List of party leaders in Turkey
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Below is the list of party leaders (former and present) in Turkey. Only the leaders of parties which were present in the parliament or received a considerable percentage of votes are shown.


The list


Key

, :CHP: :TCF: :SCF: :MKP: :DP: :CMP: :CMP: :HURP: :CKMP: :MP2: :YTP: :AP: :MHP: :GP: :CGP: :DP2: :TİP: :CP: :MNP: :MSP: :RP: :FP: :SP: :TBP: :DSP: :MDP: :ANAP: :HP: :SODEP: :DYP: :İP: :LDP: :VP: :BBP: :ATP: :SHP: :DTRP :DTP: :AKP: :YTP2: :HYP: :HDP: :YRP: :İYİ: :TİP: :GP: :DEVA: :YP: :TDP: :MP: :ZP: , : Republican People's Party :
Progressive Republican Party (Turkey) The Progressive Republican Party ( ota, ترقی‌ پرور جمهوریت فرقه‌ سی, Terakkiperver Cumhuriyet Fırkası) was a political party in Turkey between 1924 and 1925.Myron E. Weiner, Ergun Özbudun (1987) ''Competitive Elections ...
: Liberal Republican Party (Turkey) :
National Development Party (Turkey) The National Development Party ( tr, Millî Kalkınma Partisi) was the first opposition party in the Multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey, multi-party system in Turkey, established by Nuri Demirağ in 1945. Defunct political parties in ...
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Democrat Party (Turkey, historical) Democrat Party may refer to: *Democratic Party (United States) (founded 1828) **Democrat Party (epithet), a pejorative term used by opponents of the Democratic Party *Democrat Party (Chile) (1887–1941) * Democrat Party (Persia) (1909–1919/21) * ...
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Nation Party (Turkey, 1948) The Nation Party ( tr, Millet Partisi) was a conservative and nationalistic political party developed as a third option within the then bipartisan system in Turkey. It lasted from 1948 until 1953, when it was outlawed. The Nation Party was founde ...
: Republican Nation Party :
Liberty Party (Turkey) Liberty Party ( tr, Hürriyet Partisi) was a former political party in Turkey founded in 1955. Background Democrat Party (DP) won the 1950 elections and ended the one party era of Turkey. DP, being a moderately right wing party had promised ...
: Republican Peasants' Nation Party :
Nation Party (Turkey, 1962) The Nation Party ( tr, Millet Partisi) was a Turkish conservative and nationalistic political party active from 1962 to 1977. History An earlier party named " Nation Party" had existed from 1948 to 1953, when it was outlawed. The founders of the ...
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New Turkey Party (1961) New Turkey Party ( tr, Yeni Türkiye Partisi, YTP) was a former Turkish political party. Background Democrat Party which was the ruling party of Turkey between 1950 and 1960 was closed by the military rule in 1960. In 1961, a number of new p ...
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Justice Party (Turkey) The Justice Party ( tr, Adalet Partisi, AP) 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 off ...
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Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...
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Reliance Party Republican Reliance Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Güven Partisi, CGP) was a former party in Turkey. Background The Republican People's Party (CHP) which is usually credited as the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923 was the oldest party in Tu ...
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Republican Reliance Party Republican Reliance Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Güven Partisi, CGP) was a former party in Turkey. Background The Republican People's Party (CHP) which is usually credited as the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923 was the oldest party in Tur ...
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Democratic Party (Turkey, 1970) Democratic Party ( Turkish: ''Demokratik Parti'', DP for short) was a former political party in Turkey founded on 18 December 1970 . It should not be confused with the historical Democrat Party or the current Democrat Party in Turkey. The party ...
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Workers Party of Turkey Workers' Party of Turkey (''Türkiye İşçi Partisi'') was a Turkish political party, founded the 13 February 1961. It became the first socialist party in Turkey to win representation in the national parliament. It was banned twice (after the mi ...
