomes communist. But you have it within your power to shatter, link by link, the chain of treachery these Moscow-agent communist militants are trying to forge around this nation's neck. Do not forget that you are the source of strength.
We call upon our entire nation — patriotic tradesmen, craftsmen, workers, peasants, students, civil servants, and youth. The time has come for the nation itself to defend its own honor and dignity. We are resolved and determined to put an end, once and for all, to the street and square actions of these anarchist leftists who disturb the peace of the nation and who work to drag Turkey into communist bondage.
The last two sentences of this declaration are quite clear. It says, "the time has come." The time for what? That, too, would be seen on 16 February.
The speeches given at the rally were quite explicit as well: MTTB Chairman İsmail Kahraman opened his speech with the words, "Those who say Istanbul has become a brothel should keep an eye on their own wives. We gathered here to make historic decisions."360 The speeches continued in this vein:
"Do not give any opportunity to the anarchists who are trying to shatter our national unity and, for various reasons, want to turn our homeland into a Vietnam. Know how to protect your honor, your dignity, and your integrity.
Whoever stands against us, we will crush them, we will trample them underfoot. From now on, we will no longer issue warnings to anyone, whoever they may be. The time has come — indeed, it has already passed — for us to offer active resistance to those who spread anarchy. We will trample those who stand against us, even if they are black-robed bigots of learning; we will not let the marches of the miniskirted whores get off the ground. We must fully understand that the time has come for idea against idea, fist against fist. Our fist of faith will explode inside the skulls of the godless communists."361
The placards carried at the rally read: "Either We Silence Them Completely or We Make Them Spit Blood," "The One Path Is Islam," "Muslim Great Turkey," "The Turk Is the Child of a Nation That Fought the Muscovite for a Full Fifty Years."
According to Bugün's report, more than 20,000 people attended the "Respect for the Turkish Flag – Final Warning to Those Who Raised the Red Flag" rally, which was supported by "20 student associations, 7 unions, 14 branches of the Turkey Association for the Struggle Against Communism, and 20 various other bodies."
The newspaper Cumhuriyet, meanwhile, offers further details about the rally. Let us quote Cumhuriyet's account of it:
"At yesterday's 'Rally to Honor the Flag,' organized by the Turkish National Students' Union, the Association for the Struggle Against Communism, and several other organizations, calls were made for the Constitution to be amended. At the rally, attended mostly by older people, numbering some 5,000 to 6,000, it was also claimed that the flag raised on the Beyazıt Tower in connection with the Sixth Fleet's visit was a signal for a communist uprising.
Those who raised the Turkish Flag on the Beyazıt Tower — and burned a red flag there as well — cheered for a long time inside the University grounds, shouting 'Death to the Communists,' tore down posters against the Sixth Fleet, and broke windows. At the gathering, where poems accompanied by the Islamic takbir were also recited, war was declared against the Communists, and the public was invited to tomorrow's rally against the Sixth Fleet, 'so that the Communists would be taught the lesson they deserve.'"362
Mehmet Şevket Eygi issued this same "invitation" from his own column in the 14 February issue of Bugün. In his piece, titled "A Call to Prayer," Eygi said the following:363
Mehmet Şevket Eygi — "Namaza Davet" [A Call to Prayer], 14 February 1969, Bugün
"(…) One must wage jihad. One must fight with one's wealth, one's life, one's knowledge, one's tongue, with everything one has, for God, for the Faith, for the Quran, for the Prophet (peace be upon him). One must be a struggling Muslim. (…)
I invite all my believing brothers to gather this coming Sunday, 16 February, at the noble BEYAZIT MOSQUE, to perform the morning prayer as one great congregation. The larger the congregation, the tighter and more orderly the rows, the better.
(…) My Muslim brothers! The entire Islamic world is watching Turkey. Unbelief must be torn down in Turkey. Communism, Freemasonry, Zionism, and the Antichrist's [Dajjal's] work must be torn down in Turkey.
Dear brothers! Run to prayer, run to the congregation. May God's peace, mercy, grace, and generosity be upon all Muslims.
Do not forget. Spread the word, pass it along. Gather at the Beyazıt Mosque before dawn on Sunday, 16 February.
(NOTE: Let us be careful. There may be provocations. Let us not be drawn in. Only prayer, nothing more. The infidels will already be terrified when they see our congregation. Our method is non-violence.)"
Although he ends his piece by saying "let us not be drawn into provocations" and "our method is nonviolence," the meaning is clear enough of gathering people of the opposing view, under a call to "jihad," in place of a rally that had been known for days to be planned — and of running, in his own newspaper, the day before this rally, the headline "The Time Has Come to Strangle the Reds." In his column of 16 February, he would set aside all his reservations and, under the title "Be Ready for Jihad," issue a call to arms and to crush "the Communists and the TRAITOROUS INDIVIDUALS AND INSTITUTIONS SUPPORTING THEM."
