TERRORIST GROUPS
The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
( AS OF FEBRUARY 2025 )
OVERVIEW
The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) is a communist militant group that has conducted attacks in Turkey for more than three decades, including against the US diplomats there. The group was founded in 1978 as the Revolutionary Left (Devrimci Sol), fragmented after an internal dispute, and re-formed in 1994 as DHKP/C.
DKHP/C seeks to overthrow the Turkish Government and rid Turkey of 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 DKHP/C engages in arms smuggling, fundraising, and criminal ventures to support its operations in Turkey. DHKP/C has been sporadic in these activities since 1994 despite conducting several high-profile attacks. In early 2024, DHKP/C conducted an attack in Istanbul, which probably prompted Turkish law enforcement to increase pressure on the group.
OPERATING AREA
Turkey; some presence in Europe, especially Germany and Greece; historically active in Syria
MEMBERS
Unknown
TACTICS AND TARGETS
DHKP/C has historically conducted ambushes, assassinations, bombings, kidnappings, and—rarely—suicide bombings, primarily in western Turkey. The group has focused its attacks on Turkish Government targets, security forces, and occasionally foreign government facilities in Turkey. DHKP/C has used small arms, grenades, IEDs, and shoulder-mounted rockets in its attacks.
TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department 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 in 2019 to seven years imprisonment
Gulten Matur [DETAINED]
Head of DHKP/C in Turkey;
arrested by Turkish authorities in November 2022
NOTABLE ATTACKS
6 February 2024
Istanbul, Turkey
Two DHKP/C militants open fire at a checkpoint in front of the Istanbul Caglayan Courthouse, killing one civilian and injuring at least five others before police kill the assailants.
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 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 only in DHKP/C casualties.
1 February 2013
Ankara, Turkey
A DHKP/C suicide bomber detonates an explosive at a security checkpoint outside the US Embassy, killing one locally hired US Embassy guard and wounding two others.