On September 3rd, 15 members of the Vatan Party’s youth wing, Vanguard Youth, put a hood on the head of a US soldier in the Turkish city of Izmir. The US soldiers were stationed on the USS Wasp, the largest assault ships in the American fleet, docked at Izmir Port.
Following the action, Erol Aslan, speaking on behalf of the Vatan Party’s Vanguard Youth, stated: “We will not allow US soldiers to be present in Türkiye. We are always watching them. Wherever we catch them, we will put the hood on their heads”.
But why the hood? Where does its significance come from?
Revenge for 2003
The incident known as the “Hood Event” happened on July 4, 2003, in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah. US soldiers raided the Turkish Special Forces Office, putting hoods on the heads of 11 Turkish soldiers, handcuffing and detaining them for 60 hours. Images of Turkish soldiers with hoods on their heads were shared by the US with the world press. The US claimed that the operation was based on intelligence about a planned assassination attempt on the Governor of Kirkuk.
The incident, described by the US Ambassador to Ankara as “a wound that will take a generation to heal” caused widespread outrage in Türkiye. But despite the sparked anger against the US, the Turkish government did not issue a formal diplomatic note or show any official response.
In the lack of any official retaliation or response from the Turkish state, the Vatan Party’s Vanguard Youth took matters into their own hands.
The seventh hood on the head of US soldiers
To date, the Vatan Party has put the hood on the heads of the US soldiers on six occasions: in Muğla in 2011, Antalya in 2012, Iskenderun in 2013, Istanbul in 2014, at the İncirlik Air Base in Adana in 2016 and in Istanbul again in 2021.
These earlier actions also garnered global attention and gained widespread support from anti-imperialist parties, groups and individuals around the world.
The Vatan Party’s hood actions campaigns were also documented in a film in Iran. The documentary “Çuvallanan akbabalar” directed by Mohsen Erdestani Rostemi and filmed in Türkiye, was broadcast on Iranian state television.
Salute to Palestine
In their statement following the action, Vanguard Youth also expressed their solidarity with Palestine: “US soldiers, with the blood of thousands of Palestinians on their hands, who commit genocide in Gaza, cannot stain our country. Every step they take on this land will be met with the response they deserve. Long live Palestine!”
A history of anger against US soldiers
The Vatan Party’s youth wing’s hood actions trace back to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the “Hood Event” in Sulaymaniyah. But that is not all, the story stretches further back. The Turkish youth’s direct struggle against US soldiers dates back to 1968.
In 1968, the youth movement in Türkiye, like many others around the world, was deeply anti-imperialist. The movement, claiming to uphold Atatürk’s struggle for independence, organized numerous marches, rallies, meetings and writings against the US and NATO.
The pinnacle of this anti-US movement came on July 15, 1968, in Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe. Turkish youths organized a massive march against the US 6th Fleet docked in Istanbul. Two days later, on July 17, the youths marched directly on US soldiers stationed on the shore, beat and threw them into the sea.
From 1968 to today
Many of the current leaders of the Vatan Party, including its chairman, were leaders of the 1968 youth movement. The party regards the 1968 anti-imperialist youth movement as one of its founding roots. In the words of party’s chairman Doğu Perinçek: “As the Vatan Party, we led the 1968 youth movement. We shouted ‘Down with the US’ back then. And today, Türkiye can go forward only by liberating itself from American imperialism. We have been advocating the same since 1968”.
The Vatan Party’s Vanguard Youth identifies their hood actions with the 1968 movement. Istanbul provincial president Murat Katlanç said, “We are the continuation of the 1968 youth movement. Just as we threw the US 6th Fleet into the sea in 1968, we are doing the same today”.