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Republican Party (Turkey) Republican Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Parti, CP) was a former political party in Turkey. The Republican People's Party (CHP) which is usually credited as the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923 was the oldest party in Turkey. But after the pa ...
: National Order Party : National Salvation Party :
Welfare Party The Welfare Party ( tr, Refah Partisi, RP) 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, National Order Party (MNP) and National ...
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Virtue Party Virtue Party ( tr, Fazilet Partisi, FP) was an Islamist political party established on 17 December 1997 in Turkey. It was found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and then banned on 22 June 2001 for violating the secularist articles of ...
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Felicity Party The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the ...
: Turkey Unity Party :
Democratic Left Party (Turkey) The Democratic Left Party ( tr, Demokratik Sol Parti, abbreviated DSP) is a Turkish political party, founded on 14 November 1985 by Rahşan Ecevit and Bülent Ecevit. History 1985–1999 The DSP, a social-democratic oriented party, was re ...
: Nationalist Democracy Party (Turkey) :
Motherland Party (Turkey) The Motherland Party ( tr, Anavatan Partisi, abbreviated as ANAVATAN, formerly ANAP) is a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. It merged with the Democratic Party in October 2009, but in the September of 2011 the p ...
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People's Party (Turkey) The Populist Party ( tr, Halkçı Parti, HP) was a political party in Turkey which was active between 1983 and 1985. Background After the coup of 1980, all political parties were dissolved by the military government (ruling through the Natio ...
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Social Democracy Party (Turkey) The Social Democracy Party ( tr, Sosyal Demokrasi Partisi, SODEP) of Turkey was one of the two main parties of Turkey in early 1980s but later on merged with the People's Party to form the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) in 1985. Ideolo ...
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True Path Party The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...
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Workers' Party (Turkey) The Workers' Party ( tr, ) was a political party founded in 1992 and led by Doğu Perinçek. It has its roots in the Revolutionary Workers' and Peasants' Party of Turkey (TİİKP), the Workers' and Peasants' Party of Turkey (TİKP) and the Soci ...
: Patriotic Party (Turkey) :
Great Unity Party The Great Unity Party ( tr, Büyük Birlik Partisi, BBP) or Great Union Party is a far-right Sunni Islamist and ultranationalist political party in Turkey, created on 29 January 1993.Liberal Democratic Party (Turkey) The Liberal Democratic Party ( tr, Liberal Demokrat Parti, LDP) is a classical liberal party in Turkey. LDP was founded in 1994 as “''Liberal Parti”'' by Turkish entrepreneur Besim Tibuk. Tibuk was the advisor of Turkish President Turgut Öza ...
: Bright Turkey Party :
Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey) The Social Democratic Populist Party ( tr, Sosyaldemokrat Halkçı Parti, abbreviated SHP) was a political party in Turkey that formed after the fusion of the Social Democracy Party (''Sosyal Demokrasi Partisi'', SODEP) of Erdal İnönü and the ...
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Democrat Turkey Party Democrat Turkey Party ( tr, Demokrat Türkiye Partisi, DTP) is a former political party in Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located ...
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Democratic Society Party The Democratic Society Party ( tr, Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP, Kurdish: ''Partiya Civaka Demokratîk'', PCD) was a Kurdish nationalist political party in Turkey. The party considered itself social-democratic and had observer status in the So ...
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Justice and Development Party (Turkey) The Justice and Development Party ( tr, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, ; AKP), abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey self-describing as Conservative democracy, conservative- ...
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New Turkey Party (2002) New Turkey Party or abbreviated as NTP, ( tr, Yeni Türkiye Partisi, YTP) was a social democratic political party in Turkey. It was founded in 2002 following a leadership crisis in the Democratic Left Party ( tr, Demokratik Sol Parti, DSP) that ...
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People's Ascent Party The People's Ascent Party ( tr, Halkın Yükselişi Partisi, abbreviated HYP) is a Turkish political party founded by the Istanbul MP and theologian Yaşar Nuri Öztürk on 16 February 2005, adopting the principles of a democratic state of law. ...
