Additions and Updates

May 2026 · Chapter 2

The Johnson Letter and İnönü's remark, "A new world will be built" — two markers of the same tension, though often recalled in the wrong chronological order.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

Şule Yüksel Şenler's arrest makes the cover of Seher Vakti. No. 22, 1 July 1971.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

Covers and inside pages from Seher Vakti, the magazine published by Şule Yüksel Şenler — debates on covering, women's identity, and modernity, 1970.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

Seher Vakti, the magazine published by Şule Yüksel Şenler, runs "the Islamic covering movement" on its cover. No. 5, 15 March 1970.

May 2026 · Chapter 3

Fedai, one of the nationalist-conservative publications of the period, praises antisemitism; alongside Abdülhamid and Cevat Rıfat Atılhan, Hitler too is told, "Humanity Is Grateful to You!"

May 2026 · Chapter 1

A press photograph from the Nine Lights marches, in which idealist youth marched in matching uniforms.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

In 1969, more than five thousand young people were trained across 34 separate camps; in 1970, seven thousand more. Period press photographs depicting the commando camps.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

In the 13 January 1969 issue of Tercüman, Türkeş makes statements defending the commando camps; the report emphasizes the commandos' "innocence."

May 2026 · Chapter 1

The commandos' rhetoric of revenge is carried onto the front page of Tercüman, dated 10 January 1969.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

A report published in Günaydın, dated 30 July 1969, discusses Türkeş's goal of raising the number of commandos to 100,000, and the MHP's 1973 election campaign.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

In an interview published on the front page of Hürriyet, dated 10 January 1969, Alparslan Türkeş openly states his support for the structures publicly known as "commando camps."

May 2026 · Preface

A preface written in light of the new testimonies, documents, and debates that accumulated in the years following the 2012 edition. It explains how the digital edition was conceived as an open-ended, evolving field of research.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

Figures who served in leadership roles within the MTTB and right-wing youth organizations in the 1960s and afterward spoke openly, decades later: tutelage, being used, and the visits of the American Consul General. Çalmuk, F. (Dir.) (2016) Büyük Doğu'nun Atlıları [Riders of Büyük Doğu], TRT Documentary.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

A photograph said to have been taken during Necip Fazıl Kısakürek's visit to the Büyük Doğu Cemiyeti in Kayseri in 1968–1969. Abdullah Gül is seen to Necip Fazıl's right, with Hulusi Akar beside Gül.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

Debates over Erdoğan's university diploma began in the mid-2000s and resurfaced during the 2014, 2018, and 2023 presidential elections.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

An archival photograph from Erdoğan's imam hatip years, and a news item from the newspaper Bizim Anadolu dated 17 January 1972.

May 2026 · Chapter 1

Besli, H. and Özbay, Ö. (2010) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — Bir Liderin Doğuşu [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: The Birth of a Leader], Istanbul, Meydan Yayıncılık.

May 2026 · Chapter 2

8 archival photographs from the 17 July 1968 protests at Dolmabahçe, during which American soldiers were thrown into the sea. Harun Karadeniz's speech in Taksim, moments from the action, and news reports from Milliyet and Tercüman dated 18 July 1968.

May 2026 · Chapter 2

Deniz Gezmiş at the front of students marching to the Istanbul University Rectorate on 2 June 1968.

May 2026 · Chapter 2

An American officer splattered with mud during Sixth Fleet protests.

18 May 2026 · Chapter 2

A petition dated 17 July 1968, sent to President Cevdet Sunay by students after the attack in which Vedat Demircioğlu was thrown from a window. Signed by Çetin Uygur, Chairman of the İ.T.Ü.T.O.T.B., and Harun Karadeniz, Chairman of the İ.T.Ü.Ö.B.

17 May 2026 · Chapter 5

Millet Partisi deputy Bölükbaşı's speech in the TBMM, dated 25 February 1969, containing statements that hold the Demirel government directly responsible for organizing the events.

May 2026 · Chapter 5

A two-page pamphlet prepared and distributed by the İTÜ ÖB, FKF Istanbul, İÜTOTB, and İYTOTB. A first-hand source from the period documenting how Kanlı Pazar was framed by leftist youth.

May 2026 · Chapter 5

A statement made from the floor of the TBMM by then Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel, the day after Kanlı Pazar. Millet Meclisi Tutanak Dergisi, 17 February 1969.

May 2026 · Chapter 5

A speech from the floor of the TBMM by TİP deputy Sadun Aren, in which he states that he himself took part in Kanlı Pazar. Millet Meclisi Tutanak Dergisi, 24 February 1969.

