Örgüt ve Strateji: 1965-1980 Arasında Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi

Abstract

This article presents an in-depth investigation into the organization of the Turkishnationalist movement from 1965 to 1980. The evolution of the nationalist movement proceededalong two complementary but divergent axes: on the one hand, the official party organization,and, on the other, the wider fringes of the nationalist movement. The article aims to demonstratethe tension among the party cadres, where two underlying, but overlapping, divergences wereexposed: one was the ideological divide linked to the generational difference between the older,more secular, military-trained leaders, and the younger and more religious university studentstrained in the party clubhouses, which were called ulku ocaklari (lit. Hearths of Ideal); the otherwas the strategic difference between those who prioritized electoral success, such as the partyboard and its local representatives, and those from the ulku ocaklari, who thought that the onlyway to win the “war” against the socialists was to wipe them out by force. In the face of thesetensions, the unifying forces that kept the nationalist activists together were the cult of the leaderand the state of war with the socialists.