On Wednesday, October 16, a threatening letter signed “Turkish Revenge Brigade” (TİT) was left on the car of lawyer Şiar Rişvanoğlu, a member of the Revolutionary Workers’ Party (DİP). The car was damaged by perpetrator(s) who remain at large. The Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (SEG) strongly condemns this fascist threat and attack and calls on workers and youth to show solidarity with Rişvanoğlu.

The threat against Rişvanoğlu came in direct response to his speech at the general assembly of the Adana Bar Association, held on October 12 and 13.

Speaking to the Gazete Duvar, Rişvanoğlu explained: “In the general assembly, I first talked about the attacks on the Polonez workers and the working class. I spoke about Reşit Kibar who lost his life for defending the land [Kibar was killed on September 3, 2024]. I talked about Sürmi İnce, who was murdered in Hakkari and the suspect was sentenced to three years in prison but only served one year. I talked about the Palestinian struggle; I made a proposal to close the border between Kürecik and İncirlik and to stop the transports from the Ceyhan pipeline.”

For more than three months, 146 workers at the Polonez meat factory in Istanbul have been protesting outside their workplace because they were fired after joining a union. On September 3, 2024, Kibar, aged 44, was shot dead by a person allegedly connected to the company during a protest against its attempt to cut down trees in a forested area in the northeastern city of Artvin. On July 18, 2016, İnce (55) was shot and killed by a specialist sergeant in the southeastern countryside of Hakkari as she was taking food to her children who were cutting grass. The defendant was eventually sentenced to only three years in prison.

In the message left on the car, the Turkish Revenge Brigade made violent threats in direct response to this speech, stating: “Communist traitor Şiyar [sic] Rişvanoğlu; If you think that you can camouflage yourself with Palestinian flags, with rants about imperialism, Zionism or with the words of hunger and poverty, you are wrong! We will cut off your tongue that reaches out to our beloved state, its soldiers and police, we will break your head, we will carve the Turkish three crescents on your forehead! Those Polonez workers, terrorist Kurds, LGBT faggots etc. that you defend will not save you. We won’t warn you again! Turkish Revenge Brigade.”

Targeting the workers, declaring the Kurdish people as “terrorists” and threatening Rişvanoğlu with injury and death in this fascist threatening message, which refers to the “three crescents,” the official symbol of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ally of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is part of the attempt of the ruling class to suppress and intimidate all social and political opposition using dark paramilitary forces.

The TİT’s references on Palestine and Zionism are an expression of the discomfort of the fascistic and far-right pro-Erdogan government forces with the exposure of Turkey’s continued complicity in Israel’s imperialist-backed genocide in Gaza. Despite Erdogan’s rhetorical condemnations, Turkey maintains diplomatic relations with Israel, continues to export critical materials to Israel through Palestine, allows oil from Azerbaijan to flow to Israel through Turkish pipelines and ports, and turns a blind eye to US-NATO bases in the country that provide the Netanyahu government with intelligence.

The murky record and threats of the TİT are a serious warning to the working class. The name of this group, which has been officially known since the 1970s but has never been called to account by the state, has been implicated in numerous assassinations and death threats, especially against Kurdish politicians and leftists.

Rişvanoğlu faced a similar physical attack and threat in 2020. The attackers, who broke through the door of his lawyer’s office while it was empty, left a threatening message that could not be misunderstood: “If you continue to pester the security forces of our glorious state, many other things will be shattered and scattered. Watch your step, you odious traitor!!!!!”

As we stated at the time, the well-documented political differences of the SEG with the DİP do not diminish our opposition to this attacks and threats. This assault on basic democratic rights and on any opposition to the reactionary policies of the government must be met with mass opposition by the working class.