NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Republican People's Party (Turkey)

The Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi or CHP) is the oldest Turkish political party, which established the Republican regime and the parliament in Turkey. The party's logo is six white arrows on a red background. CHP can mean: combined heat and power California Highway Patrol Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Republican Peoples Party of Turkey) Christian Heritage Party CHP - Netzwerk innovatives Planen - Generalplanungen im Bauwesen - http://www. ...

On domestic policy, the party is generally regarded as being social-democratic (though rooted in the corporatism of the early Republic). Today, CHP is considered state nationalistic and secular/laicist; it is also a member of the Socialist International^[1]. The party's logo consists of the Six Arrows, which represent the foundational principles of Kemalist Ideology: republicanism, nationalism, statism, populism, secularism, and revolutionism. These principles were formulated and propounded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first leader of the Republic of Turkey. (It should be noted that these principles did not have the same meaning in the 1920s and 1930s in Turkey that they do in contemporary English.) Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... Historically, corporatism or corporativism (Italian: corporativismo) refers to a political or economic system in which power is given to civic assemblies that represent economic, industrial, agrarian, and professional groups. ... State nationalism is a form of nationalism which implies that the nation is a community of those who contribute to the maintenance and strength of the state. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Separation of church and state. ... The official symbol of Socialist International. ... Mustafa Kemal AtatÃ¼rks six great principles (in Turkish AltÄ± Ok) while founding the modern Turkish Republic. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, with an emphasis on liberty, rule by the people, and the civic virtue practiced by citizens. ... EugÃ¨ne Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolising French nationalism during the July Revolution 1830. ... Statism (or Etatism) is a term that is used to describe: Specific instances of state intervention in personal, social or economic matters. ... George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906), British writer who coined the term secularism. ... The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution. ... Mustafa Kemal AtatÃ¼rk (1881 â€“ November 10, 1938) was an army officer, revolutionary statesman, the founder of the Republic of Turkey and its first President. ...

History

Party associates itself with Mustafa Kemal and his friendships that he build during the World War I, especially the Gallipoli Campaign, in which the leader Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) was an Ottoman military officer. CHP played a significant role during Establishment of Turkish national movement. CHP also claims that Turkish War of Independence is also its history, as the Congress of Sivas was accepted as the first general congress of the Republican People's Party. CHP perceives Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as the party chairman as the Representative Committee (Temsil Heyeti) was CHP^{[citation needed]}. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881 – November 10, 1938), Turkish soldier and statesman, was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. ... â€œThe Great War â€ redirects here. ... Battle of Gallipoli Conflict First World War Date 19 February 1915 - 9 January 1916 Place Gallipoli peninsula, Turkey Result Ottoman victory The Battle of Gallipoli took place on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in 1915 during the First World War. ... Establishment of Turkish national movement explains the initial stages of the alliance that will become Turkish revolutionaries which waged an independence war that resulted in decleration of Republic of Turkey. ... Combatants Turkish Revolutionaries United Kingdom Greece France Italy Armenia Ottoman Empire Georgia Commanders Mustafa Kemal Ä°smet Ä°nÃ¶nÃ¼ KazÄ±m Karabekir Ali Fuat Cebesoy Fevzi Ã‡akmak George Milne Henri Gouraud Papoulas Georgios Hatzianestis Drastamat Kanayan Movses Silikyan SÃ¼leyman Åžefik Pasha The Turkish War of Independence (Turkish: KurtuluÅŸ SavaÅŸÄ± or...

CHP and Single-Party Period

Republican People's Party is accepted to be established on 9 September 1923. After the effective Turkish War of Independence, the first cabinet of the Republic of Turkey was formed on October 30 by Ismet Inönü, the closest ally of Mustafa Kemal. On 10 November 1924, People's Party was renamed as the Republican People's Party (CHP). This is the beginning of the Single-Party Period of Republic of Turkey, which CHP politics was the main politics. AtatÃ¼rk, modern Turkeys founder and first President The history of modern Turkey begins with the foundation of the republic on October 29, 1923 (the Republic was declared on January 20, 1921), with Mustafa Kemal (AtatÃ¼rk) as its first president. ... Combatants Turkish Revolutionaries United Kingdom Greece France Italy Armenia Ottoman Empire Georgia Commanders Mustafa Kemal Ä°smet Ä°nÃ¶nÃ¼ KazÄ±m Karabekir Ali Fuat Cebesoy Fevzi Ã‡akmak George Milne Henri Gouraud Papoulas Georgios Hatzianestis Drastamat Kanayan Movses Silikyan SÃ¼leyman Åžefik Pasha The Turkish War of Independence (Turkish: KurtuluÅŸ SavaÅŸÄ± or... Ä°smet Ä°nÃ¶nÃ¼ 1884-1973 Mustafa Ä°smet Ä°nÃ¶nÃ¼ (1884 - December 25, 1973) was a Turkish soldier, statesman and the second President of Turkey. ... Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881 – November 10, 1938), Turkish soldier and statesman, was the founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey. ... AtatÃ¼rk, modern Turkeys founder and first President The history of modern Turkey begins with the foundation of the republic on October 29, 1923 (the Republic was declared on January 20, 1921), with Mustafa Kemal (AtatÃ¼rk) as its first president. ...

