The constitutional divergence in defining left and right politics in post-war Turkey

The delineation of left- and right-wing political ideologies in Turkey emerged relatively late. During the 1960s the Republican People’s Party (CHP), reframed its identity with the political left, in contrast, the tradition evolving from the Democrat Party (DP) to the Justice Party (AP), came to represent the political centre-right. While this dichotomy may initially appear as a product of the specific political conjuncture of the 1960s, its discursive and structural foundations can be traced back to the immediate post-Second World War period. In contrast to the coherent and centralized political model of the single-party period, the multiparty era introduced a fragmented political structure, which was most evident in disputes over the interpretation of laws, particularly the Constitution. This study aims to elucidate the divergent understandings of democracy, political participation and the rule of law that developed on either side of the political spectrum. The challenge of adapting legal regulations from the single-party era to the new multiparty context not only shifted the founding political ethos but also redefined the political landscape along left–right lines.