Turkish Polıtıcs

Yanıt Açıklaması: The 1961 election is a complete disappointment for both CHP and for the 27 May supporters. However, a government that is a continuation of DP could not be allowed after the coup. The CHPAP coalition government was established under these conditions.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Ecevit who was elected as the leader of the CHP against İnönü in 1972, made CHP the first party in the 1973 elections, with his stance against 12 March

Yanıt Açıklaması: The growth of Turkish bourgeoisie and working class gained momentum after 1960.

Yanıt Açıklaması: In 1927, Law for the Encouragement of Industry (Teşvik-i Sanayi Kanunu) was issued.

Yanıt Açıklaması: A small socialist (İştirak) movement was the first organization that openly identified itself with socialism in Turkey. This socialist movement was organized around Hüseyin (iştirakçi) Hilmi, known as known as the founding father of the socialist movement in Turkey. This small group formed the Ottoman Socialist Party (Osmanlı Sosyalist Fırkası). The correct answer is A.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The party system refers to the complex network of relations between and among political parties. This network of relationships varies according to the number of parties, their size, power strategies and electoral system. The most commonly used criteria for classifying party systems is the number of parties competing for power. According to the classical classification of Duverger using the number criterion, there are three types of party systems: (1) One-party system, (2) Two-party system (3) Multi-party system. In the One-party system, a second party is not allowed except for one-party; there is only one- party in the system. One-party systems are divided into two groups. The authoritarian single parties that are not based on an inclusive ideology and the totalitarian One-parties based on a holistic ideology. The second group are communist and fascist parties that are mobilizing society through an ideology, aiming at a new type of human and society that conforms to this ideology. The best example of two-party systems is the US and UK. The two-party system is not the system with only two parties, but a system with two parties which have power potentials competing for political power. Around 90% of the total votes in almost every election is shared between the two parties. The ruling power changes in the hands of these two parties. Duverger states that a simple majority system only supports a two-party system. However, this is not a mechanical relationship. It should be noted that two-party systems work well in countries that have social consensus on the political regime. Multi-party systems are systems with more than two parties competing for power or having the power to influence power. It is divided into two as moderate and excessive multi-party systems. In the moderate multiparty system, parties tend to cluster around two centres. Power changes hands between these alliances that are formed to the right or left of the centre. According to Duverger, two-tiered majority systems support moderate multi-party systems. Excessive multiparty systems are not characterized by a large multiplicity of party numbers, but a multiplicity of political poles and the distance between them. The excessive multiparty system is seen in countries where there is a lack of consensus on the political regime and leads to instability of the government. Duverger believes that pure proportional representation systems support the multi-party system. The correct answer is D

Yanıt Açıklaması: The principle of Kemalist laicism aims at the gradual reduction of the influence of religion on political, social and individual life. Religious control of state affairs is abolished but state control over religion continues. When the state deems it necessary, it uses the religion as a tool for its own legitimacy. But this religion is not a dogmatic religion in the traditional sense; it is a rationalized religion that is compatible with reason and science. One of the aims of taking religion into state control is to prevent religious social opposition which could object to Kemalist power. Kemalism seeks to build a ‘Turkish Islam’ in harmony with nationalism instead of other Islamic interpretations that are widespread in the world. But regulations and practices based on the principle of Kemalist laicism paradoxically set the stage for the development of an Islamist opposition against the regime.

Yanıt Açıklaması: After the year 1945, USA domination of the world began to shape political affairs at a global scale.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Prince Sabahaddin founded the Ottoman Liberal Party to oppose the more statist and centralist policies of the Union and Progress Party.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The official establishment date of the People’s Party was 9 September, 1923. Mustafa Kemal, before the end of the first parliamentary period, had put forward the Halk Fırkası (People’s Party-HF) based on the will of public rhetoric. On April 8, 1923, he announced that the HF would be established through the partying of the Anatolia and Rumelia Defence of Rights Society. In 1923, Mustafa Kemal, who formed an independent Assembly in his election, was elected to the post of Chair on September 9, 1923, after the adoption of the party’s charter on 9 September. After the declaration of the Republic, Mustafa Kemal Pasha was elected as the President and İsmet (İnönü) Pasha HF was appointed as the Deputy Chairman. The party was renamed as Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Fırkası-CHF) in 1924. From the establishment until the multiparty period transition (1923-1946) CHF has maintained its character as a one-party of Turkey and has been the hallmark of this era.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Islamism is another current of thought that is developed as an alternative to the nationalism in the Western form. This movement, called ‘Panislamism’ at that time, introduced an ideology based on religious identity in order to preserve the unity of the Ottoman Empire. However, the Islamist ideology that generates excitement and broad support among the intellectuals was not successful too.

