The Republican People's Party (RPP), also know as the CHP (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi), stands as the main opposition party - one of two major political currents, second only to the Erdooan's AK Party. Established as the founding party of Ataturk's republican regime, the RPP has a history of hostility of leftist parties. Despite this, by the mid-1960s, the RPP had re-orientated itself as left of centre, as the growing influence of the left inside the RPP pushed it in a new direction. This is hailed as the entry point of social democratic politics into Turkey, and is the focus of Yunus Emre's impressively researched book. Through extensive primary research, Emre tracks the fluctuations in Turkish politics from the single-party period to the making of a new regime following the 1960 coup, looking at the place of both the RPP and the left in this trajectory. The RPP's internal struggles in this period, in particular around the working class movement and the legal right to strike, debates over anti-imperialism and land reform, and the role of the military in politics provide the political context into which a new social democratic agenda emerged. Engaging with the body of literature on social democratic movements, Emre analyses the reasons for the 'delayed' emergence of social democracy in Turkey. He argues that the absence of European style social democratic formations in Turkey can be traced back to the developments around the adoption of a left of centre position by the RPP. From the 1960s to the present, the RPP has oscillated between a social democratic position and its Kemalist roots in the early republican single-party regime - this book analyses the fundamental point of change in this process. It is essential reading for scholars of Turkish politics and modern history, providing insight into the development of Turkey's founding political party, the left and social democratic movements.

Since the establishment in 1945 of a constitutional democracy, political parties have figured prominently in Turkish politics. This book, first published in 1991, examines the role they have played. Key features of the political culture of the Turkish republic have created dilemmas for multi-party democracy: Atatürkism still exerts a powerful influence on the country’s bureaucratic and military elites. With their notion of ‘responsible leadership’ and of democracy as rational intellectual debate in pursuit of the ‘best’ policy, they have expected an unrealistic degree of idealism and statesmanlike behaviour from the leaders of political parties. Three times, in 1960, 1971 and 1980, the military has intervened in politics – on the third occasion to undertake wholesale constitutional and legal restructuring aimed at producing ‘sensible’ politicians. Given these ambiguous circumstances, what role have the political parties themselves played in the promotion and functioning of democracy in Turkey, and what are their attitudes to the issues involved? This collection of essays discusses political parties since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 until the 1990s. With contributions from leading political scientists and historians of modern Turkey, it is indispensable reading for all those concerned with the country.

This book discusses the life and professional struggle of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the transformation of the CHP under his leadership. It deals with the transformational periods and phases of the CHP, up to the period when Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu became prominent in the party. The CHP’s transformation and how it variously affected its popular standing in public opinion and revealed political liabilities and limitations cumulatively can indicate and explain to what extent political parties are likely to change as leadership changes and different regime governing approaches take hold. Furthermore, this book aims to answer the following questions: How and for what reasons did Kılıçdaroğlu decide to ally with the center-right wing in the CHP? What was the collective impact of the center-right wing in positive and negative terms regarding the CHP’s general identity, especially in historical context? After the 2015 elections, what constituted the shifts and revisions in Kılıçdaroğlu’s ideology and how did they alter the political power of the CHP as a major opposition party? What evidence exists to shed light on his capabilities for building coalitions as a viable option for the possibility of forming a national government in elections?

The fourth edition of Historical Dictionary of Turkey covers Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey through a time span of more than six centuries. It presents the basic characteristics of the two periods and traces the developments from an empire to a state-nation, from tradition to modernity, from a sultanate to a republic, and from modest country to a country that is already a regional power and further aspiring becoming a country to be reckoned with. This is done through a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 900 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Turkey.

The essays in this book are the first scholarly attempt to examine the complex interrelation of social change and political radicalization during the 1960s. In analyzing topics ranging from the 1968 student uprising, working class politics and trade unionism, Anti-Americanism, right-wing and left-wing militant action, communitarian violence, state coercion, and the artistic representation of these phenomena the contributors offer insights to help to answer why the experiences of this decade turned so radical with lasting polarizing effects on contemporary Turkish society today. Even though issues surrounding the topic are at the very center of intellectual and political debates in today ́s Turkey, such as the collective remembrance of the Turkish “68ers” and of the anti-communist state persecution and prosecution after the military intervention in 1980, a cohesive analysis of this era is still strikingly absent in scholarly works. Thus, “Turkey in Turmoil” is unique in many regards. As important as the presented diversity in research perspectives, the volume will also showcase multiple and, at some point, contesting and even provocative perspectives on the subject at hand.

This book examines the Kemalist ideology of Turkey from two perspectives. It discusses major problems in the existing interpretations of the topic and how the incorporation of Soviet perspectives enriches the historiography and our understanding of that ideology. To address these questions, the book looks into the origins, evolution, and transformational phases of Kemalism between the 1920s and 1970s. The research also focuses on perspectives from abroad by observing how republican Turkey and particularly its founding ideology were viewed and interpreted by Soviet observers. Paying more attention to the diplomatic, geopolitical, and economic complexities of Turkish-Soviet relations, scholars have rarely problematized those perceptions of Turkish ideological transformations. Looking at various phases of Soviet attitudes towards Kemalism and its manifestations through the lenses of Communist leaders, party functionaries, diplomats and scholars, the book illuminates the underlying dynamics of Soviet interpretations.

