Turkish Villagers' Party
Turkish Villagers' Party Türkiye Köylü Partisi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | TKP |
| President | Remzi Oğuz Arık (first) Tahsin Demiray (last) |
| Founder | Remzi Oğuz Arık |
| Founded | 19 May 1952 |
| Dissolved | 16 October 1958 |
| Split from | Democrat Party |
| Merged into | Republican Villagers Nation Party |
| Ideology | Turkish nationalism Agrarianism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Colours | Blue |
Turkish Villagers' Party (Turkish: Türkiye Köylü Partisi; TKP) was a former Turkish political party.
Following 27 years of single party rule, the Democrat Party (DP) defeated the Republican People's Party (CHP) in the 1950 elections. However, DP which was a champion of democracy during the opposition years, began to follow a more centralized policy in the party during its government years. During the provincial party congress held in Adana (then known as Seyhan) the party center supported a candidate against a popular candidate of the Adana partisans. After the congress three MPs (all of which were from Adana electoral district) as well as Adana mayor resigned from the party.[1]
On 19 May 1952, they formed the Turkish Villagers' Party. The leader of the party was Remzi Oğuz Arık an MP and a professor of archaeology. On 3 April 1954 Arık died on an airplane crash while flying from Adana to Ankara. This event was just before the 1954 Turkish general election and the party couldn't gain a seat in the parliament. [2] After another failure in the 1957 Turkish general election, the party decided to merge into Republican Nation Party. (see Republican Villagers Nation Party)