CHP and Multiparty Period

The day after Atatürk's death, Ismet Inönü was elected the second president and assumed the leadership of the Republican People's Party (CHP). On the general nationwide congress of CHP on 26 December 1938, Ismet Inönü was elected as the "everlasting CHP leader" after Atatürk era. The delegates donated Atatürk the title "eternal chief", and to Inönü the title "national chief". This page summarizes the history after the Multi-party period. ...

İnönü Period

During 1940s, CHP established Village Institutes, which were an enlightenment project developed in order to lift the huge gap between the urban and rural areas ^{[citation needed]}. Various scientists, writers, teachers, and doctors graduated from Village Institutes; and supported Turkey's modernization efforts. Village Institutes (In Turkish: KÃ¶y EnstitÃ¼leri) is a group of co-ed, public, boarding, normal schools that were operational between 1940 and 1954 in Turkey. ...

At the elections of 1946, CHP gained 396 seats and ranked as the first party. However, to protect their seats before the 1946 elections, CHP had introduced and passed the antidemocratic electoral legislation bringing the winner-take-all system. In this system, if a party got the most votes in a province, it would have captured all seats of that province. However at the elections of 1950, Republican People's Party was hit by its own electoral system, DP gained 408 with 53.3% vote. This was followed by the defeat on 3 September 1950 municipal elections, in which Democratic Party (DP) gained 560 municipalities, and CHP only 40 municipalities. Elections in Turkey gives information on election and election results in Turkey. ... Elections in Turkey gives information on election and election results in Turkey. ... The Democratic Party (Demokrat Parti) was a Turkish moderately right wing political party, and the countrys second legal opposition party. ...

Real multiparty democracy, parlement, started with CHP transferring power to DP in a peaceful manner, without a revolution or a coup. From that time on, Republican People's Party formed the official opposition.

On 26 November 1951, in the ninth Congress of CHP, youth branch and women branch of CHP were formed. On 22 June 1953 establishment of labor unions and vocational chambers was proposed, and the right to strike for workers was introduced in the party program.

On 2 May 1954, CHP again lost the elections to DP, gaining only 31 seats with 35.4% of the total vote. DP captured 505 seats with 57.6% vote, due to the winner-take-all system. However, from that time on, CHP started increasing its votes, CHP intensified its opposition tactics, increasing its vote share to 41%, gaining 178 seats, in the 27 October 1957 elections. DP gained 424 seats with 47.9% vote.

Since Democratic Party could not stand the opposition of CHP; DP threatened to close CHP, and confiscated all belongings of CHP, including the heritage of Atatürk. In addition, Democratic Party also oppressed other opposition parties; suppressing the media, and violating democracy.

In addition to the authoritarian government, Democratic Party also suffered from corruption and increasing inflation, caused by the devaluation and external debt. In the single-party CHP government, CHP developed the railway system; but DP insisted on the highways and motorways, which increased the petroleum demand of the young Turkish Republic, creating great economic crises.

Eventually on 27 May 1960; the Turkish army, supported by the media, university professors, seized the power and overthrew the Democratic Party government. Even tough the military intervention is mostly welcomed by CHP members, CHP leader İnönü was strongly opposed to the coup.

In the military coup of 1960, National Unity Committee was formed by the upper-class soldiers. National Unity Committee closed Democratic Party and started trials to punish Democratic Party leaders for their dictator regime. As a result, on 16/17 September 1961, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, Foreign Minister Fatin Rüstü Zorlu, and Finance Minister Hasan Polatkan were hanged in Imrali island prison. President Celal Bayar was forgiven due to his old age, but sentenced to life imprisonment. Inonu tried to stop the executions but wasn't succesfull in his attemps. He was a respected person in the army but he was too old to show his power. The military coup in Turkey, 1960 was a coup detat staged by a group of radical Turkish army officers, from the ranks of colonel and below, against the government of the Democratic Party on May 27, 1960. ... Menderes greets his supporters Adnan Menderes (1899 - September 17, 1961) was a Turkish statesman and prime minister between 1950â€“1960. ... Hasan Polatkan (1915 - 1961) was a Turkish politician and Minister of Labor and Finance, who was executed by hanging after the coup dÃ©tat in 1960 along with two other cabinet members. ... Celal Bayar Mahmut Celal Bayar (May 16, 1883 - August 22, 1986) was a Turkish politician, statesman and the third President of Turkey. ...

