True Path Party
Encyclopedia
The Democratic Party abbreviated to DP, is a centre-right
, conservative
Turkish political party, established by Suleyman Demirel
in 1983 as the Right Path Party . It succeeded the historical Democratic Party and the Justice Party
- two parties with similar ideologies which were closed by the authorities after coups.
There have been four DYP governments since its foundation; one led by Demirel, the other three by Turkey's first woman prime minister, Tansu Çiller
. The party now has only 4 seats in Grand National Assembly after faring badly in recent elections, when many voters defected to the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party).
On 5 May 2007 it was announced that DYP and the Motherland Party
(ANAP) would merge to form the Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti). For that occasion, DYP renamed itself (based on the historical Democratic Party), and it was planned that ANAP would join the newly founded DP. Shortly before the election, however, the merging attempt failed. However, ANAP stated it would not contest the upcoming elections.
After the DP only got about 6% of the votes in the 2007 election
, Ağar resigned as party leader.
The Democratic Party and the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) merged in November 2009.
, Kemalist-conservative party. It has on occasion been compared to the AK Party in terms of similar conservative structures, although each party comes from backgrounds considerably different from the other. The DYP's history spans back to the historical Democratic Party, established in 1946 with the introduction of a multi-party system in Turkish politics, whereas the AK Party broke off as the more moderate wing of the disbanded Virtue Party.
The party's logo, a horse upon a red background, derives from the popular mispronunciation of its predecessor's name, "Demokrat Partisi". The word "Demokrat" did not readily roll off the tongue of rural voters, who found it easier to say "Demir Kır At" (iron, white horse). After the renaming in mid-2007, the logo became a white horse on a red map of Turkey.
, which was disbanded in the coup of 1980.
Both parties staunchly rivaled the social democratic Republican People's Party
(CHP). The military overthrew their governments on several occasions: In 1960, the Adnan Menderes
government was deposed and Menderes himself was executed; on March 26, 1971, the government of party veteran Suleyman Demirel
was threatened with military intervention and forced to resign; and on September 12, 1980 the military carried out a full-scale coup, suppressing all political parties, including Demirel's AP.
In 1983, Demirel created the Right Path Party , the antecedent of the AP - still conservative, but now with a secular agenda. Even so, the military and conservative governments banned the new party, and the DYP was declared illegal and its members persecuted. Finally, in 1987, the party was legalized, and entered Turkish politics for the first time. It was hugely successful.
In the 1991 general elections
, the DYP defeated the Motherland Party and the Social Democratic Populist Party
(SHP), forming a coalition government with the SHP. Suleyman Demirel became prime minister once again. In 1993, the DYP won once more. Demirel had already been elected Turkey's 9th President
, and his party was now led by Tansu Çiller
, who became the country's first woman prime minister.
In 1995 the coalition with the SHP, now merged with the Republican People's Party
(CHP), collapsed. After the December 1995 elections
, the weakenend DYP formed first a coalition with ANAP, led by Mesut Yılmaz
. Then, in June 1996, the DYP switched allegiances to form Turkey's first Islamist government with the Welfare Party
's leader Necmettin Erbakan.
In 1997, with the "silent coup", the military effected the RP-DYP government's resignation. In the meantime, the DYP had been weakened by the effects of the Susurluk scandal
. The DYP rejoined an ANAP-led government under Yilmaz, but the conservative coalition broke down in 1998. That same year, the DYP took a turn for the worse. The DYP then had heavy recruitment among police intelligence.
ANAP stayed in power with a left-wing party, the Democratic Left Party
(DSP), while the DYP joined the Virtue Party in opposition.
The DYP secured 9.55% of the vote in the November 2002 general election
, slightly under the 10% election threshold
to enter parliament. However, a number of independents later joined the party, and, in November 2004, they had 4 seats in Turkey's 549-seat parliament. The figure hardly made the DYP a driving force in Turkish politics, but it remained Turkey's third largest party and particularly influential in rural areas.
Tansu Çiller resigned as party leader following the 2002 election defeat, eventually being replaced by Mehmet Ağar
.
On 5 May 2007 it was announced that DYP and the Motherland Party
(ANAP) would merge to form the Democratic Party . For that occasion, DYP renamed itself (based on the previous party of the same name), and it was planned that ANAP would join the newly founded DP. Shortly before the election, however, the merging attempt failed. However, ANAP stated it would not contest the upcoming elections.
After the DP only got about 6% of the votes in the 2007 election
, Ağar resigned as party leader. At the 10th party congress held on January 15, 2011 in Ankara, Namık Kemal Zeybek
was elected as the party leader.
