Party of Greens and the Left Future (, YSGP), abbreviated as Green Left Party (, YSP), is a

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

and

left-libertarian Left-libertarianism, also known as left-wing libertarianism, is a political philosophy and type of libertarianism that stresses both individual freedom and social equality. Left-libertarianism represents several related yet distinct approaches to ...

party in

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 ...

History

The first YSP was founded on 25 November 2012 as a merger of the Greens Party and the

Equality and Democracy Party Equality and Democracy Party (''Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi'', EDP) was a left-libertarian and social liberal political party in Turkey. It was founded on 14 March 2010 by . Halis, of Alevi descent, was a former MP for the Social Democratic Pe ...

. The party changed its name in April 2016. Prominent members include

Murat Belge Murat Belge (born 16 March 1943) is a Turkish academic, translator, literary critic, columnist, civil rights activist, and occasional tour guide. Early life Belge is the son of political journalist Burhan Asaf Belge (who was married to Hung ...

, left-wing political author and former columnist for ''

Taraf ''Taraf'' ("Side" in Turkish) was a liberal newspaper in Turkey. It had distinguished itself by opposing interference by the Turkish military in the country's social and political affairs. It was distributed nationwide, and had been in circula ...

'';

Kutluğ Ataman Kutluğ Ataman (born 1961 in Istanbul Turkey) is an acclaimed Turkish-American contemporary artist and feature filmmaker. Ataman's films are known for their strong characterization and humanity. His early art works examine the ways in which peo ...

, filmmaker and contemporary artist; and

Ufuk Uras Mehmet Ufuk Uras (; born 4 January 1959, in Üsküdar, Istanbul, Turkey) is a Turkish politician and economist. Biography and political career Uras graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Istanbul University and began working as an academicia ...

, former

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

deputy and president of the

Freedom and Solidarity Party The Left Party (, often written as SOL Parti) is a secular, socialist political party in Turkey. The Party was founded after the Freedom and Solidarity Party () decided to change its name to the Left Party at the 8th Extraordinary Congress held ...

(ÖDP). The party is one of the participants in the

Peoples' Democratic Congress The Peoples' Democratic Congress (, HDK) is a union of numerous left-wing political movements, organisations and parties in Turkey that aims to fundamentally recreate Turkish politics and represent oppressed, exploited individuals who face ethni ...

(HDK), a political initiative instrumental in founding the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in 2012. Their chairpersons were temporarily arrested in February 2018 but released with a travel ban for the exterior and under monitoring of the police. They were charged over social media activity and books in their possession. In the 2023 parliamentary election, members of the HDK most famously the HDP ran on the YSP list because of the threat of a ban. YSP was transformed into the

Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party The Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (; , abbreviated as DEM Party) is a pro- Kurdish political party in Turkey. It is the legal successor of the Green Left Party and with the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) handing over its work to this ...

on 15 October 2023 and a new YSP was founded in November of the same year.

Political positions

The party supports

decentralization Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...

and advocates for significantly shifting central powers to local governments. Ufuk Uras identifies as a left libertarian. In 2015 he said:

The libertarian left is different from the traditional left because of its principles. These are: going in and out of power through elections, respect for different identities and beliefs, socially libertarian, egalitarian, eco-minded, participatory and for the restoration of justice. We would like the HDP to have such a profile. What we are trying to do is to adopt the
Syriza The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance (), best known by the syllabic abbreviation SYRIZA ( ; ; a pun on the Greek adverb , meaning "from the roots" or "radically"), is a Centre-left politics, centre-left to Left-wing politi ...
experience in Greece to the HDP in Turkey.

The party has formally acknowledged the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

References

2012 establishments in Turkey 2023 establishments in Turkey Alter-globalization Anti-capitalist political parties Direct democracy parties Eco-socialist parties European Green Party Feminist parties in Turkey Green parties in Asia Green parties in Europe Centre-left parties Left-wing parties Left-wing politics in Turkey Peoples' Democratic Congress Political parties established in 2012 Political parties established in 2023 Political parties in Turkey Secularism in Turkey Socialist parties in Turkey {{Turkey-party-stub