The Centre Party () is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

formed on 7 July 2014 by Abdurrahim Karslı. The party was the result of the politicisation of the People's Voice Movement, with attempts to create a political party beginning in 2011. The party is claimed to be liberal, but has been accused of being affiliated with exiled cleric

Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...

. Despite Karslı's claims that up to 15 smaller political parties were thinking of merging with the party amongst talk of MP defections, it has no seats in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

, after it received 0.05% of the vote in the June 2015 election and did not contest the subsequent November 2015 election. It was previously represented by a single member in the parliament; Ercan Cengiz who resigned from the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP) on 25 January 2015. The party's membership is formed by politicians formerly of other parties such as the Motherland Party, the

Nationalist Movement Party The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...

and the Democratic Left Party. Parties allegedly due to join the Centre Party are the Turkish Change Movement founded by CHP member Mustafa Sarıgül. The party's economic policy is based on independence from the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

, the simplification of the tax system and the elimination of poverty. The party is strongly against Turkey's accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, claiming that the EU has failed to assist Turkey in fighting the PKK separatist organisation. On the Cypriot issue, the party believes that the

Republic of Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the third lar ...

and the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all o ...

can co-exist peacefully as two independent states.

Party leaders

References

{{Turkish political parties 2014 establishments in Turkey Centrist parties in Turkey Eurosceptic parties in Turkey Liberal parties in Turkey Political parties established in 2014 Political parties in Turkey Gülen movement