Politics
Major Political Parties in Türkiye Explained
According to official figures, Türkiye has 190 political parties. This number may sound incredibly high and can be reduced to below 100 if you don’t count parties whose membership numbers are only a few dozen, as well as parties with only one branch or office and a sign. Still, Türkiye is rich in democratic tradition, with new parties being established almost every two years, although few parties can make it to parliament.
Here are some of the major parties that have endured closure lawsuits, military juntas and tectonic shifts in voters’ preferences.
Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
In power since 2002, the ruling AK Party is a true survivor of Turkish politics, which was often interrupted by coups. Weathering a closure lawsuit and multiple attempts to overthrow its governments, the party is the most successful in the brief history of democracy in the country in terms of its winning streak. It won seven consecutive legislative elections and broke the unfortunate tradition of short-lived coalition governments that had run the country since the 1970s.
The party, which currently has 277 seats in the 600-seat parliament, has more than 11.7 million members, according to official figures, making it one of the largest parties in the region where Türkiye is located.
The AK Party was founded by an assorted mix of politicians, mostly from parties that pursued right-wing, conservative politics, but it managed to attract voters from the opposite side of the political spectrum with an all-embracing approach. With the decline of other right-wing and conservative parties, the party grew more and more over two decades.
The party’s leader is President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who established it with fellow politicians, mainly from the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP), where Erdoğan first rose to prominence as a skilled orator and then as mayor of Istanbul. Erdoğan later handed the chairmanship of the AK Party to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu when he was elected president, as a president could not be the chair of a party under the former presidential system. He returned to the chairmanship in 2017 after Türkiye switched to an executive presidential system. The party’s logo is a lightbulb emitting seven rays, which represent the seven geographic regions of Türkiye.
The AK Party received 35.62% of the parliamentary vote in the last legislative election, held in 2023, and the only election in which it suffered a serious setback was the 2024 municipal elections, when the party lost several strongholds and failed to take back Istanbul Municipality, which it had run for years. Still, the party managed to receive 35.49% of the vote and won 24 provincial and 357 district municipalities in the 2024 local elections.
The party is a member of the People’s Alliance, which it first set up with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) during the 2018 elections.
New Party (YP)
Founded in July 2026, the New Party (YP) is the second-largest party in the Turkish Parliament, with 91 lawmakers. Its chairman is Özgür Özel, former chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
YP became a main opposition party within days of its foundation by former CHP members.
It is a product of infighting within the CHP. When a court ordered the reinstatement of Özel’s predecessor in the CHP over allegations of vote-buying in a 2023 intra-party election, Özel was forced out of office in May 2026. After vowing to pursue a legal battle, Özel changed his mind within days and announced the establishment of YP.
YP touts a new political vision seeking to attract voters antagonized by the CHP, but it also claims a commitment to the principles of the social democratic CHP. As Özel announced in his declaration of the party’s foundation, YP aims to establish a “Türkiye Alliance with conservative, nationalist, Kurdish and social democratic circles.” The party’s logo is plain text reading “Yeni” (New in Turkish), with the letter N bearing a striking resemblance to the logo of a certain international streaming platform.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)
MHP is one of the oldest nationalist parties in Türkiye and was founded in 1969 when its founder, former military officer Alparslan Türkeş, changed the name of his Republican Peasants’ Nation Party. Türkeş is considered the father of modern Turkish nationalism, which had been confined to the margins of politics during the final days of the Ottoman Empire and the early years of the Republic of Türkiye.
The party’s current leader is Devlet Bahçeli, who was elected in 1997, one month after Türkeş’s death. Bahçeli won successive intra-party elections and boosted MHP’s vote share in the 1999 elections from 8.1% to 17.9%, securing a seat in the coalition government as deputy prime minister.
Like most political parties, MHP was closed by the military junta following the 1980 coup. It was reopened in 1993 under its current name after a separate party founded by former MHP members was dissolved.
