The Motherland Party in the process of the reconstruction of democracy in Turkey (1983-1991)

Following the years of confusion and anarchy in the 1970s in Turkey, democratic political life was suspended by the Military Coup of 12 September 1980, and for three years a military administration took on the running of the country. However, even though the administration was under the control of the military, civilians were also involved in this process at the ministerial level. One of these was Turgut Özal. Before the coup, Özal served as prime ministerial undersecretary and DPT undersecretarial deputy in the administration of prime minister Süleyman Demirel, and, as one of the signatories of the Decisions of 24 January, was given the position of minister of state and assistant prime minister by the new administration. In 1982, he resigned as a result of disagreements with the government, after which, on 20 May 1983, he founded the Motherland Party (ANAP) with the permission of the military administration. As one of three parties entering the elections, ANAP based its political viewpoint on the "four tendencies". This was an important factor in the party's desire to be a party of broad participation, following the social divisions prior to the 12 September coup. In this way, ANAP became the sole party of government in the first elections which it contested on 6 November 1983. In its first term, which lasted until 1987, Özal had no particular difficulties as prime minister and chairman, particularly as former politicians were banned. In these years, the economy moved in a positive direction, and development was achieved. However, when the party sent one of its ministers to the Constitutional Court in the İsmail Özdağlar incident which took place at that time, this attracted great attention. Also, the newly drafted Law for the Protection of Minors from Harmful Publications (Obscene Publications) met with a serious response from the press, and ANAP's conservative identity was exposed. Various activities of the Turkish Women's Empowerment and Promotion Foundation, founded and headed by Özal's wife Semra Özal, caused damage to the government. In addition, the antidemocratic stance taken by ANAP in the process of the Prohibitions Referendum on 6 September 1987 at the end of this period clashed with the principle of liberalism on which it was founded, and was a black mark for the party. Apart from this, ANAP ruled for eight years without political conflict with the military, and its appointment in 1987 of the commander of the armed forces in a divergence from precedent was a significant step forward at the time. Following the reopening of the way to politics for the old politicians in the prohibition referendum, a snap decision was made to hold early elections. With the revisions made in the electoral system, if fewer votes were obtained than in previous general elections, more members of parliament were removed, and thus acting opportunistically won the election. In this new period, however strong ANAP was numerically in parliament, it was reduced to losing a referendum, a local election and a general election. Economic indicators showing a negative trend created the conditions which brought about ANAP's end. Apart from this, the attempted assassination of Özal in 1988 was a significant event. Also, at the congress where this assassination attempt took place, disagreements within the party became more obvious to the general public, and this contributed to ANAP's fall from power. However, the most significant development of that time was Turgut Özal's becoming president. Affected by coming third in the local elections of 1989, Özal's candidacy and election to the presidency opened up serious splits both in the party and in the opposition. In the following years also, relations between ANAP and President Özal were difficult, causing further losses to the party's standing, culminating in the end of its eight-year rule in the general elections of 1991. In addition, one of the most serious debates of that time was the question of the presidential system. It had been brought up by certain politicians before 1980, but with Turgut Özal the public discussion became serious. The attitude after Özal became president provided concrete examples of this idea. However, both implementation and thoughts in this direction drew reactions from both ANAP and the opposition parties. Thus, the idea of a presidential system was more Turgut Özal's project than it was ANAP's. It never reached a conclusion because Özal did not have enough support from the public or from ANAP, and because of his death. However, these discussions continued over the years, so that on 16 April 2017 the country chose a presidential system in a referendum. In this way, that period has had an effect up to the present day. ANAP came on to the political scene in the special conditions of 12 September, and, as stated above, adopted the line of the four tendencies. This approach, aimed at bringing together different voter profiles, conferred a great advantage on ANAP, particularly in its first term. However, with the end of political prohibitions in 1987, the old leaders returned to politics at the head of their parties, and the Four Tendencies groups began to return to their points of origin. In this way, this approach which had been adopted at the foundation of the party became non-functional. At the same time, ANAP was in many ways similar to its main rival on the centre right, the DYP, in economics, political viewpoint and the political base it depended on, for example, and the merging of the two parties in 2009 confirms this idea. Keywords: ANAP, Turgut Özal, Four tendencies, 12 September 1980, Turkish political life, Presidential system.