Republican Reliance Party () was a former 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 ...

Background

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) which is usually credited as the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923 was the oldest party in Turkey. The ideology of the party was

Kemalism Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. New York, ...

with strong emphasis on

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

, the secretary general of CHP after 1966 however, began introducing newer ideas. Although he didn't exclude Kemalism, he tried to transform the party into a

social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...

party avoiding using the word ''social-democrat''. He announced that the party was situated at the left of center in

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...

(). But even this announcement caused a rift in the party.

Political history

A group of the CHP MPs under the leadership of

Turhan Feyzioğlu Turhan Feyzioğlu (1922 – 24 March 1988) was a Turkish academic and a politician. Early life He was born in Kayseri. After finishing the primary school in Kayseri, he attended Galatasaray High School and later studied at Istanbul University ...

broke away from the CHP and founded the Reliance Party on 12 May 1967.''Türkiye'nin 75 yılı'', Tempo, Hürgüç Gazetecilik,İstanbul, 1988 p.195 Prominent names such as Nermin Neftçi, Coşkun Kırca, Orhan Öztrak,

Ali İhsan Göğüş Ali İhsan Göğüş (1923 – 22 July 2011) was a Turkish people, Turkish journalist, politician and former government minister. Life Ali İhsan Göğüş was born in Gaziantep in 1923. He completed the Kabataş Erkek Lisesi, Kabataş High Scho ...

were among the other charter members. In 1969 elections the Reliance Party received 6,6% of votes and became the third party in the parliament. On 29 January 1971, the party was renamed as the National Reliance Party. In the same year the party participated in the Technocracy government and the next year Ferit Melen, a member of the party became the prime minister. On 4 May 1973, the Republican Party, another party also issued from the CHP, merged to the National Reliance Party. After merging, the party was renamed as the Republican Reliance Party.

Later years

1973 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1973. Africa * 1973 Cameroonian parliamentary election * 1973 Equatorial Guinean legislative election * 1973 Ethiopian general election * 1973 Gabonese general election * 1973 Republic of the Congo con ...

, the Republican Reliance Party received 5,3% and participated in the coalition government of 1975 led by the Justice Party. The party further lost support in

1977 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1977. Africa * 1977 Afars and Issas Constituent Assembly election * 1977 Algerian legislative election * 1977 Gambian general election * 1976–1977 Guinea-Bissau legislative election * 1977 Malagasy ...

and after the coup’d etat in 1980, like all other parties in the country, the party was banned by the military rule on 16 October 1981.

References

{{Authority control Kemalist political parties Defunct political parties in Turkey Political parties established in 1967 1967 establishments in Turkey 1981 disestablishments in Turkey Political parties disestablished in 1981