Liberal Democratic Party (Turkey)

Liberal Democratic Party
Liberal Demokrat Parti
AbbreviationLDP
LeaderGültekin Tırpancı
General SecretaryKaan Alper[1]
FounderBesim Tibuk
Founded26 July 1994; 30 years ago (1994-07-26)
HeadquartersYüzüncü Yıl Mahallesi No:35/1 Çankaya/Ankara
Youth wingYoung Dolphins (unofficial)[2]
Membership (2024)Decrease 3,601[3]
IdeologyClassical liberalism
Liberal democracy
Progressivism
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCenter[4]
Colours  Blue
  White
Slogan• Özgürlüğümü seviyorum! (I love my freedom!)
• Sana güveniyor! (Believes in you!)
Website
https://www.ldp.org.tr/

Liberal Democratic Party (Turkish: Liberal Demokrat Parti, LDP) is a classical liberal party in Turkey. LDP was founded in 1994 as “Liberal Parti” by Turkish entrepreneur Besim Tibuk. According to data published in January 2024, the party has 3,601 members.

Tibuk was the advisor of Turkish President Turgut Özal until Özal died on 17 April 1993. After the death of Turgut Özal, Besim Tibuk decided to found a new party to emphasize the liberal movement in Turkey. Tibuk first founded the party as "Liberal Party", but following the "1994 Liberal Democratic Party Ordinary Congress" the party's name then changed from the Liberal Party to "Liberal Democratic Party". After the failure of his party in the 2002 general elections, Tibuk resigned on 25 November 2002, leaving his office to Nizam Kağıtçıbaşı,[5] who only remained 48 days in office and got voted out by Ercan Çalı.[6] Çalı remained in office for 336 days, before eventually getting replaced by member of the Grand National Assembly Emin Şirin, who had resigned from AKP and joined the Liberal Democratic Party on 14 October 2003 in the party's 1st Extraordinary Congress.[7] Later on, Emin Şirin announced his resignation from the chairmanship and party membership on 13 February 2004 due to differences of opinion with the party, and thus, between 14 December 2003 and 13 February 2004, the party was represented in the Turkish Grand National Assembly for the first and last time in its history.[8][9] Hakan Çizem took over the vacant seat to remain chairman of the party until 20 June 2005. Çizem was later voted out by Cem Toker who remained the leader of LDP from 20 June 2005 to 29 January 2017.[10] Since then, Gültekin Tırpancı has been the leader of the party. Some of LDP's current political views include reducing government spending and taxes, lowering tax rates, reducing government bureaucracy, abolishing the compulsory General Health Insurance and switching to a voluntary private health insurance system, ending compulsory military service and switching to professional military service.[11]

LDP announced in the following years that there were no youth branches and women's branches in the party due to the principles of not making age and gender discrimination in the administration.[12][13] However, the youth group called "Genç Yunuslar" (Young Dolphins) continues to exist even though it is not considered an official organization by LDP. Unlike other parties in Turkish politics, the party uses a humorous language on its official Twitter accounts.

LDP is the first party in Turkey to advocate for the legalization of marijuana.[14]

  1. ^ "Genel Merkez Teşkilatı | Liberal Demokrat Parti".
  2. ^ "@gencyunuslarldp" on Twitter
  3. ^ "Liberal Demokrat Parti" (in Turkish). Court of Cassation. Retrieved January 3, 2024.
  4. ^ "Parti Tüzüğü". Archived from the original on 2021-07-27.
  5. ^ "LDP'de bayrak değişimi". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2002-11-30. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  6. ^ "LDP'de Başkan Ercan Çalı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2003-01-13. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  7. ^ "LDP Genel Başkanlığı'na Emin Şirin seçildi..." Milliyet (in Turkish). 2003-12-14. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  8. ^ "Emin Şirin, LDP'den ayrıldı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2004-02-13. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  9. ^ "Şirin, başkanı olduğu LDP'den istifa etti". Sabah. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  10. ^ "Toker'in 'çaresizlik'ten istifa ettiği LDP'nin yeni genel başkanı Gültekin Tırpancı". Diken (in Turkish). 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  11. ^ "Parti Tüzüğü | Liberal Demokrat Parti". Archived from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  12. ^ "2002-01-17 Ldp'den Protesto". www.ab.gov.tr. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  13. ^ "LDP: Hükümet tutarsız". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 2012-10-27. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  14. ^ "LDP adayı: Bonzainin önüne geçmek için marihuana yasallaştırılsın". BirGün (in Turkish). Retrieved 2023-11-11.