The Justice Party ( tr, Adalet Partisi, AP) was a Turkish
political party prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. A descendant of the
Democrat Party, the AP was dominated by
Süleyman Demirel, who served six times as
prime minister, and was in office at the time of the
military coup on 12 September 1980. Along with all other political parties in
Turkey, the Justice Party was suppressed in the immediate aftermath of the coup. It was subsequently re-established as the
True Path Party
The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...
in 1983.
Justice Party was a
liberal conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
party. It advocated
Kemalist principles, parliamentary democracy and a market economy. It strongly supported membership in
NATO and close relations with the
United States.
History
Establishment
With the
1960 coup d'état, Turkey's generals disbanded the formerly dominant
Democrat Party. They could not, however, entirely dismantle the vast
grassroots organization that this party had left behind. Democrat Party officials were based in many of the squatter neighborhoods in Turkey's larger cities, and would quickly incorporate newly arrived
Anatolian migrants into the party's fold. A number of parties soon emerged to reclaim this newly partyless Democrat voting bloc. The Justice Party was one of these neo-Democratic parties, first established by retired general
Ragıp Gümüşpala
Ragıp Gümüşpala (1897 – 6 June 1964) was the 11th Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces and founder of the Justice Party in 1961. He died shortly afterwards, on 6 June 1964, in Istanbul.
Biography Military Life
While he ...
in 1961. It immediately adopted the galloping horse logo of the Democrat Party.
The Justice Party quickly proved the most successful in consolidating the existing Democrat Party provincial organizations, particularly in the western regions of the country. The
New Turkey Party, however, was initially more successful in eastern Turkey. In the
1961 elections, the two post-Democrat parties combined to win a very impressive 48.5% of the vote, 34.8% of which went to the Justice Party alone. The ruling generals, however, would not allow for a neo-Democrat government to replace the old order they had brought down. Instead they asked
İsmet İnönü
Mustafa İsmet İnönü (; 24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish army officer and statesman of Kurdish descent, who served as the second President of Turkey from 11 November 1938 to 22 May 1950, and its Prime Minister three time ...
, whose
Republican People's Party
The Republican People's Party ( tr, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, , acronymized as CHP ) is a Kemalist and social-democratic political party in Turkey which currently stands as the main opposition party. It is also the oldest political party ...
was the largest party with 36.7% of the vote, to form a coalition government.
Rise
İnönü's various coalitions would form the government until 1964, but in the meantime the Justice Party continued to grow, steadily gaining votes at the expense of the smaller post-Democrat parties. The Republican People's Party eventual turn towards
left of centre
Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The ...
would also help to give the military a somewhat more favorable view of the Justice Party. In this political climate, the 1963 nationwide local elections gained increased importance, and eventually came to be seen as a political referendum on the newly established parties. The Justice Party ultimately emerged as a triumphant winner, winning around 46% of the vote and establishing itself as the most popular party in the country.
With its popular appeal well established, the Justice Party turned to issues of leadership. Gümüşpala died in 1964, and questions soon emerged over who would succeed him as the party's leader.
Sadettin Bilgiç
Mehmet Sadettin Bilgiç (23 December 1920 20 September 2012), also known by his nickname as Koca Reis, was a Turkish politician and surgeon who served as the 26th minister of Transport and Infrastructure from 3 April 1967 to 1 August 1969, and ...
, a doctor by training, had become acting party president following Gümüşpala's death, and initially emerged as the favorite for the position. But the Turkish press tarnished Bilgiç's reputation, accusing him of political and religious conservatism. Party leaders soon started to worry that he would ruin the party's image with the Turkish intelligentsia and, more importantly, the army. Indeed, the military head of state,
Cemal Gürsel, began pushing for a more progressive candidate to take charge - Süleyman Demirel.
Demirel came from a modest village background, and climbed up the social latter by the way of his education. He had studied in the
United States as an
Eisenhower fellow and then worked in a US multinational construction company. He appealed to the party's base of newly urbanized rural migrants, who could identify with his modest beginnings and status as a
self-made man
"Self-made man" is a classic phrase coined on February 2, 1842 by Henry Clay in the United States Senate, to describe individuals whose success lay within the individuals themselves, not with outside conditions. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Foun ...
. At the Justice Party's national convention in December 1964, Demirel ultimately defeated Bilgiç for the party's general-president post.
Once firmly in charge, Demirel began his assault on İnönü's fragile coalition, making sure it failed to win a vote of confidence in early 1965. Parliamentary bickering finally led to the triumphant 1965 elections, in which the Justice Party received nearly 53% of the vote and promptly formed a majority government with 240 seats. The party had achieved this result by appealing to small-holder peasants emerging from poverty, small commercial and industrial groups as well as the newly rich farmers; it performed most strongly in the relatively rich western provinces of Turkey, along the
Aegean coast and in
Thrace. This Justice Party victory was simultaneously a historical loss for the Republican People's Party, which suffered the worst defeat in its political history by winning only 134 seats and 29% of the vote.
Decline
The Justice Party's good fortune, however, did not last for long. The small Anatolian enterprises that had formed a key part of the party's constituency couldn't compete with the Istanbul area's large, modern corporations. These entrepreneurs felt betrayed, and defected from the Justice Party to smaller rightist alternatives. Meanwhile, the country suffered through increasing socio-political strife, as conflicts between leftist and rightist groups turned increasingly violent. Since Demirel symbolized a pro-Western capitalist current in the Turkish establishment, he became an easy target for both the far left and the religious right. The party was still able to win the 1969 elections, carrying 256 seats with around 46.5% of the vote, but the overall situation grew increasingly chaotic. The near-constant street violence escalated, threatening the Turkish economy and ultimately provoking the military to intervene once again in 1971.
[Ahmad, 142] With the power once again firmly in its hands, the military forced Demirel to resign.
The Justice Party was not able to win the elections held in 1973 and 1977, but Demirel was able to serve as prime minister three more times between 1975 and 1980, albeit with coalition partners. On September 12, 1980, the military once again staged a
coup d'état, and this time banned Demirel and the Justice Party from the country's politics. After an extended pause, the party eventually reemerged as the
True Path Party
The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...
, complete with the galloping horse logo, in 1983.
References
Sources
*Ahmad, Feroz. "Turkey: The Quest for Identity". Oxford: Oneworld, 2003.
*Dodd, C.H. (1992). "The Development of Turkish Democracy". ''
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
The ''British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Routledge on behalf of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. It was established in 1974 as the ''British Society for Middle Eastern Studies ...
'', Vol. 19, No. 1 (1992), pp 16–30
*Sherwood, W.B. (1955). "The Rise of the Justice Party in Turkey". World Politics, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Oct., 1967), pp 54–65
{{Authority control
Defunct liberal political parties
Defunct conservative parties in Turkey
Defunct political parties in Turkey
Political parties established in 1961
1961 establishments in Turkey
Political parties disestablished in 1980
1980 disestablishments in Turkey