A Turning Point in Turkish Political History: The Foundation Process of the Democrat Party

Abstract

One of the most prominent elements of democracy in the basic structure of the Republic of Turkey, which was established with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, is political parties. Because the cadres of the Republic gave importance to the role of the people in the decision-making process by applying the representation system even in the congresses held on the way to liberation while the homeland was still under occupation. In this direction, the first party of the Republican Era was trie together with the new state, and then opposition parties were expected to be in the control mechanism. Despite being tried twice for this purpose, the political lives of the parties in question ended in a short time due to the social and political turmoil. After all, it has been seen that the expectation for multi-party political life experiments covers a long period of time. With the effects of World War II, a group of deputies from the ruling Republican People's Party left their parties and founded the Democratic Party, and the multi-party system entered the history of the Republic of Turkey. The establishment phase of the Democratic Party has not been in a way that can be reduced to a single event or cause. The party in question took its place on the stage of history as many elements formed separately and combined.