Dynamics of the transition to multi-party political life in Turkey (1945-1950)

Turkey, as a remnant of the Ottoman Empire, transitioned to a pluralistic democratic political and social order after the proclamation of the republic and after a long period of one-party rule. The devastating consequences of World War I gave impetus to the efforts of the Ottoman ruling elite in their search for a new social and political order. As a result of World War I, the developments in the Western world, modernization, and the power struggles of the US, the UK, and the U.S.S.R., which were making moves to expand on a global scale, were undoubtedly important facts in laying the foundations of the new and modern Turkey. In the bipolar world conjuncture that developed parallel to the new colonialist positioning efforts that erupted after World War II, the new Turkish state took place within the Atlantic Bloc, which embraced democracy and liberal values. The fact that the founding regime and democratic value preferences of the newly established Turkish state were drawn from the Western bloc has an important contribution to such an orientation. After the single-party period, the Republic of Turkey experimented with multi-party political life under the influence of both external factors and domestic political/economic and social dynamics. This study analyzes the dynamics of the transition to multi-party political life in Turkey. Keywords: Democracy, Republic, Single Party, Democratic Party, Election, Rulership