Results of the modernization experience and the effects of Democrate Party policies on Turkish modernization

The process of modernization in Turkey that began in the last period of the Ottoman Empire has shown continuity in the Republic of Turkey. The concept of modernization has been redefined as Kemalizm during the Republic period. A new era has begun with the end of single-party rule in 1950 and the transition to a multi-party system. During the Democrat Party rulership, some Kemalist principles were put into practice by being reinterpreted. The policies put by the Democrat Party during its ten years of power were accused of counter-revolution allegetions by the military junta and the Republican People's Party after the military coup on May 27, 1960. In this study, the modernization process of Turkey and policies of Democrat Party rulership were examined through the concept of Kemalizm. The main purpose of the study is to reveal the contributions of Democrat Party policies to Turkish modernization by taking Kemalist principles as a reference, and to open the argument of "counter-revolution" from this perspective. In this context, the historical research method, one of the qualitative research designs, was used. In the first part of the study, the notion of modernization, the modernization process in Turkey and the Kemalism ideology are defined and explained. The second part gives details about the transition to multi-party system. In the third part, the policies implemented by the Democratic Party are examined in a way to clarify the "counter-revolution" claims by taking Kemalist principles into consideration. It is clearly understood that within the scope of the study the examined policies lacked sufficient basis for the counter-revolution claim and that these claims were a product of the efforts of the groups deprived of power to regain political power.