In the last general elections, held in 2023, MHP won more than 10% of the vote and secured 50 seats in parliament. After allying with the AK Party in 2018, the party did not field any presidential candidates in subsequent elections.
MHP’s logo is three crescents against a red background.
The party is also associated with the Idealists’ Club, which evolved into a foundation from a nationalist movement that lost many members during the political turmoil of the 1970s and the executions carried out by the military junta after 1980. Idealists, known as “ülkücüs” in Turkish, are called Grey Wolves in Europe, where they had many members in the past.
Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM)
DEM was founded in 2012 through the merger of several small left-wing parties and, over time, evolved into a party that served as a continuation of now-defunct parties that sought to associate themselves with the Kurdish community. DEM changed its name from the Green Left Party to its current one and is currently co-chaired by Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan. It is currently the third-largest party in parliament, with 56 lawmakers.
The party is known for its close links with the terrorist group PKK and played a role in the Terror-Free Türkiye initiative launched by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli in 2024. DEM lawmakers served as messengers, carrying messages from the PKK’s jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan to the public, which led to the PKK’s announcement of its dissolution in 2025.
Republican People’s Party (CHP)
CHP is Türkiye’s oldest party and was founded by the Republic of Türkiye’s first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Before the establishment of YP, it was the main opposition party, but currently, it has only 44 lawmakers in parliament, lagging behind DEM and MHP.
Its current chair is Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who unsuccessfully ran against incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 general elections.
The party briefly ran the country after Atatürk’s death in 1938 but lost to the Democrat Party in the 1950 elections. Since then, it has never managed to win an election, although it maintained its status as a strong opposition party up until the foundation of YP.
CHP pursues a “social democratic” ideology and is currently in the process of holding a new congress that may prolong Kılıçdaroğlu’s tenure.
Turkish prosecutors on Friday sought the arrest of a doctor on suspicion of false testimony as part of a widening investigation into the 2016 death of former Transport Minister Arif Ahmet Denizolgun.
Dr. Nurettin Demirkol was detained and questioned before being referred to a criminal judgeship of peace with a request for his arrest, according to a referral document issued by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation centers on alleged inconsistencies between Demirkol’s testimony and records of emergency calls made following Denizolgun’s death on Sept. 7, 2016.
Prosecutors said Demirkol testified as a witness on Aug. 26 that he did not know who had reported the death or when the report was made. He also said he was not Denizolgun’s doctor and had not considered the death suspicious.
However, a transcript of calls to the 155 police emergency line showed that Demirkol himself reported the death, identified himself as the family’s doctor and described it as an “unexpected, suspicious sudden death,” according to prosecutors.
According to the Sabah newspaper, the records also showed that Demirkol called police again four minutes later and identified himself by name.
Prosecutors said phone records and testimony from other witnesses also contradicted Demirkol’s account regarding when people arrived at and left the scene.
When questioned again as a suspect about the alleged inconsistencies, Demirkol repeatedly said he could not remember the details, according to the referral document.
Prosecutors said there was strong suspicion that Demirkol had committed the offense of false testimony and requested that he be formally arrested pending further proceedings.
The development is the latest in an expanding investigation into Denizolgun’s death.
Prosecutors ordered his grave exhumed in August after allegations were raised about his cause of death and the original autopsy. Forensic experts collected samples from the grave on Aug. 19 for renewed examination.
The Bakırköy prosecutor’s office later said a review of the autopsy had identified the death as suspicious and that an investigation into suspected homicide was continuing against several people, including Alihan Kuriş.
Kuriş, who took control of the group in 2016, was among 37 people detained in a nationwide operation last month targeting what prosecutors describe as an alleged profit-driven criminal organization.
Evidence gathered following the exhumation was referred to the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institute for further examination.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan marked the 107th anniversary of the Sivas Congress on Friday, describing the landmark gathering as a historic turning point that united Türkiye’s national forces around a common goal during the country’s War of Independence.
