The evolution of social democracy in turkey: In the Republican People?s Party context

In our country Turkey, Republican People?s Party asserts itself as a delegate of social democratic tradition by identifying itself as a democratic left party since the 1970s. Thus, the aim of the study is: in the Republican People?s Party context; investigating the social democracy?s rise, development and actual position in Turkey and by doing so, in the example of Republican People?s Party, detecting the position of social democracy in the Turkish political life . During the study, we discussed the arguments about how the social democratic thinking raised inside Republican People?s Party parallel to Republic Time Turkish political life and arrived at a conclusion that Kemalism and ?democratic left? movement composing the background of party is an ideology of the administer elite whom adopting its ideology for period?s conditions for protecting the autonomy it had in the political system rather than being an ideology of the Turkish worker class. Consequently, as a result of our study, when comparing with international social democratic movement, there are distinct differences between Republican People?s Party and West European social democratic parties by means of traditions, pragmatical orientations and organic relations that parties had with workers, and for this reason, it is impossible identifying Republican People?s Party as a social democratic party.