It was founded at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey in 1968 by Hüseyin İnan, Yusuf Aslan, Şirin Cemgil, Deniz Gezmiş, Taylan Özgür and Cihan Alptekin.
[3] In February 1971, the group kidnapped an American sergeant from a base in Ankara and held him in room 201 for 15 hours, before releasing him.
[3]On March 27, 1972, the THKO abducted three NATO engineers (two of them British, one Canadian), working at a radar base in Ünye.
[4] THKO was crippled after the killing of Sinan Cemgil, Kadir Manga, Alpaslan Özdoğan at Nurhak; Cihan Alptekin and Omer Ayna at Kizildere; and after the execution of Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan on May 6, 1972.
[2] Individuals benefiting from the political amnesty in 1974 and THKO cadres that were already outside of jail constituted a Temporary Central Committee.