In a message shared by the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, Erdoğan said the congress demonstrated to the world that the Turkish nation would not submit to occupying forces and was prepared to stand united in its struggle for independence.
“The Sivas Congress was a historic turning point that enabled national forces operating on different fronts across Anatolia to unite around a common ideal,” Erdoğan said.
He noted that the spirit of national unity, solidarity and cooperation that prevailed at the congress remained one of Türkiye’s greatest strengths in the face of threats against the nation, flag, homeland and state.
“The determination and resolve we demonstrated as a nation 107 years ago, despite all difficulties, remain our strongest source of motivation today in pursuing our Century of Türkiye goals,” he underlined.
The president also commemorated Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye, and other figures who took part in the national struggle.
The Defense Ministry separately commemorated the anniversary, saying the gathering in Sivas represented the Turkish nation’s determination to shape its own future.
“107 years ago, it was not merely a congress that convened in Sivas; a nation declared to the world that it would determine its own future through its own will,” the ministry said, highlighting the congress’ rejection of foreign mandates and protectorates.
Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran also described the congress as a historic milestone on the path toward the national struggle and the establishment of the republic.
Duran said the decisions adopted in Sivas demonstrated the nation’s determination to defend the country’s territorial integrity and national independence against outside pressure.
Moreover, Turkish opposition New Party (YP) Chair Özgür Özel also issued a message marking the anniversary, saying the congress declared that the nation would not surrender to occupation or foreign mandates.
“A country’s future can only be determined by the will of its own people,” Özel said, commemorating Atatürk and those who fought for Türkiye’s independence.
The Sivas Congress, held from Sept. 4-11, 1919, played a key role in coordinating the Turkish national resistance and laid important groundwork for the War of Independence.
Birth of Turkish republic
The Sivas Congress was a pivotal gathering in the country’s War of Independence where delegates rejected foreign mandates and protectorates and adopted key decisions that helped lay the groundwork for the establishment of the Republic of Türkiye.
The congress was a major milestone in the national resistance movement, bringing together representatives from across Anatolia and reinforcing the principle of full national independence.
Atatürk began the national resistance campaign in Samsun on May 19, 1919, before traveling through Amasya and arriving in Sivas on June 27, which he considered a secure location for advancing the movement.
During meetings in Sivas, participants discussed the situation facing the country and decided to convene a national congress in the city as soon as possible.
The Sivas Congress formally opened on Sept. 4, 1919, in the building that today houses the Atatürk and Congress Museum.
The congress, chaired by Atatürk, conducted its official work over seven days, during which delegates discussed a series of issues concerning the future of the country and the national resistance.
Among its most significant decisions was the declaration that foreign “mandates and protectorates” were unacceptable, reinforcing the principles of national sovereignty and national will.
The congress also helped bring previously separate resistance organizations under a broader national movement. With representatives from different parts of the country taking part, it effectively served as a national assembly during a critical stage of the independence struggle.
The decisions taken in Sivas helped establish a coordinated political framework for the national resistance and contributed to developments that culminated in victory in the War of Independence.
The struggle ultimately paved the way for the proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye on Oct. 29, 1923, with Atatürk as its founding president.
Türkiye aims to deepen institutional integration and increase the global visibility of the Turkic world as it prepares to assume the rotating presidency of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said Friday.
Duran made the remarks in a video message to a panel titled “Turkic World Dialogues: Common Future, Common Vision,” organized by Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications in the Kazakh capital Astana.
Türkiye will host the 13th meeting of the OTS Council of Foreign Ministers on Oct. 29, followed by a summit of the organization’s leaders on Oct. 30, Duran said.
He described the meetings as a new milestone in the Turkic world’s joint efforts and said Türkiye would assume the OTS term presidency at the summit.
Duran said Ankara was determined to further advance the institutional integration and global visibility of the Turkic world.