May 2026 · Chapter 4

This archival film, whose broadcast on TRT was blocked, contains rare footage from the day of Kanlı Pazar. Running from the theater performance in Beyazıt to the moment of the attack in Taksim, the recording has brought renewed attention to the debates surrounding the events.

11 May 2026 · Chapter 6

Eygi was among the names İsmail Hakkı Pekin, retired Lieutenant General and former head of the General Staff's Intelligence Department, stated had been assigned within the Special Warfare Department in 1959. Eygi rejected the claims in his column in Milli Gazete.

11 May 2026 · Chapter 6

Tunca Bengin, a columnist for the newspaper Milliyet, conveyed retired Lieutenant General İsmail Hakkı Pekin's claims — made in an interview with Bengin — that Fethullah Gülen and Mehmet Şevket Eygi had been assigned within the Special Warfare Department in 1959.

11 May 2026 · Chapter 6

A photograph of retired Lieutenant General İsmail Hakkı Pekin from Tele 1's program dated 10 December 2018. On this program, Pekin stated that Mehmet Şevket Eygi and Fethullah Gülen had been assigned within the Special Warfare Department in 1959.

10 May 2026 · Chapter 2

When the İsmet Tümtürk quotation, sourced from Kovara Bir, No. 5, was compared against the original source, Milli Yol, No. 13 (20 April 1967), it was found that the secondary source had made a provocative addition. The text has been revised to stay faithful to the original source.

8 May 2026 · Chapter 3

Mehmet Şevket Eygi, chief columnist of the newspaper Bugün, is one of the figures examined in detail in this chapter of the book. About fifty years after Kanlı Pazar, Eygi made headlines again over a different claim. Retired Lieutenant General İsmail Hakkı Pekin stated in 2018 that Eygi had been assigned within the Special Warfare Department in 1959. Eygi rejected the claims in seven separate columns in Milli Gazete. The debate also spread to Akit TV, where Pekin reiterated that his claim was backed by documentation.

3 May 2026 · Introduction

New content has been added to the Introduction chapter concerning 1946, the year of the Sixth Fleet's first arrival in Turkey. Built around the arrival in Istanbul of the USS Missouri, part of the Sixth Fleet, this addition points to an earlier historical backdrop for the process examined in the work. The text has been incorporated into the chapter from an article featured in the anthology Türkiye'nin 68'i: Denizlere Çıkan Sokaklar [Turkey's '68: Streets Flowing to the Seas], published by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 2022.

18 April 2026 · Chapter 2

A frame from the march held between 30 October and 9 November 1968, which began in Samsun and ended in Ankara. Deniz Gezmiş at the front of the crowd.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A cartoon depicting the Sixth Fleet's planned return to Turkey in March, after leaving three dead in its wake.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A cartoon depicting the Sixth Fleet being greeted with cries of "Go Home."

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

Bugün's provocative headline, "The Time Has Come to Strangle the Reds."

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

Mehmet Şevket Eygi's column, "Be Ready for Jihad," calling the masses to jihad.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

The march students of the Çemberlitaş Women's Student Dormitory held from Beyazıt to Sultanahmet, and the "Independence or Death" banner they carried.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A newspaper clipping reporting American officials' praise for the cooperation of Turkish authorities.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

Students who gathered in the courtyard of Istanbul University to protest the Sixth Fleet, wanting to march to Taksim, and who were blocked at the Unkapanı Bridge.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A report in Bugün, headlined "Leftists Cowered and Sat Down When They Saw the Army Before Them," on the action of youth who gathered at İTÜ and marched to Harbiye to protest the Sixth Fleet.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A banner reading "We Have Not Forgotten Vedat Demircioğlu. We Do Not Want the Sixth Fleet," hung by leftist youth — whose declarations had been confiscated and two of whose friends had been arrested — on the entrance gate of the Governor's Office, in protest.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A report in Cumhuriyet, headlined "Trouble Began with the Sixth Fleet's Arrival," on the action of youth who gathered at İTÜ and marched to Harbiye to protest the Sixth Fleet.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A banner reading "We Have Not Forgotten Vedat Demircioğlu. We Do Not Want the Sixth Fleet," hung by leftist youth — whose declarations had been confiscated and two of whose friends had been arrested — on the entrance gate of the Governor's Office, in protest.

April 2026 · Chapter 5

A statement by Istanbul Governor Vefa Poyraz, pointing to those who staged the lawful march as the culprits of the massacre.

April 2026 · Chapter 5

A newspaper clipping reporting the massacre under the headline, "The People's Patience Ran Out, and They Crushed the Communists."

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

A newspaper clipping relaying the testimonies of those who survived Kanlı Pazar wounded.

5 April 2026 · Chapter 4

The caption beneath a photograph showing the attack in Taksim Square.