In 1961, Justice Party (AP) was established, claiming to be the successor to the Democratic Party. In the meantime, National Unity Committee established an interim House of Representatives instead of the TBMM, in order to prepare a new constitution for Turkey. In the new constitution, Constitutional Court was to be established, to prevent the government from violating the constitution (just as in the example of DP). 1961 constitution is accepted to be the most liberal and democratic constitution of Turkey. Also, the winner-take-all electoral system was immediately abolished, and proportional representation system was introduced. New constitution brought Turkey a bicameral parliament, composed of the Senate of the Republic as the upper chamber, and National Assembly as the lower chamber. National Unity Committee chairman General Cemal Gürsel was elected as the fourth president of Turkey. The Justice Party (Turkish: Adalet Partisi, AP) was a Turkish political party prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. ...

On 15 October 1961, CHP won the elections, gaining 173 seats with the 36.7% of the vote. AP gained 158 seats, with 34.8% of the vote, below the last vote of DP. CHP leader Ismet Inönü formed the coalition with Justice Party (AP) as the prime minister. This was the first coalition government in Turkey's history. Inönü established two coalition governments until the 1965 elections. Ä°smet Ä°nÃ¶nÃ¼ 1884-1973 Mustafa Ä°smet Ä°nÃ¶nÃ¼ (1884 - December 25, 1973) was a Turkish soldier, statesman and the second President of Turkey. ...

Süleyman Demirel became prime minister in the late 1960's, and because he was the leader of the AP (Justice Party), he continued in the tradition of Adnan Menderes gaining a large amount of support from both the religious and democrats. Sami SÃ¼leyman GÃ¼ndoÄŸdu Demirel (born November 1, 1924) is a Turkish politician who served as prime minister seven times and was the 9th President of Turkey. ...

Ecevit Period

In 1971, the CHP-backed army brought down the AP government of Süleyman Demirel, and, in 1973, following some interim governments, the CHP was restored to power under Bülent Ecevit. Bülent Ecevit the CHP began to take on a distinct left wing role in politics and although remaining staunchly nationalist tried to implement socialism into the ideology of CHP. Sami SÃ¼leyman GÃ¼ndoÄŸdu Demirel (born November 1, 1924) is a Turkish politician who served as prime minister seven times and was the 9th President of Turkey. ... Mustafa BÃ¼lent Ecevit (May 28, 1925â€“November 5, 2006; pronounced ), was a Turkish politician, poet, writer and journalist. ...

In 1975, the CHP was again defeated by the Justice Party, where Demirel became prime minister again. From 1977 to 1979, the CHP was back in power with Ecevit (mostly in coalition with smaller parties including oddly enough the Islamist MSP party of Necmettin Erbakan later to be leader of the Refah Party), but in 1980, the AP returned with Demirel. The political switching between the CHP and the AP came to an end when the military performed a coup and banned all political parties. Islamism is a political ideology derived from the conservative religious views of Muslim fundamentalism. ... Necmettin Erbakan (born October 29, 1926) is a Turkish engineer, academic, politician, political party leader and prime minister of Turkey between 1996 and 1997. ...

Recovery Period

After the 1980 military coup, the name of "Republican People's Party" and the abbreviation CHP was banned from use by the military regime. After the 1987 referendum and a legislation (in 1993) allowing the reestablishment of older parties, CHP was reestablished.

In 1991, since Turkey's election system had two large election thresholds (10 % nationwide and 15 % local thresholds) and since center-left is divided into two parties (SHP and DSP), social democrats and democratic left groups had little power in the parliament. Between 1991 and 1995, Turkey was ruled by the coalition of center-right DYP and center-left SHP (= Social Democratic Populist Party)(later SHP joined CHP).

