From the Quest for Legitimacy to the Loss of Legitimacy: True Path Party-Army Relations from 1980 to 2000

Abstract

This study focuses on the True Path Party-Army relations from the birth of the TPP until the period when Çiller left the Party chairmanship. Thus, it is aimed to reveal how the Party's national popular policies have changed as a result of its relations with the Army. In order to achieve the stated aim, historical comparative research method was used in the study. It is thought that a comparative examination of the period from the founding of the Party to Demirel's Presidency and the period when Çiller was the Chairman of the Party can reveal the discussions, dilemmas and continuities between the two periods in the Party's relations with the Army. As a matter of fact, the TPP's most important national popular move to expand its voter base since its foundation was based on the discourse of democracy. The rhetoric of 'resistance against military tutelage' was placed at the center of the Party's discourse on democracy. The Party's attitude towards the civilian administration's dominance over the Army in the period leading up to Demirel's presidency constitutes an important example of the civilianization efforts in Turkish political life. During the Çiller period, this effort was replaced by an essentialist nationalist understanding adorned with the themes of 'flag, azan and land'. In this period, the Party went from a period in which it strengthened its legitimacy through the Army to a period in which it lost legitimacy through the Army.