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People's Democracy Party (Turkey) People's Democracy Party ( tr, Halkın Demokrasi Partisi, HADEP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey. Murat Bozlak founded the party on 11 May 1994. The party disbanded in 2003. History Bozlak's first chairmanship Party founder and at ...
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New Welfare Party The New Welfare Party ( tr, Yeniden Refah Partisi, YRP) is an Islamist political party in Turkey. It is the successor of the Welfare Party, which was banned in 1998. They adopt the National Outlook (Turkish: ''"Millî Görüş"'') ideology. Hi ...
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Good Party The Good Party ( Turkish: ''İyi Parti'') is a nationalist, national conservative, Kemalist, and liberal democrat political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 by its current leader Meral Akşener. Their fraternal party is the liber ...
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Workers' Party of Turkey (2017) The Workers' Party of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye İşçi Partisi, TİP) is a political party in Turkey. The party was established as a result of the internal strife of two rival factions within the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP). The faction led by ...
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Future Party (Turkey) The Future Party ( tr, Gelecek Partisi, GP) is a political party in Turkey formed by former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. The party was formally founded on 12 December 2019, in opposition to the ruling Justice and Development Party. History ...
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Democracy and Progress Party The Democracy and Progress Party ( tr, Demokrasi ve Atılım Partisi, DEVA, lit. Democracy and Enterprise Party) is a Turkish political party founded on 9 March 2020 under the leadership of Ali Babacan, a former economy minister under the AK ...
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Innovation Party (Turkey) The Innovation Party ( tr, Yenilik Partisi, YP) is a Turkish political party founded under the leadership of Öztürk Yılmaz, also currently serving as its chairman, on 20 July 2020. History Formation The party founder is Öztürk Yılmaz Ö ...
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Movement for Change in Turkey The Party for Change in Turkey, or TDP ( tr, Türkiye Değişim Partisi), is a Turkish political movement originally started and founded in 2009, transforming into a political party in 2020 under the leadership of Mustafa Sarıgül. It was former ...
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Homeland Party (Turkey, 2021) The Homeland Party ( tr, Memleket Partisi) is a political party in Turkey that was founded on 17 May 2021 by Muharrem İnce, the former candidate of the Republican People's Party (CHP) in the 2018 presidential elections. The party originated as ...
: Victory Party


Gallery

File:Atatürk Kemal (cropped).jpg, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk File:Musa Kâzım Karabekir.jpg,
Kâzım Karabekir Musa Kâzım Karabekir (also spelled Kiazim Karabekir in English; 1882 – 26 January 1948) was a Turkish general and politician. He was the commander of the Eastern Army of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I and served as Speaker of ...
File:Fethi Okyar.jpg, Fethi Okyar File:İsmet İnönü 1964 (cropped).jpg,
İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three tim ...
File:Nuri demirag.jpg,
Nuri Demirağ Nuri Demirağ (born 1886 in Divriği – died November 13, 1957 in Istanbul) was an early Turkish industrialist and politician, who was one of the first millionaires of the Turkish Republic. Biography His first enterprise was a cigarette pap ...
File:Mahmut Celâl Bayar.jpg,
Celâl Bayar Mahmud Celâleddin "Celâl" Bayar (16 May 1883 – 22 August 1986) was a Turkish economist and politician who was the third President of Turkey from 1950 to 1960; previously he was Prime Minister of Turkey from 1937 to 1939. Bayar began his c ...
File:Yusuf Hikmet Bey Bayur.jpg,
Hikmet Bayur Hikmet Bayur (also known as Yusuf Hikmet Bayur, 1891–1980) was a Turkish politician. He was born in Istanbul (then known as Constantinople by the Western World). He was the grandson of Kâmil Pasha, one of the Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empi ...