The panel brought together Turkish and Kazakh academics, representatives of diplomatic missions from OTS member and observer countries and members of the media to discuss the current state and future of cooperation among Turkic states.
Participants focused on integration, shared history and cultural heritage as well as strengthening economic, scientific, technological and people-to-people ties.
Türkiye’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan Mustafa Kapucu said rapid changes in the international system presented a historic opportunity for the Turkic world.
Stretching between Europe and Asia, the region has the potential to become one of the emerging centers of the global system because of its young population, natural resources, production capacity, energy potential and strategic transportation routes, Kapucu noted.
Talgat Moldabay, an academic at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, emphasized the role of shared history and culture in strengthening ties among Turkic societies.
He called for greater cooperation on a common alphabet and terminology and proposed developing shared digital libraries, text archives, scientific databases and artificial intelligence-supported data sets.
Janat Momınkulov, a professor at the same university, said differences in the historical experiences of Turkic states could become a source of strength if managed effectively.
“If we can evaluate this correctly, the Turkic world can become a much stronger economic and geopolitical actor,” Momınkulov said.
He also called on Turkic states to move beyond exporting natural resources as raw materials by developing technology, increasing value-added production and strengthening their positions in global markets.
Suat Beylur, director of the Eurasian Research Institute at Khoja Ahmet Yassawi International Turkish-Kazakh University, stressed the importance of expanding educational, scientific, cultural and professional mobility.
Beylur said sustainable integration required multidirectional exchanges rather than movement centered primarily on Türkiye.
Hasan Ali Karasar, rector of Cappadocia University, meanwhile, highlighted the role of artificial intelligence in preserving and developing Turkic languages in the digital age.
Karasar said Ankara, Astana, Baku, Tashkent and Ashgabat each possessed distinct historical experiences, national priorities and strategic expertise that should be shared to develop a common vision across the Turkic world.
Originally launched as the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States by Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the group evolved into the OTS at its landmark Istanbul summit in November 2021. The rebranding was widely interpreted as the start of a new era for the Turkic integration process, signaling an ambition to translate cultural bonds into geopolitical clout.
Türkiye’s trade with members of the OTS surpassed $10 billion from January through July of this year, the Trade Ministry said earlier this month.
The trade rose 6.6% year-over-year to $10.1 billion in the first seven months, the ministry said in a statement.
Kazakhstan was Türkiye’s largest trading partner among the OTS members last year, with bilateral trade totaling $7.8 billion. It was followed by Azerbaijan with $4.3 billion, Uzbekistan with $3.1 billion and Kyrgyzstan with $1.6 billion.
Four municipal council members in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district resigned from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and joined the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Friday, a day before the council is due to elect a new acting mayor.
Ahmet Başbaydar, Ayhan Aydın, Hüseyin Kazan and Tahsin Usta formally joined the AK Party at a ceremony held at the party’s Üsküdar district headquarters, according to the AK Party’s Istanbul provincial organization.
The defections narrowed the balance in the Üsküdar Municipal Council to 23 CHP members and 21 members of the People’s Alliance ahead of Saturday’s vote.
Speaking on behalf of the four council members, Usta said they had decided to switch parties because they believed they could better serve Üsküdar under the AK Party.
“We resigned from the Republican People’s Party and joined the AK Party to provide greater service to the people of Üsküdar,” Usta said, acknowledging that the decision had been difficult.
Usta denied that the four had faced pressure, threats or entered into negotiations in exchange for changing parties.
“We were under no pressure, faced no threats and were not involved in any bargaining,” he emphasized. “We aim to better serve Üsküdar, and we believe we can achieve that under this roof.”
AK Party Istanbul provincial Chair Abdullah Özdemir welcomed the four members, saying their experience would contribute to the party’s work in the district.
“We are excited and happy for Üsküdar,” Özdemir said, adding that the party intended to work with the municipal council and local stakeholders to address residents’ needs.
