Middle East Information Resource
Political Entities - Revolutionary People`s Liberation Party/Front
The Revolutionary People`s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) was originally formed in 1978 as Devrimci Sol, or Dev Sol. It was a splinter group of the Turkish People`s Liberation Party/Front. In 1994 some factional infighting takes place; it was renamed and it espouses a Marxist ideology. The group became virulently anti-US and anti-NATO. It is financed chiefly through armed robbery and extortion.
Since the late 1980`s has concentrated its attacks against current and retired Turkish security and military officials. In 1990 the Devrimci Sol began a new campaign against foreign interests. It assassinated two US military contractors and wounded a US Air Force officer to protest the Gulf War. It launched rockets at the US Consulate in Istanbul in 1992.
In 1996, as DHKP/C, it assassinated a prominent Turkish businessman and two others. Turkish authorities thwarted DHKP/C attempt in June 1999 to fire light antitank weapon at the US Consulate in Istanbul. The organization conducted its first suicide bombings, against the Turkish police, in January and September of 2001.
The DHKP/C carries out attacks in Turkey, primarily in Istanbul. It raises funds in Western Europe. However, a series of safehouse raids and arrests by Turkish police over last three years have weakened group significantly.