Newly elected Istanbul mayor of Republican People’s Party (CHP) commemorates fascist leader Alparslan Türkeş on the 22nd anniversary of his death

The newly elected mayor of Istanbul according to the polling results of March 31 mayoral elections in Turkey, Ekrem İmamoğlu, commemorates fascist leader Alparslan Türkeş on the 22nd anniversary of his death.

Imamoglu also commemorated another fascist leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, before the elections, who had a direct connection with the organizations responsible for the killing of socialists including the murder of 7 university students in 1970s who were members of Workers Party of Turkey (TİP).

Alparslan Türkeş was an army general who participated amongst the leadership of the May 27 coup in 1960. Later he was sent to the US to receive training on counter-guerilla warfare and upon his return; he established the fascist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and led the party until his death on April 4, 1997.

The party members actively participated in many of the massacres in Turkey during the 70s including the massacres in Çorum and Maraş.

Although supported mostly by the secular and democrat people of Turkey, and even by socialists, CHP was highly criticized in these elections due to the choice of mayoral candidates. Most of the candidates appointed by CHP leadership belonged to right-wing backgrounds, such as the newly elected mayor of the capital, Ankara, Mansur Yavaş.

Mansur Yavaş was an active member and mayor of the fascist party until he was nominated for mayor of Ankara in 2014 elections for the first time by CHP. Mansur Yavaş never denounced his past and stated he was loyal to his roots in MHP.

Even though many voters of CHP see this as a pragmatic tactic to receive votes from Islamic people in Turkey who mainly support the governing party AKP, others criticize this tactic arguing that CHP forfeited the struggle for secularism and democracy in order to gain votes.