Until 1998, Turkey was ruled by the center right Motherland Party (ANAP) and the True Path Party (DYP), unofficial successors of the Democrat Party. In 1995, the Islamic Welfare Party (Refah Party) step into Parliament, and the CHP seemed to have been deserted by the Turkish people, having only 10 % nationwide support and only 49 deputies of 550. It now seemed as if the CHP had been replaced as the main left-wing party. The Motherland Party of Turkey, (Turkish: Anavatan Partisi or ANAP) is a political party in Turkey. ... The True Path Party (Turkish: Dogru Yol Partisi or DYP) is a right-wing, secularist conservative Turkish political party, established by Suleyman Demirel in 1983. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( â–¶ (helpÂ· info)), the submission to God) is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions and the worlds second-largest religion. ... A clock displaying the emblem of the Welfare Party. ...

But the Welfare Party was banned in 1998, and during the 1990s the Democratic Left Party (DSP), led by former CHP leader Bülent Ecevit, gained popular support. (Democratic Left Party is established by Ecevit family in 1985.) In 1998, after the resignation of RP-DYP coalition following the "February 28" post-modern and soft military coup, center-right ANAP formed a coalition government with center-left DSP and the small center-right party DTP (Democratic Turkey Party), along with the support of CHP. The Democratic Left Party (Turkish: Demokratik Sol Parti, DSP) is a Turkish political party. ...

However, due to big scandals, corruption and some illegal actions of this coalition, CHP withdrew its support from the coalition and helped overthrow the government with the vote of "no confidence". Just before the elections of 1999, DSP formed an interim minority government with the support of DYP and ANAP; and the terrorist PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is captured in Kenya under the Ecevit rule. Abdullah Ã–calan Abdullah Apo Ã–calan (; born April 4, 1948), is the founding leader of the Kurdish militant group Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). ...

Therefore in the elections of 1999, all nationalist and left votes have switched to DSP and CHP failed to pass the 10 % threshold (8.7 % vote), winning no seats in Parliament - and things didn't look good for it after the creation of the moderate Islamic conservative Justice and Development Party in 2001. The Justice and Development Party (Turkish: or AK Parti, or AKP[1]) is a Turkish political party that describes itself as centre-right and Islamist. ...

The political coalitions which ruled Turkey from the center right ANAP and DYP to the center left DSP were increasingly making the country unstable. The Islamists returned with a new party the Fazilet (which was also later banned) while MHP the far right nationalist party had began to take advantage of the disillusionment felt by former supporters of the Refah Party and the ever bickering ANAP and DYP. Islamism is a political ideology derived from the conservative religious views of Muslim fundamentalism. ...

Finally a coalition was formed (generally assumed under the force of hand of the army) between DSP-ANAP-MHP it was doomed to fail and a seemingly unimportant argument between Bülent Ecevit and Ahmet Necdet Sezer the president sent the Turkish stock markets into freefall, a political crisis followed causing the collapse of the coalition and elections to be held. (Actually the economic crisis was a result of the endless corruptions for which ANAP, DYP, DSP, RP, and MHP are responsible, therefore the Sezer-Ecevit argument only lighted the fire.) Ahmet Necdet Sezer (born September 13, 1941 in Afyonkarahisar) is the tenth and current President of the Republic of Turkey. ...

Baykal Period

After Baykal resigned in 1999, Altan Öymen became the leader. But 2 years later, Baykal became the leader of the party again.

In the 2002 Parliamentary elections, the CHP won 178 seats in Parliament, and only it and the AKP (Justice and Development Party) went to Parliament. The CHP became the main opposition party again and Turkey's second largest party. It had begun the long road to recovery.

It must be understood however, that this had very little to do with voters supporting CHP. Many were former DSP supporters who were angry at the economic crisis that many blamed on the Ecevit government. Also many DSP and ANAP supporters left these parties for AK party as did many MHP and Fazilet (now Saadet party) members.

Many on the left are still very critical of the leadership of CHP especially Deniz Baykal, who they complain is stifling the party of young blood thus turning away the young who turn either to apathy or even to vote for AKP. While AKP boast of a young leadership who have lived through many of the difficulties of many in Turkey CHP are seen as an 'old guard' that do not represent modern Turkey. The leftists also are very critical of the party's continuous opposition to the removal of Article 301 of Turkish penal code; which caused people to be prosecuted for "insulting Turkishness" including Nobel Winner author Orhan Pamuk, Elif Şafak, and the conviction of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, its attitude towards the minorities in Turkey, as well as its Cyprus policy. Deniz Baykal, Turkish politician and lawyer, born July 20, 1938 in Antalya. ... Article 301 is a controversial article of the Turkish penal code, taking effect on June 1, 2005, and introduced as part of a package of penal-law reform in the process preceding the opening of negotiations for Turkish membership of the European Union (EU), in order to bring Turkey up... Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born on June 7, 1952 in Istanbul) is a Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist. ... Elif Åžafak, aka: Elif Shafak, (born 1971, Strasbourg, France) is a writer of Turkish descent. ... Hrant Dink (Armenian: , IPA: [][1]) (September 15, 1954 â€“ January 19, 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian editor, journalist and column writer. ...

