Political Parties of Turkey

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[edit] Political Parties in Turkey

The Republic of Turkey was ruled primarily by one party, the Republic People’s Party, prior to the 1950’s. This party established a rule based on Kemalism. Kemalism is the continuous pursuit of progress to catch up, keep up, and even pass advanced civilizations. It emphasizes resistance to falling behind, being controlled, dominated, and humiliated by other non-Turkish entities[1]. It was not until 1946 that a multiple party system was implemented when the Democrat Party was founded. The Democrat Party also supported Kemalist principles and pushed for more personal freedoms in an effort to move Turkey more towards a democracy[2].

However, after gaining strength, the Democrat Party began to restrict news media freedoms and some civil liberties. This gave the Republican People’s Party a chance to regain strength as they moved away from an authoritarian rule and towards a more supportive stance on civil rights. The Democrat Party’s attempts to suppress the opposition lead to a military coup in 1960[2]. The Democrat Party was disbanded shortly there after. The Justice Party, which was primarily ex Democrat Party supporters, was established in 1961 to challenge the Republican People’s Party [2]. The two parties became the central focus of the Turkish politics which lead to a polarization of the nation. The Justice Party favored private entrepreneurs and industry and the Republican People’s Party favored the regulation of business and protecting the workers and consumers.

This polarization prevented the Justice Party and The Republic People’s Party from winning parliamentary majorities. This void of political cooperation opened the door for many smaller political parties to form and gain influence. Below is a brief description of the primary political parties that make up the Great National Assembly of Turkey. To hold representative seats in the GNA a party must capture a minimum 10% of the nationwide vote.

[edit] The Primary Parties

The Democratic Left Party (Demokratik Sol Partisi, DSP): Founded in 1985, this centre-left party was considered a minority party until it won 76 parliamentary seats in the December 1995 general elections. DSP is supportive of Turkey’s membership in both NATO and the European Union. In 1999, while the DSP leader was prime minister, the party captured 136 seats as Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the terrorist organization PKK was captured. In 2002 however, they were not represented in the parliament after only receiving 1.2% of the vote. During the 2007 election they joined the Republican People's Party and after the election the 13 DSP members left the Republican Peoples Party to rejoin their original party.[2][3]

The Republican People’s Party (CHP): This party was founded in 1923. After integrating with left wing SHP, CHP became a centre-left party. The Republican People’s Party is pro Customs Union and has a liberal stance on economic policies. In the general election of April 1999 the CHP lost it’s representation in parliament when it received only 8.7% of the votes. IN 2002 the party regained presence in parliament with 19.39% of the vote. They joined forces in 2007 with the DSP party and obtained 112 seats with 20.88% of the votes. DSP quickly took 13 of those seats and returned them to their own party.[2][3]

National Action Party (MHP): The Ultra-Nationalist Party, also known as the Grey Wolves, was founded in 1969. During the late seventies this paramilitary organization was blamed for the escalation of violence. In 1980 the MHP was dissolved following the coup of 1980, but was allowed to reform in the early 1980’s. In 1999 the MHP won 129 seats but lost their seats in 2002 after receiving only 8.34% of the votes. 2007 was a different story as they came back strong winning 70 seats in parliament with 14.27% of the votes.[3]

Justice and Development Party (AKP): This pro-Islamist party was founded in 2001 and won 34.3% of the votes in 2002. This political feat had not occurred in over 15 years. The party was initially greeted with concern by the Kemalist military and other Turkish Leaders. Quickly after gaining power the party leaders went to Libya and Iran to gain support for a new Muslim economic bloc. Since then the AKP has soften its stance as it searches for more moderate grounds. The AKP now opposes being labeled “Islamists.” They prefer to be called Pro-Western with a conservative social lean. The AKP supports the European Union and a liberal market. In 2007 they flexed their muscle as they won 46.58% of the votes and claimed 341 seats in parliament.[3][4]

The Motherland Party (ANAP): This centre right party was founded in 1983. It governed Turkey from 1983 until 1991. The party’s policies and constituency were similar to DYP party but intense personal rivalry hampered any sort of cooperation between the two parties. It eventually formed a temporary coalition with the DYP in 1995 and regained leadership of the government from July of 1997 until November 1998. During the eighties, the ANAP reformed the Turkish economy by allowing free-market reforms and down-sizing the public sector. However in the early 1990’s supporters began to lose faith in the leaders of ANAP. In an effort to regain support, the ANAP used incentives of wage increases for public-sector employees to entice voters. ANAP also applied to formally join the European Union in 1987, which was then called the European Economic Union. ANAP in April of 1999 fell from grace and became Turkey’s fourth placed party with 14% of the votes. In 2002 they only received 5.12% of the votes and did not have any representation in parliament. In the 2007 elections they struck a deal with the Democrat Party and retired from the elections in an effort to direct center-right votes to DP.[2][3]

The True Path Party (Dogru Yol Partisi,DYP): This conservative party formed in 1983 and is seen as the continuation of the Justice Party. It gained support form the rural areas of Turkey. The DYP shares many of the political and economic programs as ANAP but the two parties often times compete against each other as opposed to forming coalitions. This dysfunction allowed the Refah (Welfare) Islamist party to gain influence in 1995. During the 1990’s the DYP pushed economic reform. They aggressively supported membership of NATO as well as the European Union. After the 1999 elections the DYP was the fifth ranked party in Turkey with 12% of the votes. With only 9.55% of the votes in 2002 they were not represented in parliament. However, members of parliament left their parties to join the DYP in 2002 to give the DYP four seats. They finally formed a coalition with ANAP during the 2007 elections. They only gained 5.42% of the total votes and were not represented in parliament.[2][3]

[edit] Other Smaller Political Parties

Fazilet Party (The Virtue Party: This party, which was formed in 1998, had some prominence in 1999 as they won 111 seats with 21.3% of the vote. However, Fazilet was banned and closed in 2001.[3]

Gen Parti – Young Party (GP): A liberal republican party founded in 2002. Three months after its establishment they managed to get 7.24% of the votes during the November election. In 2007 the received only 3.04% of the votes falling short of the required 10% of the votes needed to have representation in parliament.[3]

People’s Democracy Party (HaDep): This Kurdish political party formed in 1994 never received enough votes to have representation in parliament. HaDep is the only party legally allowed to represent the interest of the Kurdish people. After failing to reach the 10% vote requirement in 1999 the Constitutional Court panned the party. The party was renamed DEHAP in 2002 and only gained 6.22% of the votes. They were banned once again in 2005 but changed their name once again to the DTP (Democratic Society Party). To circumvent the 10% vote requirement the DTP members ran as independents from their provinces. Twenty of them succeeded in gaining a seat in parliament. Once elected, the independents rejoined under the DTP party.[3][5]