The Nationalist Action Party From The Perspective of The British Secretary of State For Foreign Affairs Before 1980 Military Coup D'etat

Ideological polorization in Turkey in parallel with the developments in the world on the basis of the conjuncture of the Cold War period resulted in closure of the the doors for the dialogues and the appearence of the armed conflicts on streets. Turkish nationalism has been the ideology which showed the most serious resistance against the left ideology which aims to bring the universal communism to Turkey upon the satate’s failure to struggle. ‘’Idealist Movement’’ and ‘’The NAP’’ emerged as social and political institutions of Turkish nationalism during this period not only struggled with social, political, economical and cultural propagandas of all left movements and fractions but displayed a military resistance. The NAP and nationalist institutions which were the major elements of Turkey’s pre 1980 crisis period were investigated by the Western Powers and they made some evaluations within the frameworks of their politics. In this study, an extensive report which was prepared by Ankara Embassy of the United Kingdom, titled ‘’The Nationalist Action Party’’ and dated 2nd of September 1980 will be evaluated. The British Secratary of State for Foreign Affairs demanded a comprehensive memorandum from the British Embassy of Ankara regarding the nature, objectives and the responsibility of the NAP on the right wing political violence before 1980 Military Coup D’etat. The memorandum despatched to London by Embassy, is quite crucial because it reflects a foreign perspective of The NAP and his leader Alparslan Türkeş on the climate of the pre-coupe political and the violence in Turkey.

Keywords

The NAP, Alparslan Türkeş, Idealist Movement, Left and Right Conflict in Turkey, The United Kingdom.