Demographic structure of political parties originating in the southeast region

This study analyzes the programs and demographic structures of political parties with social bases in Turkey's Southeastern and Eastern Anatolia regions, which emerged in the 1990s and remained in the political arena under various names. It engages key discussions on the sociology of party elites and proceeds to provide a definition of political parties, party typologies, and attempts by parties to create their own elites. The theoretical discussion is followed by an analysis of the dynamics behind the rise of Southeastern political parties. I classify the key issues in party programs under various categories. The analysis focuses on continuity and differences among party discourses, and identifies temporary changes in their policy proposals. At the same time, I identify the parties' target audiences based on their programs and describe whether the target audiences identified in party programs match the actual audiences of the respective movements. This study primarily focuses on the demographic analysis of party founders and parliamentarians — which we consider an attempt to create political elites. It analyzes party founders judging by available information, including age, gender, place or birth, education, and profession. Parliamentarians, in turn, have been inspected and classified according to marital status, number of children, and language skills to present a social profile. Keywords: Political sociology, Elite theory, Political parties, Demography, Party Discourse