Movement for Change in Turkey

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For other topics with similar names, see Movement for Change (disambiguation).

Movement for Change in Turkey
Türkiye Değişim Hareketi
LeaderMustafa Sarıgül
HeadquartersAnkara
IdeologySocial democracy
Kemalism
Turkish nationalism
(Liberal nationalism)
Populism
Political positionCentre-left to Centre
ColoursWhite and Red
Website
Official Website

The Movement for Change in Turkey, or TDH (Turkish: Türkiye Değişim Hareketi), is a Turkish political movement founded in 2009 under the leadership of Mustafa Sarıgül. It was formerly in the process of organizing as a political party. After a period in the DSP,[1] Sarıgül established the TDH in order to challenge the domination of the Turkish centre-left by the CHP,[2] whose leader Deniz Baykal had withstood a leadership challenge by Sarıgül in 2005.[3]

Background[]

The movement describes itself as social democratic and lists among its policy goals reducing Turkey's rich/poor gap, promoting pluralism, and empowering women and youth.[4] The movement also emphasizes democratizing the country's political system and moving forward reforms to bring the country in line with EU norms.[5] Opinion polls gave the TDH from 13%[citation needed] to 16%[4] of the support of the electorate. The TDH attracted the support of CHP veterans Hikmet Çetin and Onur Kumbaracıbaşı, both former deputy prime ministers, and former ambassador Faruk Loğoğlu.[4] It reportedly has as many as 670,000 volunteers.[6] Journalists speculated that the TDH could mobilize female and younger voters, reconnect with the CHP's erstwhile supporters in the Alevi and Kurdish communities and, by toning down the CHP's strident secularism, cut into the base of the ruling conservative AK Party.[2]

In May 2010, rivalry between the CHP and TDH intensified as the CHP's Önder Sav accused Sarıgül of involvement in the publication of the video on YouTube that prompted Deniz Baykal's resignation as CHP leader, and also accused him of paying a hitman to try to kill Baykal. Sarıgül denied both allegations and has promised to seek legal redress against Sav.[7]

Following Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's succession to CHP's leadership in 2010, Sarıgül announced that this created an opportunity for change in the CHP, and that he would not form a new party.[8] The announcement took other leaders of the TDH by surprise.[9]

After his lost in 2014 Turkish local elections as CHP candidate for Istanbul, Sarıgül returned to use the Demokratik Sol Parti platform and participated in 2019 Turkish local elections in Şişli, where he lost to CHP's candidate with a little margin.

In 2020, Sarıgül decided to transform TDH to a party, naming it Türkiye Değişim Partisi (TDP) which literally means 'Party of Change in Turkey'.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "Mustafa Sarıgül, resmen DSP'de". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 24 September 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Yusuf Kanlı (29 January 2010). "Is Sarıgül dividing the CHP?". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  3. ^ "New Sarıgül movement worries left-wing parties". Today's Zaman. 21 January 2010. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "TDH Presentation". TDH. Archived from the original on 3 December 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
  5. ^ "Objective & Vision". TDH. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  6. ^ Gül Demir; Niki Gamm (30 January 2010). "A new political party in the making: An interview with Mustafa Sarıgül". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Turkish left plays dirty on the eve of CHP national congress". Today's Zaman. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  8. ^ "'CHP'ye destek vereceğiz'" [We will support the CHP]. Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 22 June 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  9. ^ "TDH'de Sarıgül şoku" [Sarıgül shock in the TDH]. Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). 22 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  10. ^ "Mustafa Sarıgül parti kuruyor" (in Turkish).
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