Esat Adil Müstacaplioğlu and the first the socialist party of Turkey in Turkish Political Life (1932-1946)

This study focused on Esat Adil Müstecaplıoğlu, who founded the first socialist party in the history of The Republic of Turkey, which was called The Socialist Party of Turkey (TSP) in 1946. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the political thoughts and actions of Esat Adil Müstecaplıoğlu. In this context, all of Esat Adil's writings, copyright works and translated and published books have been analyzed in detail since 1932. Apart from the books he publishes, the main periodicals observed are Savaş, Tan, Yeni Dünya newspapers and Görüşler and Gün magazines. Within this scope beginning from 1932, complete works of Esat Adil, including his articles, works, and translations from other languages, are studied. This way, in the first place, Esad Adil's understanding of Socialism in the period between 1932-1946, his position and attitude about the facts and phenomenons are assayed thoroughly. Then, his thoughts on Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkish Revolution and its ideology, one-party regime, democracy, human rights, working-class, trade unionization, peasantry and the problem of land ownership, generally, themes that occur both as social and political questions are revealed. This is also the characteristic aspect of this study and differentiates it from other scientific researches on Esad Adil Müstecaplıoğlu and The Socialist Party of Turkey. The period of 1945-46 is the milestone in Turkey's political history since it is also the period that involve a transition to the multi-party system. Moreover, at this time, Esad Adil has become one of the prominent figures in the socialist movement as an independent intellectual. During this period, he was involved in numerous publishing activities and also founded The Socialist Party of Turkey. Thus in this study, the foundation process and the organisation of The Socialist Party of Turkey are scrutinized. Furthermore Party's founders, the process of it's ending and legal cases about the Party are investigated. Finally, the period of the transition to the multi-party system is observed in terms of the history of the socialist opposition in Turkey. Therefore, Esad Adil's portrait as an independent and opponent intellectual and also The Socialist Party of Turkey are revealed and his position in the history of Turkish political life is enlightened. Key Words: Esat Adil Müstecaplıoğlu, The Socialist Party of Turkey