Turkish Left (inTurkish:Türk Solu) was a weeklynationalist[1][2][3] andsocialist[4] magazine and the official organ of the Turkish Left (in Turkish:Türk Solu) group inTurkey.Türk Solu was formed following a split in theWorkers' Party (İP). The magazine was led byGökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu and was based in Istanbul.[5]
They consider themselves asnationalist,socialist andKemalist. They often promote Nationalism, Socialism and Secularism. However, unlike many socialists, they criticise Marx often and they considerMustafa Kemal Atatürk andSultan Galiev as ideologues of Turkic Socialism. They are influenced byAttila İlhan,Doğan Avcıoğlu andŞevket Süreyya Aydemir also. They have been in favour ofYasser Arafat,Saddam Hussein,Kim Jong Il,Muammar Gaddafi andHugo Chavez because of their Socialism and Third Worldism,Rauf Denktaş andRebiya Kadeer because of their Pan-Turkism.
They supported good relations with Turkic and Islamic countries and they viewthe USA,Israel,EU,Russia andChina as enemies of Turkey.
They were often criticised for their views on Kurds. Especially their "Kurdish Invasion in Turkish Cities" theory is famous. They defended themselves with saying that Turkey is a nation-state and even saying "I'm Kurd" is separatism. They defend it with Nation definition of Turkish constitution. According to it, "every citizen of Turkey is Turkish, regardless of ethnic group, race and religion."Türk Solu defended that Kurds should melt in Turkish pot.
Unlike most of Kemalists, they also admired Ottomans and defended its legacy except 19th-century Ottomans. They consideredOsman I and Atatürk as similar leaders, who both created new states instead serving a defeated, perished state. Despite they also appropriateMehmed II,Selim I andSuleiman the Magnificent, they consideredMahmud II,Abdulhamid II andMehmed VI as traitors, they have a similar view of other last era Ottoman sultans.
The group publishedTürk Solu andİleri and founded a political party calledUlusal Parti.[6][7][8]
The magazine was closed following the July 15th, 2016 coup in Turkey and the magazine founder Gökçe Fırat Çulhaoğlu was arrested.[9]