5-24-05, 8:34am

On May 6, university students from the Communist Party of Turkey and the Patriotic Front from all over Turkey held a demonstration in Ankara to commemorate Deniz Gezmis, Huseyin Inan and Yusuf Aslan, the three revolutionaries, who had been executed on May 6, 1972. Students gathered in front of the Ankara Branch office of TKP and marched to the Sakarya Street, chanting slogans. Metin Culhaoglu from the Central Committee of TKP also attended the demonstration and made a speech, in which he related the anti-imperialist struggle of Deniz Gezmis and his friends to the struggle against the European Union. After that, students took off to Adana, a city in southern Turkey, to announce in front of the Incirlik Military Base that the US imperialism will be kicked out from the military base and from Turkey.

On May 7, in the morning hours, students came from Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Hatay in busses to Ugur Mumcu Square and met there with students from the Adana Branch of TKP. From there they marched to Inonu Park, chanting anti-imperialist slogans. From Inonu Park, students marched to the town Incirlik, which is around 10 kilometers away from the downtown and where the US military base is located. On the way to Incirlik, the students passed by the US Consulate, which was heavily guarded by the security forces. Finally, students arrived in Incirlik with slogans and marches.

Although the students wanted to make a press statement in front of the military base, they were stopped at the entrance of the town. Gendarmerie and police forces attempted to prevent the press statement, but the students didn't allow the provocation of the collaborators, who were guarding the US soldiers and agents against 'patriotic students'.

Adnan Kemal Basaran, who made a statement in the name of the demonstrators, said that the USA had come only for a few months but never left the Incirlik Base. He added that it was hurting the independence of the country that Incirlik Base or any part of out country was submitted to the orders of the USA and used in the interests of imperialism. He concluded that the USA had to go out of Incirlik. Chanting slogans against the US imperialism and its collaborators, the demonstrators left the town with busses.

Deniz Gezmis and his friends were commemorated in other places, as well.

At the Dicle University in Diyarbakir, which is the major Kurdish city in Southeastern Turkey, Student Branch of TKP held a press declaration in front of the Arts and Sciences School on May 6. In the press declaration, students emphasized the anti-imperialist character of the struggle of Deniz Gezmis and his friends. Students also distributed leaflets to invite people to the commemoration event at the Diyarbakir Branch office of TKP on May 7. On the next day, the commemoration event was held, at which speeches were made and marches and folksongs were performed.

In Istanbul, the Avcilar Branch of TKP held a demonstration on the Marmara Street to commemorate Deniz Gezmis and his friends on May 8, Sunday. Before the demonstration, a stand was opened and TKP's weekly newspaper KOMUNIST was sold. Later on, the demonstration started with applause and slogans. Patriotic High School Initiative attended the demonstration in large numbers and Suleyman Nazif, representative of Patriotic High School Initiative, made a speech. Another high school student read out a poem of his own on Deniz Gezmis and his friends. Afterwards, Emrah Akansu, President of the Avcilar Branch of TKP held a speech in which he stressed out the anti-imperialist struggle of the TKP and Patriotic Front.

In Aksaray, a city in Middle Anatolia, the patriotic initiative commemorated Deniz Gezmis and his friends on May 6. The commemoration event started with a speech by Derya Ural, who talked about the struggle and patriotism of Deniz Gezmis and his friends. After that, participants listened to the defense of Deniz Gezmis from his own voice, which was accompanied by a slide show. Goodbye letters and poems by Denis Gezmis, Yusuf Aslan and Huseyin Inan were red out, and marches and songs were performed. The event ended with a speech by Kemal, who invited the participants to join the ranks of the Patriotic Front. After the event, the Aksaray Initiative of Patriotic Front took off for the demonstration in Incirlik.