Democrat Party (Turkey, current)

Democrat Party
Demokrat Parti
AbbreviationDP
PresidentGültekin Uysal
FounderMehmet Ağar
Founded27 May 2007
Preceded byTrue Path Party
HeadquartersSadık Ahmet Cad. no:3, Balgat, Ankara
Membership (2024)Decrease 342,256[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right[9]
National affiliationNation Alliance
Colours
  •   Red (official)
  •   Purple (customary)
SloganBaşka Bir Türkiye Mümkün
(Another Turkey is Possible)
Grand National Assembly
3 / 600
District municipalities
2 / 922
Belde Municipalities
2 / 388
Municipal Assemblies
55 / 20,952
Party flag
Flag of the Democratic Party
Website
www.dp.org.tr

The Democrat Party (Turkish: Demokrat Parti), abbreviated to DP, is a liberal conservative[10] Turkish political party, established by Ahmet Nusret Tuna [tr] in 1983 as the True Path Party (Turkish: Doğru Yol Partisi or DYP). It succeeded the historical Democrat Party and the Justice Party, two parties with similar ideologies. Their sister party is the Good Party.[11]

The DYP is seen as a centre-right party. DYP's history spans back to the historical conservative Democrat Party, established in 1946 with the introduction of a multi-party system in Turkish politics. There have been four DYP governments since its foundation; one led by Süleyman Demirel, the other three by Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister, Tansu Çiller. The party now has two seats in the Grand National Assembly, elected in the lists of the Good Party during the 2018 general election.

On 5 May 2007, it was announced that DYP and the Motherland Party (ANAP) would merge to form the Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti). For that occasion, DYP renamed itself (based on the historical Democrat Party), and it was planned that ANAP would join the newly founded DP. Shortly before the election, however, the merging attempt failed.[12] However, ANAP stated it would not contest the upcoming elections. After the DP only got about 6% of the votes in the 2007 general election, Ağar resigned as party leader.[13] DYP and the Motherland Party eventually merged in November 2009.

The modern DP's logo, a horse upon a red background, derives from the popular mispronunciation of its name, Demokrat Parti. The word Demokrat did not readily roll off the tongue of rural voters, who found it easier to say Demir Kırat ("iron white horse").[14] After the renaming in mid-2007, the logo became a white horse on a red map of Turkey in order to evoke this mondegreen.

  1. ^ "Demokrat Parti" (in Turkish). Court of Cassation. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  2. ^ Suveren, Yaşar (2018). "An Evaluation of State Perception Procedures of the Right Wing Conservative Politicians in Turkey" (PDF) (in Turkish). SakaryaUniversity. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Arşivlenmiş kopya" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Dp Parti Tüzüğü" (PDF). 18 June 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2023. Başlık Temel Anlayış Madde 3: "Demokrat Parti; bu amaçlara, Atatürk’ün belirlediği Türk milliyetçiliğinden ve milletimizin tarihi, milli ve manevi değerlerinden, medeniyetçilik aşkından alacağı ilhamla, hürriyetçi demokratik düzen içerisinde ulaşabileceğine inanır. "
  5. ^ a b "Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Arşivlenmiş kopya" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Altı muhalefet liderinin açıkladığı güçlendirilmiş parlamenter sistem neleri içeriyor?". BBC News Türkçe. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  8. ^ "AB Üyeliği Süreci". Archived from the original on 17 September 2021.
  9. ^ Koç, Ferda (2 March 2018). "Merkez sağ dikiş tutar mı? – Ferda Koç". sendika63.org (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  10. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2009). "Turkey". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  11. ^ "DP'den Akşener kararı". 3 May 2018.
  12. ^ "DYP-ANAP Ayrıldı" (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  13. ^ "People's Daily Online - Turkish DP leader resigns". english.people.com.cn.
  14. ^ Kaplan, Sam (2006). The Pedagogical State. Stanford University Press. p. 172. ISBN 0-8047-5433-0.