(Longish)YEARLY REPORT ON ANARCHISM IN TURKEY - 2001* In Turkey, year 2001 passed with the deep impacts of economic crisis that was declared to be the greatest since World War II. In the anarchist arena, unfortunately on the same days with the emerging of crisis in Turkish economy (on February) an attack to an anarchist comrade by a group of "so-called" anarchists caused a kind of "division" in the movement. But in general anarchism went on spreading all over the country and for the first time in their seventeen years of "official" history, a group of Turkish anarchists are arrested for the claim of "being members of an illegal organization". GROUPS & ACTIONS In 2001, Turkish anarchists organized in lots of different autonomous groups and around some campaigns. Except the "isolated group" Anarchist Platform which organized few own demonstrations in Istanbul, anarchists from Istanbul formed a new group named TSK-I "Initiative Against Domination and War-Istanbul". This group includes members from both IAMI (Istanbul Anti-Militarist Initiative) and kara MecmuA involvers with also individual participants from Istanbul. Mayday, Genova events etc. were among those demos that Istanbul anarchists participated. TSK-I also succeeded to organize a self-performance demo and few seminars against the war. Anti-MERNIS campaign (a campaign against national identity card number system-MERNIS) was one of those initiatives started by the same group. Ankara anarchists have their own place named Kara Kalem Sanat Atvlyesi "Black Pencil Art Workshop" in downtown since August 2001. More than dealing only with so-called "art", it is also an active meeting place for organizing every kind of activity. Last year they would manage to organize an anti-militarist festival and a press meeting for objectors. A number of fanzines published by various members of Ankara anarchist circle (including AN kara fanzin). They've appeared in lots of demos, in some carrying their own flags and placards. During Genova events, after the murdering of Carlo was heard, bank ATMs and walls of buildings in downtown met with anarchists. In Izmir, which is the third biggest city of Turkey, there are two main groups. One of them is IAF (Izmir Anarchist Federation); in fact they are just an autonomous group of young anarchists-not a "federation" in the real meaning of the word. They have published their own fanzine and attended some local demos. This group has some relations with "isolated" Anarchist Platform. There are some other anarchists who had worked with Genova initiative and appeared on Mayday; they used the name of Kara G|ndem "Black Agenda". ISKD (Izmir War Resisters Association) must also be mentioned here as an important anti-militarist organization. This group organized an international meeting named "Anti-Militarism and Feminism in Turkey" on September. It does also include a women group named "Anti-Militarist Feminists". This year various autonomous groups from different cities emerged. Anarchist Collective from Istanbul dissolved itself after succeeding in a few actions and publishing some materials. Some groups dared to declare themselves as "anarchist autonomous groups" (Ushak and Samsun) and some as local anarchists initiatives (in Antalya, Mersin etc.). This year on Mayday, Antalya met with anarchists carrying black fags. In other cities anarchists act either as "friend" groups or smaller initiatives. "ANARCHIST" PLATFORM AND ISOLATION POLICY On 10 of February, a group of 5-6 people attacked a well-known anarchist and conscientious objector grotesquely during a meeting about non-violent methods of struggle in Istanbul. The attack against him was probably because of his critics about the attackers but as it would be expected the attackers claimed him in other "personal" means. The incident was immediately condemned by most of the anarchist, anti-militarist and libertarian groups all around the country including MecmuA, IAMI, ISKD, Kaos GL, and Ankara Anarchists etc. The related group Anarchist Platform including AGF (Anarchist Youth Federation), SED (Social Ecological Transformation) and their periodical Efendizler (Masterless) did not make any statement about the subject, instead they preferred to claim the "other" groups and individuals for their isolation policy. As it was not the first not the last violent incident against anarchists organized by this group, "isolation" policy seems to continue until they have gave up their treatments and violent acts against anarchists. ANTI-MILITARISM Anti-militarist activities were mostly located in three big cities Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. For the day of Conscientious Objection on 15th May various activities were organized; mainly in Ankara and also two other cities. In Ankara, three day long anti-militarist festival included a seminar, an inner discussion, film exhibitions, and a concert (although it did not last long because of the rain). This was organized by mostly anarchists from Ankara and few anti-militarists. On 27th of October, two people from Ankara declared their conscientious objection against the military service. For some people their declarations were more than conscientious, "total" objection as they rejected any possible corporation with the state and the army. One of the objectors was a gay from Kaos GL group. For the first time as a gay "objector" he and his group stated the oppression of the state and army on gays. On the same day Ankara Anarchists organized an illegal demo against the ongoing war and in order to support the objectors. Similar demonstrations and actions were organized by anarchists in various cities and universities in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir mostly against the war in Afghanistan. On 27-30 September in Izmir-S}gacik, with the initiative of ISKD group an international meeting on anti-militarism, feminism and libertarian activities was organized. About 80 people attended; 30 of whom came from abroad. The issues were based on anti-militarism, pacifist methods of struggle, feminism, ecologism and anarchism. Although some disagreements among anarchists and some anti-militarists appeared, it must be regarded as a successful meeting. PRISONS AND ANARCHISTS On 1st of December, two anarchists were taken by the police in Ushak (a city in Mid-West Anatolia) with the claim of distributing "illegal" leaflets in a meeting organized by trade-unions. Later on, 3 other were taken, and all (5) of them were arrested with the claim of "being members of an illegal organization" namely Ushak Anarchist Autonom. In