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
, conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
Turkish political party, established by Suleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
in 1983 as the Right Path Party . It succeeded the historical Democratic Party and the Justice Party
Justice Party (Turkey)
The Justice Party was a Turkish political party prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. A descendant of the Democrat Party, the AP was dominated by Süleyman Demirel, who served six times as prime minister, and was in office at the time of the military coup on September 12, 1980...
- two parties with similar ideologies which were closed by the authorities after coups.
There have been four DYP governments since its foundation; one led by Demirel, the other three by Turkey's first woman prime minister, Tansu Çiller
Tansu Çiller
Tansu Penbe Çiller is a Turkish economist and politician. She was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.- Early career :She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American...
. The party now has only 4 seats in Grand National Assembly after faring badly in recent elections, when many voters defected to the Justice and Development Party
Justice and Development Party (Turkey)
The Justice and Development Party , abbreviated JDP in English and AK PARTİ or AKP in Turkish, is a centre-right political party in Turkey. The party is the largest in Turkey, with 327 members of parliament...
(AK Party).
On 5 May 2007 it was announced that DYP and the Motherland Party
Motherland Party (Turkey)
The Motherland Party, was a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It was merged to Democratic Party in October 2009...
(ANAP) would merge to form the Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti). For that occasion, DYP renamed itself (based on the historical Democratic Party), and it was planned that ANAP would join the newly founded DP. Shortly before the election, however, the merging attempt failed. However, ANAP stated it would not contest the upcoming elections.
After the DP only got about 6% of the votes in the 2007 election
Turkish general election, 2007
Turkey's 16th general election was held on July 22, 2007 and resulted in a resounding victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party...
, Ağar resigned as party leader.
The Democratic Party and the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) merged in November 2009.
Brief background
The DYP is seen as a centre-rightCentre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
, Kemalist-conservative party. It has on occasion been compared to the AK Party in terms of similar conservative structures, although each party comes from backgrounds considerably different from the other. The DYP's history spans back to the historical Democratic Party, established in 1946 with the introduction of a multi-party system in Turkish politics, whereas the AK Party broke off as the more moderate wing of the disbanded Virtue Party.
The party's logo, a horse upon a red background, derives from the popular mispronunciation of its predecessor's name, "Demokrat Partisi". The word "Demokrat" did not readily roll off the tongue of rural voters, who found it easier to say "Demir Kır At" (iron, white horse). After the renaming in mid-2007, the logo became a white horse on a red map of Turkey.
History
The DYP's predecessor was the Democratic Party , which was a conservative party responsible for relaxing Turkey's strict secularism laws. The party was suppressed in the 1960 military coup d'etat and later reestablished as the Justice Party (Adalet Partisi, AP)Justice Party (Turkey)
The Justice Party was a Turkish political party prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. A descendant of the Democrat Party, the AP was dominated by Süleyman Demirel, who served six times as prime minister, and was in office at the time of the military coup on September 12, 1980...
, which was disbanded in the coup of 1980.
Both parties staunchly rivaled the social democratic Republican People's Party
Republican People's Party (Turkey)
The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...
(CHP). The military overthrew their governments on several occasions: In 1960, the Adnan Menderes
Adnan Menderes
Adnan Menderes was the first democratically elected Turkish Prime Minister between 1950–1960. He was one of the founders of the Democratic Party in 1946, the fourth legal opposition party of Turkey. He was hanged by the military junta after the 1960 coup d'état, along with two other cabinet...
government was deposed and Menderes himself was executed; on March 26, 1971, the government of party veteran Suleyman Demirel
Süleyman Demirel
Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel, better known as Süleyman Demirel , is a Turkish politician who served as Prime Minister seven times and was the ninth President of Turkey.-Life:Demirel was born in İslamköy, a town in Isparta Province...
was threatened with military intervention and forced to resign; and on September 12, 1980 the military carried out a full-scale coup, suppressing all political parties, including Demirel's AP.
In 1983, Demirel created the Right Path Party , the antecedent of the AP - still conservative, but now with a secular agenda. Even so, the military and conservative governments banned the new party, and the DYP was declared illegal and its members persecuted. Finally, in 1987, the party was legalized, and entered Turkish politics for the first time. It was hugely successful.
In the 1991 general elections
Turkish general election, 1991
General elections were held in Turkey on 20 October 1991. It was the first by the ruling Motherland Party to be contested without its founding leader, Turgut Özal, who had become Turkish president two years previously. The result was a swing against Özal's former party in favour of its fierce...
, the DYP defeated the Motherland Party and the Social Democratic Populist Party
Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey)
The Social Democratic Populist Party was the name of a former Turkish left social-democratic party, which resulted from the fusion, in 1985, of the Social Democracy Party of Erdal İnönü and the People's Party of Aydın Güven Gürkan, both founded in 1983 with the return to democracy after the...