The political shift comes ahead of a closely watched council meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday to elect a new acting mayor following a court dispute over the previous election.
Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was arrested on July 31 as part of an investigation involving allegations of establishing a criminal organization, bribery and extortion. She was subsequently suspended from office by the Interior Ministry.
On Aug. 5, the municipal council elected CHP council member Sibel Tan Çetinkaya as acting mayor.
The election was later challenged in court, and Istanbul’s 2nd Administrative Court suspended the implementation of the council decision.
Following the court decision, the Istanbul Governor’s Office announced that the municipal council would reconvene on Sept. 5 to elect a new acting mayor under Article 45 of Türkiye’s Municipal Law.
The four defections leave the CHP with a two-seat advantage over the People’s Alliance in the council, raising the stakes ahead of Saturday’s election.
The AK Party has attracted many mayors from the CHP since the 2024 municipal elections. The last high-profile CHP figure to join the AK Party was Burcu Köksal of Afyon province in western Türkiye. The AK Party has also rejected several applications from CHP mayors seeking to join its ranks for various reasons.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on becoming the longest-serving prime minister of the Italian Republic, expressing confidence that cooperation between Türkiye and Italy will continue to grow.
Erdoğan said he “wholeheartedly” congratulated Meloni on the milestone and voiced confidence in further strengthening bilateral ties.
“I sincerely believe that we will further strengthen cooperation and solidarity between our countries with each passing day,” Erdoğan said.
Meloni’s government reached 1,413 consecutive days in office, overtaking the previous record held by the second government of late Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, which lasted 1,412 days between 2001 and 2005.
Meloni, who took office in October 2022 as Italy’s first female prime minister, has developed close working relations with Erdoğan, with the two leaders maintaining regular dialogue on bilateral and regional issues.
Their governments have sought to expand cooperation in areas including trade, investment, defense, energy and migration, while coordinating on regional issues such as Libya and Ukraine. Erdoğan and Meloni co-chaired the fourth Türkiye-Italy Intergovernmental Summit in Rome in April 2025, where the two countries signed a series of agreements aimed at broadening their strategic and economic partnership.
The two leaders most recently met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, reaffirming their commitment to boosting trade and mutual investment and expanding cooperation in the defense industry and other strategic sectors.
Turkish security forces detained 10 suspects on Friday for allegedly providing financial support to a former military officer accused of taking part in a FETÖ assassination team that targeted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
The suspects were identified as part of an investigation by the Terror Crimes Bureau of the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into people allegedly linked to former army Capt. Burkay Karatepe, according to judicial sources.
Authorities said the suspects provided financial assistance to Karatepe while he was a fugitive.
Five suspects were identified in Istanbul and five others in the northwestern province of Eskişehir. All 10 were detained in simultaneous operations in the two provinces.
Security forces also seized a large amount of digital material during searches of the suspects’ residences.
The detainees are expected to be transferred to Muğla for further questioning and legal proceedings.
Karatepe, who had been wanted for nearly a decade, was captured in the western province of Afyonkarahisar on Aug. 1 and formally arrested in Muğla on Aug. 5.
Turkish authorities accuse Karatepe of being part of a military team assigned to assassinate Erdoğan during the July 15 coup attempt.
The group targeted a hotel in the southwestern resort town of Marmaris where Erdoğan had been staying before he departed shortly ahead of the attack.
Türkiye accuses the FETÖ terrorist group and its U.S.-based leadership of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt, which killed more than 250 people and wounded thousands.
In a separate operation Friday, police in the northwestern province of Bursa captured a fugitive convicted of membership in FETÖ, local authorities said.
The individual, identified by the initials D.Ö., had been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for membership in an armed terrorist organization.
Police detained the fugitive in Bursa’s Orhangazi district as part of operations targeting wanted individuals, according to the provincial police department.
Following police procedures, the convict was transferred to Women’s Closed Prison to serve the sentence.
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