While the MTTB's rally continued in Beyazıt on 14 February, "leftist" youth gathered at Yıldız Technical [University]. Speeches were given. A giant 5-by-7-meter banner was hung from the flagpoles in front of the school. At its center was a giant American flag, on which a young man was depicted, left fist raised in the air, shouting "get out."
15 February: "The Time to Strangle the Reds" — ed.
On Saturday, 15 February, Bugün ran the headline "The Time Has Come to Strangle the Reds." Developments matching this headline took place that very day. "Rightists" attacked a rally in İzmir protesting the Sixth Fleet, wounding 23 people. In Trabzon, too, an attack was carried out against those protesting the Sixth Fleet, wounding 20. In Ankara, clashes broke out between police and young people, and 16 young people were taken into custody.
Another important development on 15 February was the statement U.S. Ambassador Komer made in Adana, and the responses issued to it.364
U.S. Ambassador Komer:
"Like all of you, I too am trying to learn the truth about these events. Various, and mutually contradictory, views are being put forward on this matter. On one hand it is said that the number of organizations protesting the American fleet is 22; on the other, it is reported that these organizations are only strong enough to represent, at most, three percent of all students. For this reason, I am trying to learn to what extent these protest actions actually represent Turkish public opinion."
Kolcuoğlu, chairman of the TMGT — an umbrella body for various organizations with a combined membership of 380,000 — issued a statement in response:
Kolcuoğlu, Chairman of the TMGT:
It is those who do not join the anti-American protests, who support American imperialism, who actually make up that three percent. The 22 organizations Komer refers to represent very nearly the whole of Turkey's higher-education youth. Those left in the minority are the ones who do not raise their voices against America. That Mr. Komer, the U.S. ambassador, should speak at his press conference as though he were a minister, or even a prime minister, responsible for Turkey is, in truth, plain evidence of the nature of America's relationship with Turkey.
Sunday, 16 February 1969
Morning: Dolmabahçe and Beyazıt — ed.
On 16 February, the first development came around 10 a.m., when a group began to gather around Dolmabahçe Mosque. Karadeniz describes this crowd as follows:365
"The first report on 16 February 1969 came from Dolmabahçe Mosque. A large crowd had gathered around the mosque, praying. Around 10 o'clock, I went to see the situation for myself. Most of the crowd were bearded men in skullcaps. These were the ones who would attack us. They were strangers to the city, watching their surroundings with a strange silence and curiosity."
On 17 February 1969, the newspaper Milliyet published a photograph of the prayer performed, against the Sixth Fleet, by the crowd gathered in the courtyard of Dolmabahçe Mosque.
Heeding the call from Eygi and Bugün, thousands also gathered for the morning prayer at Beyazıt Mosque. (Bugün's report the following day put the number gathered at 15,000.)
Before the march began — ed.
The rally's participants also began gathering in Beyazıt toward 2 o'clock. Before the march began, the Devrim İçin Hareket Tiyatrosu [Theater of Action for Revolution]366 staged a play about the occupation of Vietnam and its war of liberation. The rifles visible in photographs taken during this play would become the subject of disinformation; the photographs would later be presented with captions such as "This is how the Kanlı Pazar march began in Beyazıt Square, with weapons and clubs in hand" and "From time to time, during the march, the weapons in their hands were raised in the air to instill fear."367
Ahmet B. Karabacak, who was part of right-wing youth at the time and took part in Kanlı Pazar, describes the young people gathered in Beyazıt as "a group of nearly five thousand, with pistols and rifles in hand," and explains the reason for their gathering there as follows: "They set off marching toward Taksim, to attack the rightists of every stripe gathered there to damn communism." In fact, since the rally was to be held in Taksim, the crowd was marching there for that reason, while "the rightists of every stripe who had gathered in Taksim to damn communism" had assembled there in order to intervene against the rally.
The march — ed.