File:Adnan Menderes VI. Yasama Dönemi.jpg, Adnan Menderes File:Suleyman Demirel 1998.jpg, Süleyman Demirel File:Necmettin-Erbakan.jpg,
Necmettin Erbakan Necmettin Erbakan (29 October 1926 – 27 February 2011) was a Turkish politician, engineer, and academic who was the Prime Minister of Turkey from 1996 to 1997. He was pressured by the military to step down as prime minister and was later ban ...
File:Bülent Ecevit-Davos 2000.jpg, Bülent Ecevit File:(Turgut Özal) Felipe González ofrece una rueda de prensa con el primer ministro de Turquía. Pool Moncloa. 15 de septiembre de 1989 (cropped).jpeg,
Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...
File:Rahşan Ecevit - 28.2.15.JPG,
Rahşan Ecevit Rahşan Ecevit (''née'' Aral, 17 December 1923 – 17 January 2020) was a Turkish author, painter and politician. She was the second lady of Turkey four times during her husband Bülent Ecevit's prime ministries. Biography She was born in ...
File:Yildirim Akbulut (1988).jpg,
Yıldırım Akbulut Yıldırım Akbulut (; 2 September 1935 – 14 April 2021) was a Turkish politician, who was a leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP), the Prime Minister of Turkey, and twice the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. A lawyer by pro ...
File:Doğu Perinçek 2018 elections (cropped).jpg,
Doğu Perinçek Doğu Perinçek (; born 17 June 1942) is a Turkish politician, doctor of law and former communist revolutionary who has been chairman of the left-wing nationalist Patriotic Party ( tr, Vatan Partisi, VP) since 2015. He was also a member of the ...
File:(Tansu Çiller) Rueda de prensa de Felipe González y la primera ministra de Turquía. Pool Moncloa. 16 de noviembre de 1995 (cropped).jpeg,
Tansu Çiller Tansu Çiller (; born 24 May 1946) is a Turkish academic, economist and politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She is Turkey's first and only female prime minister to date. As the leader of the True Path ...
File:MuratKarayalcın.jpg,
Murat Karayalçın Murat Karayalçın (born 1943) is a prominent Turkish politician. He is a former foreign minister (1994–1995), deputy prime minister, and a former mayor of Ankara (1989–1993). He is the founder (in 2002) of the new SHP. Karayalçın was edu ...
File:Hikmet Çetin.jpg,
Hikmet Çetin Hikmet Çetin (born 1937) is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin former minister of foreign affairs and was leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) for a short time. He served also as the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembl ...
File:Devlet Bahçeli VOA 2015 (cropped).jpg,
Devlet Bahçeli Devlet Bahçeli (born 1 January 1948) is a Turkish politician, economist, former deputy prime minister, and current chairman of the far-right, ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). An academic in economics from Gazi University, B ...
File:Recai Kutan 2009 crop.jpg,
Recai Kutan Mehmet Recai Kutan (born 1930) is a Turkish politician and the former leader of Felicity Party (SP). Biography Kutan graduated from ITU, Department of Civil Engineering in 1952. Until 1973, he worked as an engineer in various projects includi ...
File:Altan Öymen.jpg,
Altan Öymen Mehmet Altan Öymen (born 20 June 1932) is a Turkish journalist, author and former politician. Biography Öymen graduated from the School of Political Science of Ankara University. He began his journalist career already in 1950 at age of 18, a ...
File:Ahmet Türk.jpg,
Ahmet Türk Ahmet Türk (born 2 July 1942, Derik, Turkey) is a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). He has been a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for several terms and was elected twice as the Ma ...
File:Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Poland (cropped).jpg, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan File:Zeki Sezer-edited.jpg, Mehmet Zeki Sezer File:Cem Toker2.jpg, Cem Toker File:Süleyman Soylu.png,
Süleyman Soylu Süleyman Soylu (; born 21 November 1969) is a Turkish politician. He is a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party who currently serves as the Minister of the Interior since 31 August 2016. He previously served as the Minister of L ...
