General elections were held in Turkey on Sunday 24 December 1995, triggered by the newly re-established Republican People's Party's (CHP) withdrawal from a coalition government with the True Path Party (DYP). The coalition had been in government for four years, having been formed by the Social Democratic Populist Party, the CHP's predecessor.
The elections inaugurated a 550-member parliament, its largest membership. The religious Welfare Party (RP) had the largest membership but not a majority standing in the body. The Democratic Left Party (DSP) also made significant gains at the expense of the CHP, which barely crossed the election barrier. The election was also the first time an openly Kurdish party – the People's Democracy Party – contested. It was the leading party in several provinces, but won no seats due to failing to cross the 10% electoral threshold.
Background
In 1993 several prominent political figures died. Investigative journalist Uğur Mumcu was assassinated on 24 January, while there was also an increase in the violence of the conflicts with the Kurdistan Workers' Party.[1] President Turgut Özal died on 17 April and was replaced by Süleyman Demirel. On 2 July, shortly before the Tansu Çiller government was about to receive a vote of confidence, thirty-seven people, mostly Alevis, who were in Sivas for the Pir Sultan Abdal festival, were burned to death by a radical Islamist group in the Madımak Hotel following a four-hour siege in what became known as the Sivas massacre.
The debt-based neoliberal economic policies of the Özal governments hit the wall in 1988, and foreign debts rose from $41 billion to $67 billion between 1988 and 1993. On 14 January 1994, an economic crisis was triggered when Moody's downgraded Turkey's credit rating. The dollar suddenly rose from 15,000 Turkish lira to 38,000. The stock market crashed, and the 5 April decisions were taken by the Çiller government. Inflation exceeded 100 percent. The government attempted a bailout through a loan from the IMF. Despite the magnitude of the destruction, the government could not prevent the poor people from getting poorer.[1]
On 18 February 1995 the Social Democratic Populist Party, led by Erdal İnönü, merged with the Republican People's Party. With Deniz Baykal becoming the leader of the CHP, Çiller agreed to a coalition with the CHP. But Baykal wanted to be present. One of the conditions of Baykal was early elections, which followed in December 1995.[1]
Not since before the declaration of the republic had a blatantly religious party emerged as the largest political force in Turkey. There were fears of the secular armed forces refusing to accept the election result, perhaps even launching yet another coup. As a national debate waged, Tansu Çiller's government stayed on, eventually agreeing with Mesut Yılmaz's Motherland Party (ANAP) to form a minority coalition in March 1996, some three months after the election.
The ANAP–DYP coalition was toppled by an Welfare Party censure motion in June, forcing President Demirel to choose between calling a fresh election or asking Welfare's leader Erbakan to form a government. He chose the latter, and the DYP switched allegiances to form Turkey's first Islamist government with the RP in June 1996. This government was soon overthrown by the Turkish Armed Forces in what was known as the "Postmodern Coup."
CHP decline
The newly reformed CHP had withdrawn as junior partner of a four-year coalition with the DYP to contest an election on an agenda that boasted its Kemalist and centre-left history. The gamble turned out to be a disaster; far from returning to government, the CHP became the smallest party in parliament with a loss of nationalist votes to the MHP and left-wing votes to the DSP. The party's unpopularity led to its complete ejection from parliament in the next elections in 1999.
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