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Is the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Rising from the Ashes?

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Ifri Studies, Aurélien Denizeau
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The victory of the CHP [Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, Republican People’s Party] in the Turkish municipal elections of March 2024 firmly established it as the leading party of opposition to the Islamic-conservative AKP [Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, Justice and Development Party], which has been in power since 2002. 

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Siège du Parti Républicain du Peuple Turc, Ankara, Turquie
Siège du Parti Républicain du Peuple Turc, Ankara, Turquie
© Birol Dincer/Shutterstock
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The CHP, which came into existence in 1923 in parallel with the Republic, was initially the only party and the standard bearer for Mustafa Kemal’s modernizing, secular nationalism. Its program became more socially democratic with the transition to a multi-party system and then more liberal in the face of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s growing authoritarianism. This long history explains the party’s complex identity and the diverse factions within it.

From the 2010s onwards, its strategy of building alliances and winning back voters has established it as the undisputed leader of the opposition. The increasing secularization of Turkey’s youth, the CHP’s success in major cities, and its ability to reach out to civil society and forge international partnerships are all assets the party could capitalize on in the forthcoming elections.

But it has a number of challenges to overcome: achieving consistency in its program and its alliances, finding a less vertical structure, and uniting around a winning candidate.

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979-10-373-0907-5

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Is the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Rising from the Ashes?

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Author(s)
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Aurélien DENIZEAU

Aurélien DENIZEAU

Intitulé du poste

Associate Research Fellow, Turkey/Middle East Program, Ifri

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Süleymaniye Mosque, Istanbul, Türkiye
Turkey/Middle East Program
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Ifri's Turkey/Middle East Program aims to provide expertise on the trends and developments in politics, societies and economies across the region.

The programme has the following objectives:

  • Proposing a new approach towards the MENA region through an analysis of local, regional, and international dynamics with the potential to guide and influence new policies.
  • Highlighting the role of foreign powers which have traditionally been present in the region and analyzing the new role taken on by emerging countries ;
  • Anticipating new directions and outlooks in each country.
  • Interpreting risks and potentials and putting forward new templates for analysis.

The programme has built a dense network of researchers and experts who provide expertise on the MENA region and working together on a range of crosscutting themes.

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Turquie
Turkey 2050 Program
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The Turkey 2050 Program develops a forward-looking analysis of the country to anticipate its dynamics over the next 30 years. The reflection is structured around three key themes:

• Domestic politics, to assess the stability of the AKP regime and the prospects for political change;

• The economy, to understand Turkey's capacity for recovery, the evolution of its production model, and its regional integration prospects;

• Foreign policy, to monitor the rise of Turkey's diplomacy and military capabilities, and to map the country's new spheres of influence.

This research, funded by companies and institutions active in Turkey, is based on field missions that aim to shed light on the blind spots and lesser-known areas of the Turkish landscape. Program partners benefit from personalized monitoring of relevant indicators to inform their decision-making, supported by monthly strategic briefings, sectoral reports, and access to a network of Turkish and French experts. The exchanges surrounding the program ultimately seek to define the concept of "Turkish risk" in a broad sense, in order to adapt our working methods accordingly.

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Middle Power Lawfare : South Africa, International Justice, and the Gaza Crisis

Date de publication
21 July 2025
Accroche

The intensification of violence in Gaza following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 Al Aqsa Flood attack and Israel’s military response prompted a broader reassessment of global diplomacy. Longstanding geopolitical alignments were disrupted, and questions about humanitarian obligations, institutional accountability, and the limits of state conduct returned to the centre of international debate.

Gustavo DE CARVALHO
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Adıyaman, the “Ownerless City”: Story of a Political Emancipation

Date de publication
11 July 2025
Accroche

Over the past two years, the city of Adıyaman has made headlines for two major reasons: first, its devastation by the earthquake of February 6, 2023, which struck between Turkey and Syria, and second, its significant political shift following the municipal elections of March 31, 2024. 

Giulia FOURNIER
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The Evolving Role of Nuclear Rhetoric in Iran’s Strategic Calculus

Date de publication
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Accroche

How has the Iranian strategic discourse about nuclear weapons and deterrence evolved? 

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Turkey and France - Allies or Rivals: Opportunities to be Seized

Date de publication
24 June 2025
Accroche

As international relations have become increasingly unpredictable, the quest is to find a semblance of normality. Alliances are shifting as interests are changing. The so-called order established after the Second World War is being shattered by those who have given so much to create it. Global relations are being transformed by countries that wish to follow the rules and others that want to circumvent or ignore them. In this uncertain environment, it is therefore all the more crucial to find stable allies.

Selim YENEL
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Siège du Parti Républicain du Peuple Turc, Ankara, Turquie
© Birol Dincer/Shutterstock

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Ifri Studies, Aurélien Denizeau
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Ifri Studies, Aurélien Denizeau

Is the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Rising from the Ashes?