By the time the march set off, the crowd numbered around 25,000–30,000. At the very front was a banner reading "Workers' March Against Imperialism and Exploitation." Among the other banners and placards carried were the following: "Down with America," "Sixth Fleet Get Out," "Rotten Johnny, Don't Come Back," "No to the Police of the Sucan," "American Dog, Go Home," "They Will Leave As They Came," "The American Bear, the Uncle of Morrison," "Let's Drive Out the American Imperialist, Let's Build a Socialist Turkey," "Workers, Youth, People, Peasants, Hand in Hand," "Education Turned Toward the People," "We Will Build a People's Army, a Workers' University," "Revolution and Socialism, the Working People's Only Path to Liberation," "The Factory Belongs to the Worker, the Land to the Peasant." Alongside these banners and placards, many of the marchers carried Vedat Demircioğlu's picture in their hands. As the march went on, participation grew, eventually reaching as many as 40,000. The crowd made its way toward Taksim via Sirkeci, Karaköy, Tophane, Kabataş, and Dolmabahçe. On reaching the front of the Technical University, a moment of silence was observed in Vedat Demircioğlu's memory.
While the marchers were making their way, a large crowd had also gathered in Taksim Square. Darendelioğlu explains this crowd's intentions as follows:368
"While the leftist demonstrators advanced toward Taksim via Sirkeci-Karaköy-Dolmabahçe, chanting various slogans, a large crowd had also gathered in Taksim Square — watching, with curiosity, this group that was staging 'a rehearsal for revolution,' ready to intervene should they actually cause unrest or defy the security forces."
Harun Karadeniz, too, states that word reached them from Taksim throughout the march that the rally was going to be attacked:369
The news coming from Taksim was not good. Photographs of five people — myself among them — were reportedly being handed out, along with instructions that read, "Kill them wherever you see them."
Also, according to reports reaching us during the march, three cars in Taksim Park were reportedly handing out clubs and weapons to the reactionary crowd gathered there. According to the information given at the time, these three cars were Opels bearing the plates '34 HV 189,' '34 DD 363,' and '34 FR 054.'
Friends who were there would later tell us that the police paid no attention to the weapons and other fighting equipment being handed out from these cars, and that some plainclothes police officers took part in this very distribution.
What awaited them in Taksim — ed.
Let us hear what happened next from Karabacak:370
Two of us friends were watching them from Küllük, a tea garden in Beyazıt. The late Yücel Yedidağ was with me. He suggested we go to Taksim via the Unkapanı road. I said that if the state was truly a state, they would not let two groups this furious with one another come into contact — that, at most, they would close the Galata Bridge, which lay in the direction the leftists were heading, to prevent them from crossing to the other side.
Yücel insisted. We walked together and came out at Taksim. In Taksim Square, rightists of every stripe had gathered, waiting for the communists; the idealists, as always, were at the very front, trying to organize the crowd. I still believed, no matter what, that the communists would not be allowed in there.
Two retired officers who were on duty in Taksim Square that day likewise say they believed the bridge would not be opened, and that this request had been conveyed to the Governor:371
It was clear something was going to happen. We thought that if the Galata Bridge were opened, the students would not be able to reach us, and the incident would be prevented. But the Governor objected to opening the bridge, saying it would be "unconstitutional." The police presence was sparse, in no state to prevent anything. Here and there, the police had a rather casual attitude. There were cutting, striking clubs about. At that point, the man on radio channel 21 said, "Governor, sir, something is going to happen." The Governor said, "Such things are discussed by telephone." The man then went to make a phone call, and when he returned, his face had fallen.
There is no way to know what was actually said on the phone after the Governor's remark that "such things are discussed by telephone." What is clear is that whatever was discussed had nothing to do with either opening the bridge or taking precautions in the square — because neither of these things was done. Karabacak, who thought the two crowds would not be brought face to face, was mistaken:
The attack — ed.
But it did not go as I had thought. We were up on a rise in Taksim Park. Suddenly the communists, shouting, began entering the square — surrounded by rightists on all sides, with a single line of police in the middle.
The police around the square vanished in an instant. Yücel and I began running toward the communists. In our hands, we each had a club we had broken off the trees there.372
Beneath this photograph in the newspaper is the following caption: "Having made their preparations in advance, the rightist group waiting for the rally's youth sprang into action the moment the young people entered Taksim Square. When the police's two-layer barricade was breached in an instant, the two groups clashed head-on. (…)"
The attack began the moment the crowd entered Taksim. As those at the front of the crowd were encircled by the prepared, aggressive group massed in the square, the police cut off the rest of the crowd from behind. In this way, a small group was left as easy prey for the aggressors waiting in the square. At the head of the group resisting on Sıraselviler [Street] were Mahir Çayan and TİP member Osman Saffet Arolat.373 Harun Karadeniz describes what happened there:
Our marching convoy was quite long. As the front of the march was rounding the corner in front of the Water Authority building in Taksim, bombs went off. Most of the bombs exploded at the point where the march was to emerge into the square, and this prevented the great majority of the marchers from reaching Taksim. I was right at the point where we were to enter the square. Amid the exploding bombs, stones and clubs rained down from above. But it was not the bombs that drove the crowd back at this point. The riot police, with their shields, charged us, and we were forced to retreat. The bombs exploding among us, the stones raining down on us, and the hundreds of terrifying riot police — with a few rightist civilians among them — blocked our way into the square. We scattered into the side streets.374
What took place in the square was savagery. In the aftermath of this savagery, dozens were wounded, and two of the rally's participants lost their lives: Duran Erdoğan and Ali Turgut Aytaç.