Despite this recovery, since the dramatic General Election of 2002, the CHP has been racked by internal power struggles, and has been outclassed by the AKP government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In the local elections of 2004, its overall share of the vote held, largely through mopping up anti-Erdoğan votes among former supporters of smaller left-wing and secular right-wing parties, but was badly beaten by the AKP across the country, losing former strongholds such as Antalya. Also see: 2002 (number). ... Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan (born February 26, 1954), became the Prime Minister of Turkey on March 14, 2003. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Antalya (formerly known as Adalia; from Pamphylian Greek: Î‘Ï„Ï„Î¬Î»ÎµÎ¹Î± AttÃ¡lia) is a large town and tourist destination, situated on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. ...

Much of the blame was put on the leader of CHP Deniz Baykal. After the local elections CHP was racked by defections of several key members of the party all claiming a lack of democratic structure within the party and the increasingly-authoritarian way in which Deniz Baykal runs the party. Even those who support Deniz Baykal would admit that the party would be much more successful with a different leader. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A woman casting her vote Votes were cast in ballot boxes such as this one Votes are cast in schools such as this one Turkeys 16th general election was held on July 22, 2007,[1] and resulted in a resounding victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party. ...

In October 2004, New Turkey Party (Yeni Türkiye Partisi, YTP) merged into the CHP. Lately Baykal is bidding for fusing the DSP and CHP together under one roof, namely CHP, under his leadership. Yeni Türkiye Partisi (Turkish for New Turkey Party) is a political party in Turkey. ...

On June 28, 2007, the Ethics Committee of the Socialist International decided to call for a report on "how the CHP acted when it comes to support for democracy," starting a process that might result in eventual expulsion of the CHP. CHP has received much criticism from Socialist International members, who say its "nationalist rhetoric" is in violation of universal democratic standards. [1] "The CHP overstepped the tolerance limits of the Socialist International long ago; for this reason it should be expelled from the family of social democrat parties." told Morgan Johansson, a prominent Swedish social democrat. [2] On July 19, 2007, a group of Turkish left-wing intellectuals and human rights activists issued a petition urging the Socialist International in favour of CHP's expulsion, asserting that "CHP had lost its social-democratic identity and turned into a right-wing nationalist party defending the status quo".[3] is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 200th day of the year (201st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition...

At the 2007 general election CHP ran in alliance with Democratic Left Party. CHP suffered a heavy defeat, getting 7,300,234 votes (20.85% of the total). CHP, YTP, and DSP combined got 21.77% of the votes back in 2002. The party could become first only in three provinces in Thrace (Edirne, Tekirdağ, Kırklareli) and two provinces on the Aegean coast (İzmir, Muğla). With these results, 112 candidates (13 of these MPs are DSP affiliates) were elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey from the CHP electoral sheet compared to 178 in 2002. A woman casting her vote Votes were cast in ballot boxes such as this one Votes are cast in schools such as this one Turkeys 16th general election was held on July 22, 2007,[1] and resulted in a resounding victory for the incumbent Justice and Development Party. ... For the Slovak party see Party of the Democratic Left (Slovakia). ... Turkeys 15th general election was held two years early on Sunday 3 November 2002, following the collapse of the DSP-MHP-ANAP coalition led by BÃ¼lent Ecevit. ... Prominent issues in Greek foreign policy include a dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the enduring Cyprus problem, Greek-Turkish differences over the Aegean, and relations with the USA. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Greek refusal to recognize the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia... Location of Edirne Province Edirne is the westernmost province of Turkey, located in European Turkey (known in antiquity as Thrace) along the Greek border. ... TekirdaÄŸ province is in Trakya (Thrace), the northwestern part of Turkey. ... shows the Location of the Province KÄ±rklareli KÄ±rklareli is a province of northwestern Turkey on the west coast of the Black Sea. ... Look up Aegean Sea in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ä°zmir is a province of Turkey in western Anatolia on the Aegean coast. ... Shows the Location of MuÄŸla province MuÄŸla province is in southwestern Turkey, along the Aegean Sea. ... The Grand National Assembly (TÃ¼rkiye BÃ¼yÃ¼k Millet Meclisi in Turkish) is the unicameral parliament of Turkey which carries out legislative functions. ...

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