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Türkiye Komünist Partisi / Communist Party of Turkey
Leader	Aydemir Güler
Founded	2001
Headquarters	Konur sokak No: 5 / 5, Kızılay, Ankara
Political Ideology	Communism
European Affiliation	none
International Affiliation	none
Colours	Red, yellow, white
Website	http://www.tkp.org.tr
See also:	Constitution of Turkey Politics Parliament Government President Political parties Elections

This article is about the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) formed in 2001. For the party formed in 1920, see Communist Party of Turkey

Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Komünist Partisi, TKP) is a political party in Turkey. They are known as TKP since they had changed their name Party for Socialist Power (Sosyalist İktidar Partisi, SİP) in 2001.

Contents 1 History 2 Support 3 Political view 4 Election results 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Party for Socialist Power was legally registered with Turkish authorities with this name although Turkish legislation manifestly bans the use of the word "communist" for a political party (the chief public prosecutor has asked the Constitutional Court to ban the party, but the court has effectively shelved the case so far). The party participated in 2002 general elections with the name of Communist Party of Turkey and received 0.19% of total votes as the party that got the least votes (59,180 votes); in the 2004 local elections, they received 0.26% of the votes. By the year 2005, they started to organise a Patriotic Front (Yurtsever Cephe) against "EU and liberal collaborators".

TKP has its roots in Socialist Power (Sosyalist İktidar), a group founded by expellees from the Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) in 1978. After the coup d'état, the group was dissolved. In 1986, some prominent names of the group founded the review Gelenek (Tradition) around which they organised a new political movement. Its name was a reminiscent of the notion "traditional left", i.e. Soviet communism. Gelenek is still the main theoretical publication of TKP. Party for Socialist Turkey (Sosyalist Türkiye Partisi, STP) was founded by Gelenek cadres in 1992 but it was banned by the Constitutional Court for alleged separatism (in 2003, ECHR reached a verdict that the ban violated the Article 11 of the Convention). As a successor to STP, Party for Socialist Power was founded in 1993.

TKP enjoys a limited support among students, workers and left-wing intellectuals, usually confined to Istanbul. Since the founding of the Patriotic Front, the party has carried most of its activities (such as the 2006 May Day parade in Kartal) with this front organisation and sees it as an essential medium to reach a broader public. TKP maintains some other "related organisations" (Association of University Councils and Nazım Hikmet Culture Centre) and "fraternal organisations" (José Martí Association for Friendship with Cuba and the Peace Association).

The TKP maintains a close relationships with KKE and shares its staunch anti-NATO stance. The TKP is also a dedicated supporter of Cuba. The TKP defends the point that the traditional Leninist formula of alliance of industrial proletariat and peasantry is defunct and its flag carries the cog wheel and hammer (çark-çekiç) instead of Hammer and sickle known in Turkish as orak-çekiç ("sickle-hammer").

• 1999 General Election: 37,680 votes (0.12%) as Sosyalist İktidar Partisi
• 2002 General Election: 59,994 votes (0.19%)
• 2007 General Election: 77,657 votes (0.22%)

In the 2007 election, the party obtained its best result (by percentage) in Ardahan on the border with Georgia, where it got 787 votes (1.42%).^[1] TKP does not maintain offices in Ardahan.

• Communist Party of Turkey (1920)
• Workers Party of Turkey

• Türkiye Komünist Partisi Official Website

v • d • e Political parties in Turkey
Current major:	Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi - AK PARTİ) • Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi - ANAP) • Great Union Party (Büyük Birlik Partisi - BBP) • Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi - CHP) • Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti - DP) • Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Parti - DSP) • Democratic Society Party (Demokratik Toplum Partisi - DTP) • Young Party (Genç Parti - GP) • Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi - MHP) • Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi - SP)
Current minor	Main Path Party (Anayol Partisi) • Eurasia Party (Avrasya Partisi) • Bright Turkey Party (Aydınlık Türkiye Partisi ATP) • Independent Republican Party (Bağımsız Cumhuriyet Partisi BCP) • Independent Turkey Party (Bağımsız Türkiye Partisi - BTP) • Great Justice Party (Büyük Adalet Partisi BAP) • Great Turkey Party (Büyük Türkiye Partisi) • Labour Party (Emek Partisi- EMEP) • Workers' Party (İşçi Partisi - İP) • Liberal Democratic Party • (Liberal Demokrat Parti - LDP) • Freedom and Solidarity Party (Özgürlük ve Dayanışma Partisi - ÖDP) • Social Democratic People's Party (Sosyaldemokrat Halk Partisi - SHP) • Socialist Democracy Party (Sosyalist Demokrasi Partisi - SDP) • Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Komünist Partisi - TKP) • Homeland Party (Yurt Partisi - YP)
Former:	Democratic People's Party (Demokratik Halk Partisi - DEHAP) • Democracy Party (Demokrasi Partisi) (1993) • Presence Party (Huzur Partisi)(1983) • Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Komünist Partisi - TKP) (1920) • New Turkey Party (Yeni Türkiye Partisi - YTP)
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