Motherland Party (Turkey)
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The Motherland Party of Turkey, (Turkish: Anavatan Partisi, abbreviated as ANAVATAN and formerly abbreviated as ANAP) is a political party in Turkey. It was founded in 1983 by Turgut Özal. The ANAP is considered a centre-right party which supported restrictions on the role that government can play in the economy, which favours private capital and enterprise, and which allows for some public expressions of religion.
The ANAP maintained a majority in the government of Turkey from 1983 until 1993. Turgut Özal held the position of Prime Minister from 1983 to 1989, then President from 1989 to 1993. During this time, the ANAP leaders transformed the Turkish economy by beginning free-market reforms, particularly cutting down the public area and moving towards privately owned business. In 1987, the ANAP-led government filed for admission into the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union. However, this attempt to enter the EEC was ended when the ANAP criticized the Customs Union of the EEC and decided the admission terms prescribed by the EEC were not in the best interest of Turkey or its people.
After its longest run, the ANAP has had few opportunities to return to leadership. In 1995, The Motherland party formed a brief coalition with the True Path Party (DYP), another centre-right oriented party, that allowed their influence to return for a short period of time. Then, from July 1997 to November of 1998, the ANAP was returned to the head of government with the leader Mesut Yılmaz. However, The ANAP suffered one of the largest defeats during the April 1999 elections and became the fourth largest political party in Turkey with only 14% of the votes. Following these elections, ANAP received only 86 of 365 seats in the Parliament. During the 2002 elections, they got only 5.12% of the votes and no seats in Parliament.
Since 2005, its new president has been Erkan Mumcu.
In 5 May 2007 it was announced, that ANAP and True Path Party would merge to the Democrat Party (Demokrat Parti). However this failed and ANAP announced that they wouldn't present themselves for the upcoming elections.
[edit] Leaders
The chief executive member of the party is called the Genel Başkan. He/She is elected by party delegates in biennial party congresses. The party had six leaders since its foundation in 1983:
- Turgut Özal (May 20, 1983 - October 31, 1989)
- Yıldırım Akbulut (November 16, 1989 - June 15, 1991)
- Mesut Yılmaz (June 15, 1991 - November 4, 2002)
- Ali Talip Özdemir (November 18, 2002 - October 3, 2003)
- Nesrin Nas (October 15, 2003 - March 21, 2005)
- Erkan Mumcu (April 2, 2005 - present)
(During periods between the resignation or incapacitation of a leader and the election of a new one, the central committee of the party collectively acts as leader.)
[edit] External links
- Motherland Party official website (Turkish)
[edit] References
- "Country Profile: Turkey." MSN Encarta
- The Motherland Party. Retrieved on January 20, 2005.
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