Socio-political environment in the 1960s and representation of Turkish Labor Party in The Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Turkey left, from the late Ottoman period up to 1960, except for short term periods, was seen as dangerous by the official ideology. The pressure mechanisms developed against left movements have pushed the left to underground activities. Thus, social expansion of the left was prevented. In the one party period left was considered illegal. This situation continued in the first period of the Democratic Party rule. Leftist and communists were accused as traitors in this period. For years, the movement area of the left has been limited due to the oppression policies. In this respect, the 1960s was a turning point for the left. The rights and freedoms recognized by the 1961 Constitution gave the Labor party a socialist identity. After the establishment process, the labor party made great efforts to stay on the legal line. For this reason, the labor party won the people's favor with the effective propaganda in the election periods. The party won representation right under the roof of the parliament in the elections of 1965. This representation has eliminated the legitimacy problem of the left in Turkey. Until 1971, when the Labor Party was shut down, it made active opposition in the parliament on the axis of socialist ideas.