On this day in 1973, the Turkish communist İbrahim Kaypakkaya was martyred after being imprisoned and then tortured to death by the Turkish state at the age of 24 years old. His political theories were considered so dangerous by the Turkish state that it is banned to this day. 
In his short life, Kaypakkaya became a founder of the Turkish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML) and a leading figure in the revolutionary movement in Turkey as well as one of its most prominent Marxist theorists.
His critique and analysis of Kemalism is seen as one of his most important contributions to Marxist theory, as in contrast to other Turkish revolutionaries he rejected the state ideology of Kemalism and conceived it as a form of fascism.
He was the first on the revolutionary left to say that "Kemalism maybe in words means democracy, but in its practice it means fascism", during a time where most still believed that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an anti-imperialist as founder of the Republic of Turkey.
Another important contribution he made was his thinking on the Kurdish question, where as a Turkish communist he spoke up for the Kurdish people's right to self-determination.
When in 1971 the Turkish military started cracking down on the communist movement, Kaypakkaya and his comrades were a main target as the Turkish intelligence agency designated Kaypakkaya as the most dangerous revolutionary in Turkey and a serious threat to the government.
In 1973, Kaypakkaya was captured and imprisoned in the infamously brutal Diyarbakır Prison, where he would be tortured for four months which would lead to his death. His body was mutilated and cut up. He chose to die rather than betray his comrades.
Today Kaypakkaya remains a heroic symbol of resistance both for the Turkish left and the revolutionary socialist movement worldwide.