(SHP), forming a coalition government with the SHP. Suleyman Demirel became prime minister once again. In 1993, the DYP won once more. Demirel had already been elected Turkey's 9th President
President of Turkey
The President of Turkey is the head of state of the Republic of Turkey. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office but has some important functions...
, and his party was now led by Tansu Çiller
Tansu Çiller
Tansu Penbe Çiller is a Turkish economist and politician. She was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.- Early career :She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American...
, who became the country's first woman prime minister.
In 1995 the coalition with the SHP, now merged with the Republican People's Party
Republican People's Party (Turkey)
The Republican People's Party is a centre-left Kemalist political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party of Turkey and is currently Main Opposition in the Grand National Assembly. The Republican People's Party describes itself as "a modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to...
(CHP), collapsed. After the December 1995 elections
Turkish general election, 1995
Turkey's 13th general election was held on Sunday December 24, 1995, triggered after the newly reformed Republican People's Party withdrew from a coalition with the True Path Party...
, the weakenend DYP formed first a coalition with ANAP, led by Mesut Yılmaz
Mesut Yilmaz
Ahmet Mesut Yılmaz is the former leader of the Motherland Party and was the Turkish prime minister in the 1990s.Mesut Yılmaz was a rising star in the Motherland Party of Turgut Özal, representing the Black Sea province of Rize in the parliament and serving as tourism minister in Ozal's cabinet...
. Then, in June 1996, the DYP switched allegiances to form Turkey's first Islamist government with the Welfare Party
Welfare Party
The Welfare Party was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, Milli Nizam Partisi and Milli Selamet Partisi , which were banned from politics...
's leader Necmettin Erbakan.
In 1997, with the "silent coup", the military effected the RP-DYP government's resignation. In the meantime, the DYP had been weakened by the effects of the Susurluk scandal
Susurluk scandal
The Susurluk scandal was a scandal involving the close relationship between the Turkish government, the armed forces, and organized crime. It took place during the peak of the Turkey–Kurdistan Workers' Party conflict, in the mid-1990s...
. The DYP rejoined an ANAP-led government under Yilmaz, but the conservative coalition broke down in 1998. That same year, the DYP took a turn for the worse. The DYP then had heavy recruitment among police intelligence.
ANAP stayed in power with a left-wing party, the Democratic Left Party
Democratic Left Party (Turkey)
The Democratic Left Party is a Turkish political party founded on November 14, 1985, by Rahşan Ecevit.-1985-1999:The DSP, a social democratic oriented party, was registered on November 14, 1985 by Rahşan Ecevit, wife of Bülent Ecevit, as he was banned from political life after the 1980 coup...
(DSP), while the DYP joined the Virtue Party in opposition.
The DYP secured 9.55% of the vote in the November 2002 general election
Turkish general election, 2002
Turkey's 15th general election was held on November 3, 2002 following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by Bülent Ecevit. It was won by the Justice and Development Party , led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, producing a crushing majority in spite of their winning just 34.3% of the national vote...
, slightly under the 10% election threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
to enter parliament. However, a number of independents later joined the party, and, in November 2004, they had 4 seats in Turkey's 549-seat parliament. The figure hardly made the DYP a driving force in Turkish politics, but it remained Turkey's third largest party and particularly influential in rural areas.
Tansu Çiller resigned as party leader following the 2002 election defeat, eventually being replaced by Mehmet Ağar
Mehmet Agar
Mehmet Kemal Ağar is a Turkish former police chief, politician, government minister and leader of the Democratic Party.-Early years:...
.
On 5 May 2007 it was announced that DYP and the Motherland Party
Motherland Party (Turkey)
The Motherland Party, was a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It was merged to Democratic Party in October 2009...
(ANAP) would merge to form the Democratic Party . For that occasion, DYP renamed itself (based on the previous party of the same name), and it was planned that ANAP would join the newly founded DP. Shortly before the election, however, the merging attempt failed. However, ANAP stated it would not contest the upcoming elections.
Turkish general election, 2007
Turkey's 16th general election was held on July 22, 2007 and resulted in a resounding victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party...
, Ağar resigned as party leader. At the 10th party congress held on January 15, 2011 in Ankara, Namık Kemal Zeybek
Namık Kemal Zeybek
Namık Kemal Zeybek is a Turkish politician and currently leader of the Democratic Party. A former civil servant as district governor, he was government minister in different cabinets....
was elected as the party leader.
See also
- Politics of TurkeyPolitics of TurkeyPolitics of Turkey takes place in a framework of a strictly secular parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of government, and of a multi-party system...
- List of political parties in Turkey
- Great Turkey Party