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 advocated

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

and individual rights with heavy emphasis on the rule of law. Although liberal on economic and social issues, the party, especially

Ferruh Bozbeyli Ahmet Ferruh Bozbeyli (21 January 1927 – 28 July 2019) was a Turkish politician who served as the speaker of Turkish parliament and the chairman of the Democratic party. Early life Born in Pazarcık of Kahramanmaraş Province on 21 Januar ...

, strongly emphasized that one must strive to uphold their national and cultural identity.

Background

The historical Democrat Party which was the ruling party between 1950 and 1960 was closed by the military rule. In 1961 and 1965 elections most of ex Democrat Party adherents supported Justice Party, a party founded in 1961. After the 1965 elections, the Justice Party came to power. Following the 1969, however, elections in which Justice Party was again successful, tension between the liberal, conservative and Islamist wings of the party became evident. The liberal wing which had the support of former Democrat Party leaders (such as

Celal Bayar Celal is both a masculine Turkish given name and a surname. It is the Turkish form of the Arabic word Jalal (جلال), which means "majesty". Notable people with the name include: Given name * Celal Al (born 1984), Turkish actor * Celal Adan (b ...

, third president of Turkey), broke away from the Justice Party and founded the new Democratic Party, accusing them of condoning the rise of extremist movements. The Islamists had also left the party, founding the

National Order Party National Order Party (''Millî Nizam Partisi'', MNP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey, which adopted the '' Millî Görüş'' ideology. It was the first political party of the '' Millî Görüş'' movement and also the first Islamist p ...

History

DP was founded on 18 December 1970. The former parliament speaker

was the chairman. Saadettin Bilgiç as well as the relatives of the former Democrat Party members were among the other important MPs. The main competitors of the party were Justice Party and

National Salvation Party The National Salvation Party (, MSP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey, founded on 11 October 1972 as the successor of the banned National Order Party (''Millî Nizam Partisi'', MNP). The party was formed by a core group of working cadres ...

(or its predecessor

). In the 1973 elections, the Democratic Party received 11.9% of votes and sent 45 representatives to the lower house of the parliament. (It was the third party in terms of the vote percentage and fourth party in terms of the number of representatives.)

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP) was the winner. But CHP needed coalition partners to form the government. DP refused to form the coalition with CHP. Later in 1975 DP refused to participate in another coalition government led by Justice Party (4th government of

Süleyman Demirel Sami Süleyman Gündoğdu Demirel (; 1 November 1924 – 17 June 2015) was a Turkish people, Turkish politician, engineer, and statesman who served as the List of Presidents of Turkey, 9th President of Turkey from 1993 to 2000. He previously serv ...

) . However, after this last decision, the big names in the party returned to Justice Party on 9 March 1975.''Türkiye'nin 75 yılı'', Hürgüç Gazetecilik,İstanbul, 1988 In the 1977 election, the Democratic Party received only 1.1% of votes. On 4 May 1980, the party dissolved itself.

References

Defunct conservative parties in Turkey Political parties established in 1970 1980 disestablishments in Turkey 1970 establishments in Turkey Political parties disestablished in 1980 {{turkey-party-stub

Background

History

See also

References