In the witnesses' own words — ed.
"One of the stones flying through the air in Taksim hit my head. I collapsed to the ground. Police put me in a jeep to take me to the hospital. This time, they were the ones who beat me. They called me a 'communist bastard' and stamped on me under their feet… I opened my eyes in the hospital. I looked, and I was alive."
"The police showed no resistance to those attacking us. On the contrary, they let them loose on us. My friends and I were falling back in the face of this assault. Suddenly, lightning struck in my head. I fell where I stood. They left me for dead. I have countless stitches on my head. My body still doesn't hold together right."
"I hadn't taken part in any rally or anything. We were just walking around Taksim with friends. Bearded men in robes surrounded us. They asked, 'What's your password?' When we said, 'Just out for a walk,' they started hitting us, saying, 'You communists.' We ran, and they chased after us. We took a terrible beating."
"We were stuck in Taksim. A friend in front of me had been hit by flying stones and had fallen to the ground. I was lifting him up. At that moment, 9 or 10 people attacked me. Most of them had beards… The clubs in their hands came down on my head. I can't believe I made it out alive."
Celal Küçük, one of the period's military officials, related his observations years later to Nokta magazine:375
I went to Taksim at nine in the morning on the day of the incident. Osman Gülkılık and İhsan Kuraner and the others had gathered at the security booth. I went and told them the situation. I told Kuraner, "Take precautions." There was a terrifying silence. Something was clearly about to happen. The men had prayer beads, iron bars, clubs in their hands; they had performed the morning prayer at Dolmabahçe, and were packing into the square, tightly, from every side. They opened up around the edges of Taksim Square. The middle stayed empty. Whoever entered would be killed. The riot police, too, drove a wedge from in front of the Opera toward Vakıf İşhanı, cutting off the connection with those coming in, and the assault with weapons began against those who entered. The crowd, unarmed, fled for their lives toward Sıraselviler and Kazancı. The result: 2 dead, 200 wounded. The police made no intervention whatsoever — indeed, when a weapon fell to the ground, they picked it up and handed it back to its owner. A unit arrived at the square fifteen minutes later, but by then it was already over. One of the group picked up a megaphone and said, "Now we're going to go to Cumhuriyet, to Milliyet."
Yaşar Okuyan — who was part of "right-wing" youth at the time, later became MHP Deputy Secretary-General and an ANAP deputy, and afterward took over the Democratic Turkey Party, renaming it the Freedom and Change Party — describes what happened as follows:376
I was a student in Istanbul at the time. The leaders of the Milli Türk Talebe Birliği and the Association for the Struggle Against Communism were our friends, our elder brothers. We were close-knit. There was nothing hidden about the events before Kanlı Pazar. Everything happened out in the open, before everyone's eyes. The preparations were made openly. For instance, truckloads of clubs arrived at the Milli Türk Talebe Birliği. The trucks were unloaded in plain view of everyone passing by. They were then distributed to those who would be fighting. Every possible preparation had been made for the big clash. Blue ribbons were handed out during the events, so that no mistakes would be made, so that no one would harm one another, and so that the police would recognize friendly forces and assist them. Whoever wore a blue ribbon was counted as a friendly force. And indeed, during the events, these ribbons proved very useful. The police did not touch our people. But anyone who happened to drop their ribbon was hauled off by the police. We intervened immediately in such cases and rescued our people.
Duran Erdoğan and Ali Turgut Aytaç — ed.
The accounts leave no room for spin. What happened is plain. Despite this, on 17 February, Bugün ran the headline "Communists Attacked the People, Four Dead, Seventy Wounded." Beneath the headline was the claim that "the Reds' assault with bombs, stones, and clubs turned Taksim into a battlefield." According to the paper, the attackers were "the reds," and it was the "Muslim people" who "taught the lesson": "Yesterday, the Muslim people gave the red nests, the centers of provocation and anarchy, their first lesson, swearing to secure order and peace themselves," and "The people, who gave the Reds an unforgettable lesson, carried the police and the soldiers on their shoulders."
A day after the events, following an announcement that it would return in March, the Sixth Fleet left Istanbul. It left four dead behind it: Vedat Demircioğlu, Atalay Savaş, Duran Erdoğan, and Ali Turgut Aytaç.
