1.Information on the Socialist Democratic Populist Party;2.Kurdish - SDPP linkages. [TUR4056]

1.

Following the 11 September 1980 coup, new laws on political parties were announced, and new parties were permitted to form in 1983. [ This paragraph is from George E. Delury, ed., World Encyclopedia of Political Systems & Parties, (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1987), pp. 1133-34.] The Social Democrat Populist Party (SDPP) resulted from a merger of the Populist Party (PP) and the Social Democracy Party (Sodep) in November 1985. Between the two parties, they controlled approximately 32 percent of the local vote.
2.

According to World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties, the PP and Sodep were both left-of-centre parties, however, the source does not indicate the social or ethnic base of the party membership or supporters. Please refer to p. 1137 of George E. Delury, ed., World Encyclopedia of Political Systems & Parties, (New York: Facts on File Publications, 1987) for information on Kurdish political involvement. It is mentioned that, during the 1970s, left-wing movements appealed to the Kurds for support, however, the statement that the PP and Sodep are both left-of-centre is not conclusive with regard to Kurdish support or membership.
Another source, Encyclopedia of the Third World (attached, p. 2014), suggests that political parties based on ethnicity are prohibited.
Please refer to the following attachments:

-George E. Delury, ed., World Encyclopedia of Political Systems & Parties, New York: Facts on File Publications, 1987;

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George Thomas Kurian, Encyclopedia of the Third World, New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1987;
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Henry Degenhardt, Revolutionary and Dissident Movements, London: Longman Group UK Ltd., 1988