Movement for Change in Turkey

Movement for Change in Turkey
Türkiye Değişim Hareketi
Leader Mustafa Sarıgül
Headquarters Ankara
Ideology Social democracy
European affiliation None
International affiliation None
Colours Gold, black and white
Website
TDH official website

The Movement for Change in Turkey, or TDH (Turkish: Türkiye Değişim Hareketi), is a Turkish political movement founded in 2009 under the leadership of Mustafa Sarıgül. It was formerly in the process of organizing as a political party. After a period in the DSP,[1] Sarıgül established the TDH in order to challenge the domination of the Turkish centre-left by the CHP,[2] whose leader Deniz Baykal had withstood a leadership challenge by Sarıgül in 2005.[3] The movement describes itself as social democratic and lists among its policy goals reducing Turkey's rich/poor gap, promoting pluralism, and empowering women and youth.[4] The movement also emphasizes democratizing the country's political system and moving forward reforms to bring the country in line with EU norms.[5] Opinion polls gave the TDH from 13%[6] to 16%[4] of the support of the electorate. The TDH attracted the support of CHP veterans Hikmet Çetin and Onur Kumbaracıbaşı, both former deputy prime ministers, and former ambassador Faruk Loğoğlu.[4] It reportedly has as many as 670,000 volunteers.[7] Journalists speculated that the TDH could mobilize female and younger voters, reconnect with the CHP's erstwhile supporters in the Alevi and Kurdish communities and, by toning down the CHP's strident secularism, cut into the base of the ruling conservative AK Party.[2][6]

In May 2010, rivalry between the CHP and TDH intensified as the CHP's Önder Sav accused Sarıgül of involvement in the publication of the video on YouTube that prompted Deniz Baykal's resignation as CHP leader, and also accused him of paying a hitman to try to kill Baykal. Sarıgül denied both allegations and has promised to seek legal redress against Sav.[8]

Following Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's succession to CHP's leadership in 2010, Sarıgül announced that this created an opportunity for change in the CHP, and that he would not form a new party.[9] The announcement took other leaders of the TDH by surprise.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Hürriyet (2008-09-24). Mustafa Sarıgül, resmen DSP'de. Retrieved on 2010-05-12. (in Turkish)
  2. 1 2 Yusuf Kanlı (2010-01-29), Hürriyet Daily News. Is Sarıgül dividing the CHP? Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  3. ↑ Today's Zaman (2010-01-21). New Sarıgül movement worries left-wing parties. Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  4. 1 2 3 TDH. TDH Presentation. Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  5. ↑ TDH. Objective & Vision. Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  6. 1 2 Ragan Updegraff (2010-02-09). Turkish Politics in Action: Mustafa Sarıgül: A Progressive for Turkey? Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  7. ↑ Gül Demir and Niki Gamm (2010-01-30), Hürriyet Daily News. A new political party in the making: An interview with Mustafa Sarıgül Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  8. ↑ Today's Zaman (2010-05-10). Turkish left plays dirty on the eve of CHP national congress. Retrieved on 2010-05-12.
  9. ↑ "'CHP'ye destek vereceğiz'" ['We will support the CHP']. Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). June 22, 2010. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
  10. ↑ "TDH'de Sarıgül şoku" [Sarıgül shock in the TDH]. Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). June 22, 2010. Retrieved June 23, 2010.
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