Turkey

THE TURKISH LEFT HAS been represented by the center-left or social democrat parties in Turkey's mainstream politics. In the parliament there is one center-left party, the RPP (Republican People's Party) of Deniz Baykal that became the second party in the 2002 elections with 170 seats. From 1950 to 1980, the Turkish center-left was only represented by the RPP with a synthesis between statist-centralist perspective and social democrat policies. When the center right Democrat Party won the 1950 elections, the RPP remained as the main opposition party until 1960. The RPP during that time tried to change its authoritarian party image and to reinterpret the principles of Kemalism (Turkey's state ideology) on the basis of social policies. But it maintained its connection with bureaucracy and the ...