Is the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Rising from the Ashes?
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.
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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Is the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Rising from the Ashes?
Author(s)
Aurélien DENIZEAU
Associate Research Fellow, Turkey/Middle East Program, Ifri
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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.
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- 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 ;
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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:
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• 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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