Yön
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- Cemal Reşit Eyüpoğlu
- Doğan Avcıoğlu
- Mümtaz Soysal
| Editor-in-chief | Doğan Avcıoğlu |
|---|---|
| Categories | Political magazine |
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Founder |
|
| Founded | 1961 |
| First issue | 20 December 1961 |
| Final issue | 30 June 1967 |
| Country | Turkey |
| Based in | Ankara |
| Language | Turkish |
Yön (Turkish: Direction) was a weekly Turkish political magazine published between 1961 and 1967.[1][2] It was a Kemalist and leftist magazine.[3] In fact, Yön was more than a publication in that its contributors represented a political movement in the 1960s, Yön movement, which was a successor of the leftist-Kemalist movement in the 1930s known as Kadro movement. The latter also gathered around a publication, Kadro.[4][5]
Yön started publication in Ankara on 20 December 1961.[3][6] The founders included Doğan Avcıoğlu, Mümtaz Soysal and Cemal Reşit Eyüpoğlu.[7][8] The owner of the magazine was Cemal Reşit Eyüpoğlu, and Avcıoğlu edited Yön.[6] The first issue of the magazine contained a declaration of 500 Turkish intellectuals about a formal doctrine of socialism.[9][10] Therefore, the establishment of the magazine was the first serious attempt to publicize socialist views in Turkish society.[11]
Yön was an organ of Doğan Avcıoğlu's movement, namely direction-revolution movement, which is one of the most influential leftist movements between 1961 and 1971 in Turkey.[12] In line with this function the magazine had a social democratic and Kemalist stance.[13] For the magazine editors Turkey was a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country which was dependent on the Western countries, particularly the United States.[14] Therefore, the magazine supported anti-feudalism and the Third-worldist approach.[13] It attempted to establish a national front to achieve national democracy in Turkey.[13] Yön paid attention to the collaboration between the working class and progressive state bureaucracy in this endeavour.[15] It also emphasized the significant role of the Turkish army in a forthcoming revolution.[16]
In 1962 Yön criticized the cabinets formed by İsmet İnönü after those led by Cemal Gürsel, the leader of the 1960 coup.[17] The magazine claimed that the İnönü cabinets implemented some policies which were opposite of the desired steps taken by the Gürsel government.[17] It was closed following its 77th issue date 5 June 1963 due to the allegations of its support for the failed military coup by an army officer, Talat Aydemir, on 21 May 1963.[5] The weekly was restarted after fifteen months on 25 September 1964.[5][18] The magazine permanently ceased publication in 1967,[19] and its last issue was published on 30 June that year.[6][12] In fact, it was closed down by Doğan Avcıoğlu who declared that Yön reached its target.[10] During its lifetime the magazine produced a total of 222 issues.[19]
The closure of the magazine, in fact, reflected a significant change in the ideology of the direction-revolution movement.[12] After Yön ended its publishing, the leftist magazines Ant and Türk Solu which had different approaches in contrast to Yön were started.[13]