The International Committee of the Fourth International welcomes with pride and enthusiasm the establishment of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi - Dördüncü Enternasyonal (Socialist Equality Party – Fourth International) as the Turkish section of the World Party of Socialist Revolution.

The formation of the section of the ICFI in Turkey is an event of immense historical significance. Although it was on the island of Büyükada (Prinkipo) in 1933 that the call for the building of the Fourth International was issued, the establishment of the SEP marks the first time that a party has been formed in Turkey based on the internationalist program and principles of Trotskyism.

The establishment of the Turkish section is the outcome of an intense and systematic process of theoretical, historical and political clarification. The foundations for the formation of a Trotskyist party in Turkey were laid by the late comrade Halil Celik, who initiated political discussions with the International Committee. Halil’s contact with the ICFI and his commitment to building its Turkish section resulted from his conclusion, drawn from years of painful experience with various forms of Pabloite opportunism, that relentless political struggle against these tendencies was necessary.

In 2014 the ICFI formally endorsed the efforts of comrade Halil, who had begun the education of a group of young socialists in the history of the Fourth International, to establish a section in Turkey. In 2018 the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) was formed. 

Halil undertook the translation of major publications of the International Committee into Turkish. He wrote: 

In a country where the working class and socialist movement in general have been dominated by Stalinism, Maoism and petty-bourgeois nationalist tendencies for decades, these books are of prime importance in developing socialist consciousness among workers and youth. Publications of the contemporary Marxist literature produced by the world Trotskyist movement in Turkish, we believe, will contribute to laying the theoretical and political foundation for the building of the Turkish section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI).

Despite his untimely death on December 31, 2018, Halil had by then recruited and educated a cadre of Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu that was determined to carry forward the fight for Trotskyism. 

In June 2022 the SEG submitted its application to join the ICFI. The resolution motivating the application stated: 

The building of a revolutionary party in any country is possible only on the basis of an international perspective, program and party. The only solution to the major problems in Turkey, which is in a critical position in terms of global geopolitics and class struggle, is the international socialist revolution. The founding of the SEP (Turkey) will be an expression of the global expansion of the ICFI, the only political tendency that assumes the task of solving the great historical problems.

The International Committee accepted the application of the SEG. This posed before the Turkish comrades the challenge of elaborating the historical foundations and principles of the new section. As there had never been a Trotskyist party in Turkey, this required the most exacting political work. It demanded not only a thorough assimilation of the history of the Fourth International, but also an analysis and explanation of the complex political and strategic issues that confront the Trotskyist movement in Turkey. 

While pursuing this theoretical work, contributing significantly to the editorial work of the World Socialist Web Site, and continuing their ambitious program of publishing critical works of the International Committee, the SEG undertook important political initiatives to expand the political presence of the ICFI. Of particular importance was the SEG’s organization, beginning in 2023, of annual meetings on the island of Büyükada to commemorate the life and work of Leon Trotsky.

In April 2025 the International Committee voted to approve the transformation of the SEG into the Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi and its recognition as a section of the World Party of Socialist Revolution. This vote was taken following a careful review of the organization’s document, The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Turkey). 

The Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi - Dördüncü Enternasyonal held its founding congress in Istanbul on June 13-15, 2025. In addition to the historical document, the SEP also adopted a Statement of Principles and a constitution. In accordance with Turkish law, the Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi - Dördüncü Enternasyonal was obligated to apply in Ankara for formal recognition as a party by the state. The official certification was received in August. 

In a video statement announcing the formation of the SEP, posted on the World Socialist Web Site, its national chairman Ulaş Sevinç states:

The Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi is unlike other political parties. We are part of the World Party of Socialist Revolution. We reject all forms of nationalism and fight for the international unity of workers, who have common interests and enemies worldwide. We reject petty-bourgeois identity politics, recognizing that the fundamental division in society is class-based.

All fundamental problems facing humanity are global problems stemming from the capitalist system. Since one cause of these problems is private ownership of the means of production and another is the division of the world into economically obsolete nation states, the solutions must also be international. The working class, as an international class, is the only social force capable of implementing these solutions. Rather than pursuing a “multipolar” capitalist world, the alternative to the nation-state system that leads to imperialist war and genocide is a federation of world workers’ states that will eliminate borders.

The ongoing genocide in Gaza is the most striking manifestation of the barbarism of the capitalist system and the decay of all parties defending it. As with other critical issues, it has become clear that the Palestinian question cannot be solved within the existing capitalist nation-state system. The same applies to the Kurdish question, which is an international issue. The only valid, progressive solution to these questions is a Socialist Federation of the Middle East, which will be established through the revolutionary mobilization of workers of all nationalities.

The Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi unequivocally rejects the “lesser evil” policy and fights for the political independence of the working class. This means rejecting class-collaborationist “popular front” politics, which subordinate the working class to bourgeois parties and interests.

Regardless of their differences, all capitalist parties are in complete agreement on two fundamental issues: allegiance to imperialism and hostility toward the interests of the working class. For this reason, by their very nature, they cannot resolve any fundamental political issues, including the Kurdish question. They cannot establish a democratic regime, ensure social equality, or pursue an anti-imperialist foreign policy. As Leon Trotsky explained in his theory of permanent revolution, these tasks fall to the working class in the struggle for socialism. That is, the struggle for democracy is inextricably linked to the struggle for socialism.

The Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi rejects the capitalist establishment parties and the pseudo-left parties that claim there is no alternative to collaborating with them. We call on workers and youth to build the Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi as their own revolutionary party.

The Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi is a “party of history.” Our party stands in the tradition of classical Marxism of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky, as well as the tradition of the October Revolution of 1917. Since its founding in 1923, the Trotskyist movement has defended and developed this tradition against Stalinism, whose “national socialism” betrayed the revolution in the interests of the Kremlin bureaucracy’s “peaceful coexistence” with imperialism that led to the collapse of the USSR; against Social Democracy, whose reactionary program of reforming capitalism has failed; and against petty-bourgeois nationalism, which results inevitably in capitulation to imperialism and defeat.

The aim of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi and the International Committee of the Fourth International, with which it is in political solidarity, is summed up in the following statement of Trotsky, founder of the Fourth International: “… the full material and spiritual liberation of the toilers and exploited through the socialist revolution.”

Join us in this struggle that determines the fate of all humanity. Visit sosyalistesitlikpartisi.org, review our documents, and join the party!

The foundation of the Socialist Equality Party in Turkey extends the work of the Trotskyist movement into a country that stands at a key strategic juncture of not only global geopolitics but also of the international class struggle. The massively powerful multi-national proletariat of Turkey is destined to play a gigantic role in the global struggle against capitalism and imperialism. 

Moreover, the raising of the banner of Permanent Revolution by our comrades in Turkey will inspire a new generation of workers and the most principled elements among the youth and intellectuals in the “emerging” countries of the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. The political bankruptcy of the national bourgeoisie—i.e., its subservience to imperialism and inability to satisfy either the democratic aspirations or social interests of the masses—is vindicating every day the insistence of the Fourth International that the future of humanity depends upon the socialist revolution and the transfer of power to the working class.

Long Live the Sosyalist Eşitlik Partisi!

Long Live the International Committee of the Fourth International!

Forward to the World Socialist Revolution!