Source:

Political parties and leaders ("World Factbook 2005: Turkey - Government") [ID 13258]

"Democratic Left Party or DSP [Mehmet Zeki SEZER];
Democratic People's Party or DEHAP [Tuncer BAKIRHAN];
Justice and Development Party or AKP [Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Emin SIRIN];
Motherland Party or ANAP [Nesrin NAS];
Nationalist Action Party or MHP [Devlet BAHCELI];
Republican People's Party or CHP (includes the New Turkey Party) [Deniz BAYKAL];
Felicity Party (sometimes translated as Contentment Party) or SP [Necmettin ERBEKAN];
Social Democratic People's Party or SHP [Murat KARAYALCIN];
True Path Party (sometimes translated as Correct Way Party) or DYP [Mehmet AGAR]


note: the parties listed above are some of the more significant of the 49 parties that Turkey had on 1 December 2004"

Document(s): World Factbook 2005: Turkey - Government

08.03.2006 - Source: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

Financial funding of political parties in Turkey ("Jahresbericht Türkei 2005") [#46724],  [ID 13257]

"Eine Demokratie kann ohne Parteien nicht funktionieren. Parteien sind absolut notwendige Institutionen eines demokratischen Systems. Im Bereich des Parteimanagement wird kaum ein Begriff so oft angesprochen wie „innerparteiliche Demokratie". Theorie und Praxis klaffen dabei oft auseinander. Eine moderne Mitgliederpartei braucht daher eine Organisationsstruktur, die repräsentativ, verantwortlich, durch Wahlen legitimiert und pluralistisch ausgerichtet ist. Parteienfinanzierung ist weltweit ein sensibles und schwieriges Thema. In der Türkei wurde 2005 eine viel diskutierte Änderung der Parteienfinanzierung vorgenommen. Die überwiegende staatliche Bezuschussung türkischer Parteien steht schon lange in der Kritik. Mitgliedsbeiträge können nur schwer von den Parteien eingefordert werden. Außer aus dem Verkauf von Parteiemblemen und Büchern haben die Parteien kaum andere Einnahmenquellen. Die Internationale Konferenz der KAS gemeinsam mit der Türkischen Demokratiestiftung (TDV) in Ankara zielte darauf ab, Parteienfinanzierung und innerparteiliche Demokratie in der Türkei und Deutschland miteinander zu vergleichen. Moderne Parteien müssen sich an diesen beiden Aspekten messen lassen."

Document(s): Open document

02.06.2005 - Source:

Political pressure groups and leaders ("World Factbook 2005: Turkey - Government") [ID 13259]

"Confederation of Public Sector Unions or KESK [Sami EVREN]; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers Unions or DISK [Suleyman CELEBI];
Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or MUSIAD [Omer BOLAT];
Moral Rights Workers Union or Hak-Is [Salim USLU];
Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association or TUSIAD [Omer SABANCI];
Turkish Confederation of Employers' Unions or TISK [Refik BAYDUR]; Turkish Confederation of Labor or Turk-Is [Salih KILIC];
Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen or TESK [Dervis GUNDAY];
Turkish Union of Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges or TOBB [M. Rifat HISARCIKLIOGLU]"

Document(s): World Factbook 2005: Turkey - Government

06.10.2004 - Source: European Commission

Closure cases relating to three political parties continue ("Regular Report 2004 on Turkey´s progress towards accession") [#26161],  [ID 13260]

"As regards political parties, no developments can be reported since the last Regular Report. Despite the January 2003 amendments to the Law on Political Parties, which made it more difficult to close political parties, closure cases relating to the Turkish Communist Party (TKP), the Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR) and the Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) continue. These cases are still pending before the Constitutional Court. In November 2003 the ECtHR found that Turkey had violated Article 11 of the ECHR when it dissolved the Socialist Party of Turkey in November 1998."

Document(s): Open document

06.10.2004 - Source: European Commission

There are still restrictions on the use of languages other than Turkish by political parties ("Regular Report 2004 on Turkey´s progress towards accession") [#26161],  [ID 13261]

"There have been no changes to the electoral system, which, because of the 10% threshold that political parties are required to reach, makes it difficult for minorities to gain representation in Parliament. There are still restrictions on the use of languages other than Turkish by political parties. NGOs have indicated that a number of individuals were prosecuted for speaking Kurdish during the campaign for the March 2004 local elections and there have been recent cases where Kurdish politicians were convicted. However, in July 2004 (see also section on the Judiciary), the Court of Cassation overruled a judgement, which had sentenced a politician to 6 months imprisonment for using Kurdish during a press conference."

Document(s): Open document

09.10.2002 - Source: European Commission

European Commission: Under Article 101 of the Political Parties Law, it is more difficult to close down a political party ("2002 Regular Report on Turkey's Process Towards Accession") [#10217],  [ID 13263]

"With regard to the law on political parties, Article 101 of the Political Parties Law was
amended, with the second “reform package”, in line with the amendment made to Article
68 of the Constitution. Under the new law, the Constitutional Court may decide to
deprive a political party of financial assistance, rather than dissolving it. While leaving
the grounds for sanctioning political parties unchanged, it makes it more difficult to close
down a political party.
In the case of Sadak and others v. Turkey,9 in which the applicants complained that, with
the dissolution of their party (DEP), they had been deprived of their parliamentary mandates, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in June 2002 that there had been a
violation of Article 3 of Protocol No 1 (“right to free elections”) of the ECHR.
Following the ECtHR judgement of 31 July 200110 that the closure of the Welfare Party
(Refah Partisi) was not in violation of the ECHR, the Party requested that the case be
referred to the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR under Article 43 of the ECHR. The hearing
took place on 19 June 2002, and judgement is pending.
A closure proceeding against the People’s Democracy Party (HADEP), initiated in 1999,
is pending before the Constitutional Court. The Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR),
which was founded in February 2002, is also facing a closure case on charges that its
statute and programme contain elements contrary to the “indivisible unity of the State and
the nation”."

Document(s): Open document

02.05.2002 - Source: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

Konrad Adenauer Stiftung: ("Report on the political parties and the political party system in Turkey") [#7564],  [ID 13264]

Document(s): Open document

15.04.2002 - Source: Council of the European Union

Netherlands delegation to CIREA: Turkey has over 20 political parties, many of which are of little significance ("Note from the Netherlands delegation to CIREA: Official general report on Turkey, January 2002" Rf. 7838/02") [#7991],  [ID 13262]

"Turkey has over 20 political parties, many of which are of little significance and obtained less than 1% of the votes in the April 1999 elections. The party political scene is very fluid, with parties continually being set up and often quietly dissolved again. Members of parliament do not always show any very strong party attachment and it is not uncommon for members to switch parties. In
many cases, provinces' representatives in parliament are thus often voted for by electors on account of their personal qualities rather than their party membership."

Document(s): Open document

03.2002 - Source: Middle East Review of International Affairs

Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA): ("Twins or Enemies: Comparing Nationalist and Islamist Traditions in Turkish Politics (MERIA Vol. 6/No. 1, March 2002)") [#8864],  [ID 13265]

Document(s): Open document

30.08.2001 - Source: Council of the European Union

United Kingdom delegation to CIREA: ("Note from the United Kingdom delegation to CIREA: Report on the fact-finding mission to Turkey Rf: 11498/01") [#8473],  [ID 13266]

Document(s): Open document

05.2001 - Source: Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs: ("Official General Report on Turkey") [#5270],  [ID 13267]

Document(s): neth-tur0501.pdf