TERRORIST GROUPS
The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
( AS OF JUNE 2023 )
OVERVIEW
The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi/Cephesi or DHKP/C) is a communist militant group that has conducted attacks in Turkey for nearly half a century, including against the United States’ diplomatic presence in the country. Founded in 1978 as the Revolutionary Left (Devrimci Sol), the group re-formed in 1994 as DHKP/C after an internal dispute between two rival factions caused the original group to fragment.
DKHP/C espouses Marxist-Leninist ideology and seeks to overthrow the Turkish Government and rid Turkey of “imperialist” foreign influences, such as NATO and the United States. The group has an active presence in Europe, especially in areas with large Turkish diaspora communities, where it engages in fundraising, arms smuggling, and other criminal ventures to support its operations in Turkey. DHKP/C’s last attack occurred in mid-2019 in Ankara.
OPERATING AREA
Turkey; presence in Europe, especially Germany and Greece; historically active in Syria
MEMBERS
Unknown
TACTICS AND TARGETS
DHKP/C has historically employed ambushes, assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, and—rarely—suicide bombings, primarily in western Turkey. The group has focused its attacks on Turkish security forces, government targets, and occasionally foreign government facilities in Turkey. DHKP/C has used small arms, grenades, IEDs, and various shoulder-mounted rockets in its attacks.
FOREIGN TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US Department of State designated DHKP/C as a foreign terrorist organization in October 1997.
KEY LEADERS
Dursun Karatas [DECEASED]
Founder of DHKP/C; died of cancer in 2008
Musa Asoglu [DETAINED]
Leader of DHKP/C since 2008; arrested in Germany in 2016;
sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 2019
Gulten Matur [DETAINED]
Head of DHKP/C in Turkey;
arrested by Turkish authorities in November 2022
NOTABLE ATTACKS
15 May 2019
Ankara, Turkey
Two DHKP/C militants are arrested by Turkish security forces after entering the Turkish Parliament with a fake bomb and a sharp object and trying to take a staff member hostage.
20 January 2017
Istanbul, Turkey
A DHKP/C militant fires a rocket-propelled explosive at a police headquarters building, resulting in no casualties.
10 August 2015
Istanbul, Turkey
Two DHKP/C militants open fire on the US Consulate and exchange small arms fire with local police, resulting in only DHKP/C casualties.
31 March 2015
Istanbul, Turkey
Two DHKP/C militants take a prosecutor hostage at a courthouse and later execute the prosecutor during negotiations.
1 February 2013
Ankara, Turkey
A DHKP/C suicide bomber detonates an explosive outside the US Embassy, killing one locally hired US Embassy guard.