Democrat Parti (1946)
| Democratic Party (DP) Democrat Parti |
|
|---|---|
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| founding | January 7, 1946 by Adnan Menderes, Celâl Bayar and Mehmet Fuat Köprülü, among others |
| Prohibition | September 29, 1960 |
| Alignment |
Populism economic liberalism conservatism |
The Democratic Party ( Turkish Democrat Parti , DP for short ) was a Turkish political party of the moderate right. After the Liberal Republican Party ( Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası , 1930) and the National Development Party ( Milli Kalkınma Partisi , 1945) it was the third legal opposition party.
The Democratic Party was founded on January 7, 1946 by Refik Koraltan , Adnan Menderes , Celâl Bayar and Mehmet Fuat Köprülü in opposition to the ruling Republican People's Party (CHP), which founded the Turkish Republic. The party chairman Adnan Menderes, who has been in office since 1950, was elected Prime Minister of Turkey after the 1950 election.
The Democratic Party did not oppose the policy of westernizing the CHP, but did not pursue it with the same force. It was also less secular than the CHP. On May 27, 1960 , the National Unity Committee took over all government affairs and had the DP banned. The military feared that the basic principles of the state were in danger and there was growing public discontent with Menderes' known intolerance of criticism. The junta had 592 politicians and officials tried by an exceptional court that sentenced a total of 15 defendants in the Yassıada trials to death, including Menderes and Bayar. However, only three of the 15 death sentences were upheld by the National Unity Committee. Hasan Polatkan , former finance minister, and Fatin Rüştü Zorlu , former foreign minister, were executed on September 16, 1961 on the island of İmralı . The execution of the death sentence against Menderes followed a day later.
Election results
| Election year | Votes in percent | Seats |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 | 13 | 62 |
| 1950 | 52.68 | 408 of 487 |
| 1954 | 57.61 | 502 of 541 |
| 1957 | 47.88 | 424 of 610 |
Party re-foundations
A party of the same name was founded in 1992, see Demokrat Parti (1992) , but remained largely unsuccessful. A party of the same name has also existed since 2007, which refers to tradition, see Democrat Parti (Turkey) .