Yanıt Açıklaması: In the study of political processes and instituions, the connection among history, culture and economy, and their interrelatedness must be contextualized. As can be understood from the information given, the correct answer is E.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The main opposition party of the Second Constitution Era was the Party for Freedom and Harmony (Hürriyet ve İtilaf Fırkası HİF) established on 21 November 1911. This movement, which gathered around 70 deputies in the Parliament, united all the opponents (liberals, Islamists, minorities) of İTC within its body. HİF was an opposition party out of homogeneity; the unifying reason for the party was being the contrast of İTC. The political activity of HİF lasted for about two years. After 1913 Ottoman coup d’état, HİF was pushed out of the political arena with the establishment of an authoritarian one-party system.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The 1961 election is a complete disappointment for both CHP and for the 27 May supporters. However, a government that is a continuation of DP could not be allowed after the coup. The CHPAP coalition government was established under these conditions. The correct answer is D.

Yanıt Açıklaması: The main channel of the first generation Islamists is the magazine of Sırat-ı Müstakim.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Prince Sabahaddin (1877-1948) went to Europe after receiving private education. Here, he joined the Le Play School, which claimed to establish a new science (sociology). According to Sabahaddin Bey, who adopted the ideas of this school, there are two types of families and two types of societies based on these two types of families. These are ‘tecemmüî ‘(communitarian) family and society, and ‘infiradî’ (individual, individualist) family and society. In communitarian societies, people lack the power of attempt, they expect everything from the community. In the individualist family and society, individuals trust themselves first and have personal initiative. The latter type is more successful in the face of family and community life. According to Sabahaddin Bey, the success of the Anglo-Saxon world stems from the characteristics of the individualist society. Anglo-Saxon countries are organized according to the principles of decentralization and individual enterprise. Sabahaddin believed that the issue for the Ottoman Empire would not end with the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy. As the existing despotism was the result of the social structure; if this structure cannot be changed, even if a new constitutionalism comes, a new autocracy would be unavoidable. The correct answer is E.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Justice Party was removed from the power in 1971 by a military coup.

Yanıt Açıklaması: In his book titled The Prince, Machiavelli compares the Kingdom of France with the Ottoman Empire. According to him, a single ruler controls the monarchy in the Ottoman Empire; and everyone else is the servant of the ruler. The ruler divides his lands into sanjaks and sends several administrators to those sanjaks and he can change the administrators as he wishes. In a conflict against the ruler, it is not easy to convince the administrators around the ruler or the public. This is exactly why it is not possible to invade and conquer the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the correct option is A.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti-DP), which came to power at 14 May 1950 elections, is not a party that gave direction to Turkish politics during its 10-year rule. DP is a party that goes beyond the period of its rule and continues its effects even after it was closed by the military coup on 27 May, 1960. DP and its leader Menderes are an important basis for legitimacy for the liberal-conservative centre-right politics which has the potential support of roughly two-thirds of the people in Turkey. Almost all of the parties in this line are trying to show themselves as a continuation of DP and to lay claim on the DP legacy.

Yanıt Açıklaması: Liberalism in the broad sense accepts the individual as the basic unit of social analysis. Liberal thought opposes to all forms of oppression against the individual and demands economic, social, religious and political freedom. Liberalism, which is a kind of freedom theory, was born as a reaction to the old system in which various parts of the state and society could intervene in the rights and freedoms of the individual. While the left and socialism emphasize equality, liberalism emphasizes freedom. Liberalism is not just an economic doctrine; it is a multi-faceted ideology advocating certain basic views on the social and political sphere. In this context, liberalism is not collectivist but individualist; defends negative liberty far from positive freedom; calls for limited and responsible state, not an interventionist and oppressive state; believes in procedural justice based on market economy, against social justice based on redistribution.