Political parties in Turkey, essential knowledge to gain

Turkish political sphere can be a complicated issue to discuss, but why? Simply due to the history of Turkey, Many empires rolled on the history of Turkey, from BC until the middle of the eighteenth century, until the Turkish Republic was established by the military officer Mustafa Kemal, who later received the title Ataturk, and the title of Ataturk refers to the father of the Turks. From that time to our day, many variables have occurred. Many political parties were founded in Turkish political life, with various intellectual orientations and political sects, conservative and liberal.

However, in this article, we'll tell you everything you need to acknowledge about political life in Turkey and necessary things to avoid within this scope:

1- The CHP Republican Party:

It is the first political party established in Turkey after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, led by the founder of the modern Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

The Republican Party has a secular orientation that separates religion from the state, relying on the Kemalist ideology and methodology of thinking, which believed in the importance of democracy and free society. Since then and till today, Islamic legitimacy has been abolished, and secular civil law has begun to operate in all aspects of life, such as the judiciary, ministries, Parliament, and other state institutions.

The Republican Party, in addition to being the oldest party in Turkey, has become in the last twenty years the opposition party in Turkey, after it was the ruling party of Parliament and the presidency for many years, and it became a party competing for both the presidency and the municipalities.


2- The Justice and Development Party (AKP) Party:

The AKP political party was established in 2001 under the leadership of the current Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and since 2002 until today, the Akbek Party has been ruling Turkey. It's considered a conservative-oriented party, striving and working hard to bring Turkey into the European Union, AKP adopting a free-market capitalist policy, and worked very hard to implement policies of free markets upon the Turkish economy since then.

Currently, AKP is one of Turkey's most moderate, conservative, and popular parties.


3- Nationalist Movement Party (Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi MHP):

The Nationalist Movement Party is also considered one of the oldest prestigious political parties in Turkey, founded in 1969; the party worked on engineering its agenda on a left-nationalist basis.

Previously, the Nationalist Party was firmly against Turkey's accession to the European Union because of its ideas based on nationalism and pride in a free Turkish identity. Still, recently the position of the political party has changed significantly. An alliance has been established between it and the conservative AKP Party, led by its current leader Devlet Bahçeli, who is considered one of the most prominent and influential political figures in decision-making in Turkey and even on an international level.

We have mentioned to you the most famous political parties that gain the majority of citizens' votes in the presidential, parliamentary, and mayoral elections. Still, it's worth noting that there're other Turkish free parties with different ideological and ethnical orientations, their total number is 12 various political parties, which have seats in the Turkish Parliament and decision-making authorities, which contributed to the formation of significant diversification of political, social and economic life as well in Turkey, and activating the work of democracy within the social life of Turkish citizens.


Sensitive political points that you should avoid in Turkey:

1- Don't criticize Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic and the father of Turks; it is worth noting that the Turks, despite their various political confrontations or the political parties to which they belong, respect the founder Ataturk and support or argue with anyone criticizing him, because they firmly believe that he protected Turkey's sovereignty and led it to victory during the wars of liberation and independence.

In addition, the Turkish Constitution within Article 301 stipulates the imprisonment and punishment of any citizen or foreigner who offends Ataturk, which is a crucial symbolism and an essential element of the territorial integrity of Turkey and the preservation of its sovereignty, so we strongly advise you to express your opinion since you're within a democratic Secular state, but also be careful not to offend the Turkish state, its history, or its founder.


2- Like any country in the world, there is a right-wing, and there is a left-wing; meanwhile, of course, you may encounter Turkish citizens who have an extreme right-wing or nationalist political ideology in an exaggerated radical way. The political conversation would be sharp and intense, in other words, useless, so we highly recommend you to avoid these characters. At the same time, the dialog will be one way boring, isn't?

Last but not least, Turkey is not only a gorgeous tourist country but one of the critical decision-makers in the world and the most robust economies within the Group of Twenty G-20.

The policical life is diverse based on variety and pluralism, so we want to inform you that if you aspire to take Turkish citizenship by Investment in Turkey and becoming a Turkish citizen, you have the right to participate in elections and also participate in social and political forums, and as local real estate consultants with global experience, we're also ready to answer all your questions in various areas of life in Turkey, contact us and let us provide you with the knowledge you deserve to gain.