Political violence in Turkey (1976–1980)

Political violence in Turkey (1968–1980)
	Part of the Cold War
Date	29 December 1968 – 12 September 1980 (peak years: 1976–1980); (11 years, 8 months and 2 weeks)
Location	Turkey
Result	1980 Turkish coup d'état Resurgence of the Maoist insurgency; Beginning of the PKK insurgency;
Belligerents
Right-wing groups: Grey Wolves (MHP); Turkish Revenge Brigade; Turkish mafia; Raiders Organization (MSP); Turkish National Student Union; TÜRK-İŞ; MİSK (MHP); Supported by:; Counter-Guerrilla;	Left-wing groups: DEV-GENÇ; TİİKP; TKP/ML (TİKKO); THKO; DEV-YOL; THKP-C/MLSPB; THKP-C; Progressive Youth Association (TKP); DİSK; Liberation Movement; People's Path; DEV-SOL;
Commanders and leaders
Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu; Alparslan Türkeş; Abdullah Çatlı;	İbrahim Kaypakkaya †; Deniz Gezmiş ; Mahir Çayan †; Others;
Strength
Around 200,000	Around 113,000
Casualties and losses
1,826	2,109
	Total: 5,388 killed, affiliation of 1,983 victims unknown.

Political violence in Turkey became a serious problem in the late 1970s and was even described as a "low-level civil war". Far-left groups and Turkish right-wing ultranationalist gangs, sometimes allied with the state, were responsible for most of the violence. Ultimately, over 5,000 people died in the conflict. The violence lessened for a while after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, and was later overshadowed by the PKK insurgency in 1984 and the revival of the Maoist insurgency.