Where does Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s resilience derive from? Why did he, and the AKP, win the double May 2023 elections again? How did the opposition perform? What were the opposition’s mistakes? How will domestic and foreign policy issues unfold after the elections? These are just a few of the questions the present collection tries to answer. Demonstrating how Turkey’s politics have developed the present volume brings together approaches from politics, sociology, and history, and sheds much-needed light on these crucial questions. They offer scholars and non-specialists alike a comprehensive overview of the implications of the recent elections in almost every aspect of Turkish society. Finally, the chapters that are hosted here provide informed deliberations about Turkey’s future. "This collective volume sheds new light on the durability of the Erdoğan regime despite the heavy crises Turkey is going through, and more importantly, shows the limits of an opposition that is unable to propose a democratic transformation of the country, to become a credible alternative to it." - Prof. Hamit Bozarslan, EHESS, Paris This timely collection features some of the sharpest voices in and on Turkey today, packaged in short, digestible chapters. Coverage includes the role of ideology, incumbent and opposition alliances, the economy, devastating earthquakes, minorities, youth, and relations with external actors like Greece and the European Union. The book will help students and experts alike to make sense of the multi-faceted causes and consequences of a milestone in Turkey's trajectory: 2023 elections and their implications for the country, its region, and the world. - Assoc. Prof. Nora Fisher Onar, University of San Francisco, San Francisco. CONTENTS Preface HOW TO MISREAD TURKISH FASCISM... Cengiz Aktar BEFORE AND AFTER THE 2023 (DOUBLE) MAY ELECTIONS: QUO VADIS TURKEY?. Nikos Christofis TWO FACES OF ERDOĞANISM: RADICAL CONSERVATISM AND VINDICTIVE NATIONALISM... Ahmet İnsel GRAPE FRUIT COCKTAIL FOR SWEET FRUIT ADDICTS: THE STRATEGY OF NATION ALLIANCE.. Ayşe Çavdar THE FANTASY OF OPPOSITION COORDINATION AND DEMOCRACY WITHOUT DEMOCRATS 2.0: TURKEY AFTER THE ELECTIONS. Kerem Öktem THE OPPOSITION ALLIANCE IN TURKEY’S 2023 ELECTIONS. Berk Esen THE 2023 TURKISH ELECTIONS AND THE KURDS. Murat Issi VICTORY, EVEN IN DEFEAT: ÜMIT ÖZDAĞ, SINAN OĞAN, AND THE ENDURING INFLUENCE OF THE TURKISH FAR-RIGHT.. Reuben Silverman THE LEFT IN TURKEY: SURVIVAL AND RESISTANCE UNDER AUTHORITARIANISM... Sevgi Adak YOUTH POLITICS AND ACTIVISM IN TURKEY.. Bahar Baser TURKEY’S ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AFTER THE 2023 ELECTIONS: IS THE WORST YET TO COME?. Aslı Sen Taşbaşı LAISSEZ-FAIRE LAISSEZ-MOURIR: EARTHQUAKE ON 6 FEBRUARY 2023 AND CAPITALISM THAT DISCARDS AND DISASSOCIATES CITIZENS IN ERDOGAN’S TURKEY.. Kumru Toktamış DISASTER AND GENDER INEQUALITY KILLS, NOT EARTHQUAKES Özgür Kaymak THE 2023 ELECTIONS IN TURKEY AND THE TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS: FACTS, POSSIBILITIES AND CONCLUSIONS. Anthony Deriziotis EU-TURKEY RELATIONS IN A “DANGEROUS WORLD”: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES AFTER THE 2023 ELECTIONS IN TURKEY.. Seda Gürkan Oscillating Between Securitization and Transactionalism: The Everlasting DRAMA OF TURKEY-WEST RELATIONS. Alper Kaliber

This book is one of the products of the Ninth International Conference of Political Economy (ICOPEC) held in September 2018 at Panteion University with the main theme “10 years after the Great Recession: Orthodox versus Heterodox Economics”. This conference was co-organised by the Faculty of Economics of Marmara University, the Greek Association for Political Economy (GAPE), and the Department of Social Policy of Panteion University. This volume contains eight selected papers that benefited from comments and discussion during the conference and subsequently improved significantly. They analyze the relationship between the public sector and economic development.

Although Turkey began its transition to democracy as early as the 1950s, it is still far from having reached a level of consolidated democracy with the country's sixty-year history of democratic politics being punctuated by numerous breakdowns and restorations of democracy. In an attempt to examine why consolidation of Turkish democracy has taken so long, this book aims at analyzing various factors including state, political parties, civil society, civil-military relations, socio-economic development, the EU as an international actor and the rise of internal threats (political Islam and separatist Kurdish nationalism) that both hinder and enhance democratic consolidation in Turkey. By highlighting the strengths and shortcomings of the Turkish experience from these perspectives, this book suggests the optimal policy priorities for current and future Turkish governments to establish a consolidated democracy in Turkey. Contributors: Muge Aknur, Canan Aslan-Akman, Filiz Baskan, Gulgun Erdogan-Tosun, Siret Hursoy, Aysegul Komsuoglu, Gul M. Kurtoglu-Eskisar, Yesim Kustepeli, Nazif Mandaci, Ibrahim Saylan, & Ugur Burc Yildiz.