fact they had nothing to do except distributing their own materials/leaflets. But for this terrorist state, it may be enough to judge them with the claim of organizing in such a way "to destroy or to divide" it, although they did not even find any (in their own "words") "violent" or "terrorist" clues related with the group. Their trail will be held in Izmir DGM (SSC-State Security Court) and probably they'll be sent to Nazilli Prison. At the moment they are in Ushak Prison; each of them was put into different cells, which is not "usual". As it was heard they were badly beaten and tortured by Ushak police and refused the lawyer offered by the state. This is the first time that Turkish anarchists will be judged by Turkish State as an "illegal organization" and this trail will show the attitude of the state against anarchists and anarchist organizations. The last months of 2000 and the most of 2001 passed with the hunger strikes' of revolutionary leftist prisoners against F type prisons and the terror of Turkish state against them. Some anarchist groups and individuals supported the riots of political prisoners without being a tool for the leftist groups' policies. Yet, among the prisoners there are only five people who were arrested because of anarchist activities; most of the others naming themselves "anarchists" are former members of leftist organizations. Among these people there are some who are suffering from not only the oppression of the state and prison authorities but also the oppression of the leftists. This may even sometimes end up with death just like it happened three years ago in Bursa jail in suspicious murder of an anti- authoritarian/anti-militarist prisoner Mehmet Cakar by his former group TIKKO (Turkish Liberation Army of Peasants and Workers). "Anarchist" prisoners in jail did not "fully" support the hunger strikes as it was initiated by leftists -mostly led by DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front)- but some of them partially went a few days symbolic hunger strike. Only one among all "anarchists" in jail, Dervish Orhan personally -although his former organization PKK (Kurdistan Labor Party) did not support hunger strikes- went on a hunger strike for over 150 days including a few weeks of break. His "requests" were mostly personal; against the prison administration that had taken his personal notes, books, clothes and furniture. But this was not a hunger strike just for "requests", in fact more than that it was to protest the administration and on their behalf the State itself. In a few months time anarchists all around Turkey organized a campaign for the release of him, afterwards the needed money was collected to transfer him to hospital for medical control from Mersin (where he was imprisoned) to Istanbul. At last, after following some legal procedures with the initiative of his new lawyer, he was released on 31st of October for 6 months because of health problems. ANTI-SEXISM Kaos GL, which is the unique libertarian anti-heterosexual gay & lesbian group in Turkey managed to open the first homosexual culture center of Turkey (Kaos K|lt|r Merkezi-Chaos Culture Center) in Ankara on September 2000. Kaos GL is released periodically on every three months but fifteen days newspaper project Parmak (Finger) had failed after a number of issues. Unwillingly they have become very "popular" in the mainstream media with their participation in Mayday demonstration. Some women groups mostly from Istanbul and Izmir were active during this year; Sigacik meeting was a good organization in this means. ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM Yet Turkish anarcho-syndicalists and other anarchists that are members of trade unions did not manage to organize. This is more or less because of the fact that anarcho-syndicalism does not have any tradition or historical background in Turkish syndicalism history. In addition, Turkish legal infrastructure is quite problematic about establishing syndicates. That's why, anarchists usually choose to work in recent syndicates as just members or even sometimes they are taking some responsibilities. Although they are very few in number for now, increasing day by day -most of them are former Marxists- in some syndicates like KESK (Confederation of Public Workers' Syndicates-office workers syndicate for government sector). In the riots against the new trade-union law -which gave "legality" to syndicates such as KESK- anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists were among those people who has fought against the security forces. PRESS & PERIODICALS First issue of kara MecmuA (black Periodical) came on February and five issues were printed until January 2002. "MecmuA involvers" include different writers from -nearly- all of the previous anarchist periodicals; Kara (Black-first appeared on 1984), Efendisiz, Amargi, Atesh Hirsizi, Apolitika, Efendisizler etc. Each issue -but not the whole magazine- has a different subject to discuss and has a two months period to be released again. Published in Istanbul, it is distributed in most of the country and as an average more than 1000 are sold. Kaos Yayinlari (Chaos Publications) uses the same address with MecmuA and still the unique anarchist bookstore in Turkey. In addition some leftist bookstores publish -mostly translated- books on anarchist theory and history but yet "anarchism in Turkish" is not so rich. This year so called "Anarchist" Platform circle's periodicals like Efendisizler, Anarsi, and Kara Toprak (Black Land) did not appear so much (only a few issues). On the other hand zines are still active and lots of new anarchist and anarcho-punk zines born. Among them "AN kara fanzin" is different, as it looks like a "formal" periodical more than a zine-with both by number of the participants and with its page-format. The staff contains some anarchists from Ankara and the zine is distributed to many cities. Starting from May, three issues were published. Except this one, lots of zines Oldsletter, KatrAn, Veganarshi, Kontra Atak, Twillight Zine, Ictepi, Afanzin etc. were published in 2001 and as a counter culture they have signed the development of anarchist theory and practice in Turkey. As a historical and effective a well-known Turkish periodical on culture and literature, Varlik appeared to be an arena for spreading anarchist ideas. S|reyyya Evren, Rahmi Vgd|l, Yasar Cubuklu and Isik Erg|den are among the writers whose articles on anarchist and libertarian thought are good sources for intellectual ground. * Written by B. V. from AN kara fanzin - January 2002