File:Nkurtusmus kongre 2010.jpg,
Numan Kurtulmuş Prof. Dr. Numan Kurtulmuş (born 23 March 1959) is a Turkish politician and academician, currently the deputy chairman of Justice and Development Party. He served as Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in the 62nd, 63rd, 64th and 65th AKP governm ...
File:Masum Turker (cropped).jpg, Masum Türker File:Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in January 2023 (cropped).png,
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (born Kemal Karabulut, 17 December 1948) is a Turkish economist, retired civil servant and social democratic politician. He is leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and has been Leader of the Main Opposition in ...
File:Selahattin Demirtaş.png,
Selahattin Demirtaş Selahattin Demirtaş (born 10 April 1973) is a politician, author, and former member of the parliament of Turkey. He was the co-leader of the left-wing pro- Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), serving alongside Figen Yüksekdağ from 2014 ...
File:Secretary Kerry Meets With Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu (2) (cropped).jpg,
Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as ...
File:Binali Yıldırım.jpg, Binali Yıldırım File:Temel-Karamollaoğlu (cropped).jpg,
Temel Karamollaoğlu Temel Karamollaoğlu (born 20 September 1941) is a Turkish engineer and politician who is currently the leader of the Felicity Party (SP) since 2016. A prominent Islamist, Karamollaoğlu was the Mayor of Sivas from 1989 to 1995 and served twice ...
File:Fatiherbakan.jpg,
Fatih Erbakan Muhammed Ali Fatih Erbakan (born January 1, 1979, Ankara) is a Turkish engineer and politician who is the founder and leader of the New Welfare Party (YRP). A son of Necmettin Erbakan, the former Prime Minister of Turkey who led the YRP's pre ...
File:Meral Akşener İYİ Party 1 (cropped).jpg,
Meral Akşener Meral Akşener (née Gürer, ; born 18 July 1956) is a Turkish politician, teacher, historian and academic. She served as Minister of the Interior and was a vice-speaker of the Grand National Assembly. She also founded and is leader of the Good ...
File:Erkan Baş, 2019 (cropped).jpg,
Erkan Baş Erkan Baş (born 14 July 1979) is a Turkish socialist politician and academic who currently serves as the leader of the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) and an MP for Istanbul. Early life and education Erkan Baş was born on 14 July 1979 in West ...
File:Presidenta Dilma Rousseff durante encontro bilateral com Primeiro-ministro da Turquia, Ahmet Davutoglu (2) (cropped).jpg,
Ahmet Davutoğlu Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as ...
File:Ali Babacan 2020 (cropped).jpg, Ali Babacan File:Öztürk Yılmaz-2017.jpg,
Öztürk Yılmaz Öztürk Yılmaz (born 1970) is a Turkish former diplomat and politician. Having served as the Turkish embassy secretary to Kyrgyzstan and Brazil, he was appointed as the Consul General of Turkey to Mosul in 2013. He was taken hostage in June 20 ...
File:Mustafa Sarıgül (cropped 2).jpg,
Mustafa Sarıgül Mustafa Sarıgül (born 15 November 1956) is a Turkish writer, entrepreneur and politician. He is currently the leader of Party for Change in Turkey. He was the mayor of the Şişli district in Istanbul between 1999 and 2014. He is recently embro ...
File:Muharrem İnce cropped.jpg,
Muharrem İnce Muharrem İnce (born 4 May 1964) is a Turkish physics teacher, school principal, sport executive, and politician. He founded and is leader of the Homeland Party since May 2021. Formerly a four term Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet ...
File:Ümit Özdağ in June 2022.png,
Ümit Özdağ Ümit Özdağ (born 3 March 1961) is a Turkish politician and current Member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He was deputy leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) from November 2015 to February 2016. He announced his candidacy ...


See also

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List of political parties in Turkey Turkey is a presidential republic with a multi-party system. Major parties are defined as political parties that received more than 7% of the votes in the latest general election and/or represented in parliament. Minor parties are defined as polit ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Party leaders in Turkey Lists of Turkish politicians Turkey history-related lists