Republican People's Party (Turkey)
공화인민당 (터키)
Turkey's oldest political party, founded by Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) in September 1923. As the ruling party of the one-party regime until 1946 it led the founding of the republic and reforms such as secularisation and the alphabet reform under the principles of the "Six Arrows". It handed over power peacefully after losing the 1950 election and moved towards a centre-left, social-democratic line from the 1960s. Closed under military rule in 1981, it was re-established in 1992.
In depth
The party's roots lie in the resistance groups formed during the Turkish War of Independence, which were united at the Sivas Congress of 1919 as the Association for the Defence of the Rights of Anatolia and Rumelia. On 9 September 1923 Mustafa Kemal announced the "Nine Principles" and two days later founded the People's Party (Halk Fırkası) from deputies loyal to him. It soon took the name Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Fırkası) and adopted its present name, Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, at its Fourth Congress in 1935. The Turkish-language source notes that in practice it has been regarded as a continuation of the Young Turks and the Committee of Union and Progress.
In 1924 opponents led by Kâzım Karabekir formed the Progressive Republican Party, but after the Sheikh Said rebellion all parties other than the CHP were banned, and apart from the Free Republican Party episode Turkey was ruled as a one-party state until 1946. In this period the party carried out reforms including adoption of the Swiss Civil Code, women's suffrage and the alphabet reform to Latin letters, and in the 1930s it formulated the "Six Arrows" of republicanism, nationalism, secularism, revolutionism, populism and statism, which were written into the constitution in 1937. The day after Atatürk's death in 1938 İsmet İnönü was elected president and took over the party leadership, pursuing neutrality during the Second World War.
İnönü permitted multi-party elections in 1946, and after losing the 1950 election to the Democrat Party the CHP handed over power peacefully. After the 1960 coup it emerged as the largest party in the 1961 election and led Turkey's first coalition government. Following the "Democratic Left" current led by labour minister Bülent Ecevit it adopted a "left of centre" programme, and in May 1972 Ecevit succeeded İnönü as party leader. In the 1977 election the party won 41 percent, its highest share of the multi-party era.
After the 1980 coup the CHP was closed in 1981 together with all other parties. On 9 September 1992 Deniz Baykal re-established it under its original name with most of its pre-1980 members, and in 1995 the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) merged with the CHP. From the 2002 election until July 2026 it was the main opposition party to the governing Justice and Development Party.