Good Party İYİ Parti | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | İYİ Parti (official)[1] İYİ, İYİP (unofficial) |
| Chairperson | Müsavat Dervişoğlu |
| General Secretary | Uğur Poyraz |
| Parliamentary Leader | Müsavat Dervişoğlu[2] |
| Treasurer | Ersin Beyaz |
| Founder | |
| Founded | 25 October 2017 (2017-10-25) |
| Split from | Nationalist Movement Party[3] |
| Headquarters | 2120. Cadde No: 9 Çankaya, Ankara |
| Youth wing | Good Youth |
| Membership(2025) |  412,744[4] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right toright-wing[A] |
| National affiliation | Nation Alliance (2018–2023) |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (in theCouncil of Europe)[14] |
| Colors | Yellow andTurquoise |
| Slogan | Türkiye İYİ olacak! ('Turkey Will Be Good!') |
| Grand National Assembly | 28 / 600 |
| Provinces | 1 / 51 |
| District municipalities | 13 / 922 |
| Belde Municipalities | 4 / 390 |
| Provincial councilors | 14 / 1,282 |
| Municipal Assemblies | 480 / 20,953 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
iyiparti | |
^ A: The party has also been consideredcentrist[15] by some sources. | |
TheGood Party[16] (Turkish:İYİ Parti)[17] is anationalist,Kemalist andconservativepolitical party inTurkey,[23] established on 25 October 2017 byMeral Akşener. The party's name and flag is a reference to thetamga of theKayı tribe.
The party was formed as a result in a split by prominent former members of Turkey'sNationalist Movement Party (MHP) and later joined by some former members of the main oppositionRepublican People's Party (CHP). The party's founder and chairperson, Meral Akşener, and its deputy chairperson,Koray Aydın, are both former members of the MHP before establishing the party. Plans to form a new party emerged amongst prominent MHP defectors after the MHP's support for a 'Yes' vote in the controversial2017 constitutional referendum, as well asa failed attempt to unseat the party's governing leader. In addition to endorsing a more moderatecivic nationalism as opposed to the ardentethnic nationalism of the MHP, the party runs on ananti-establishment platform criticising both the governing and opposition parties in Turkey for their ineffectiveness.[24][25] The party describes itself as being in the centre of political spectrum though third-party sources have described the party as beingcentre-right[34] or on theright-wing[35] of the political spectrum.[41]
It puts a particular emphasis on the restoration of theparliamentary system and the integrity of the judiciary and other institutions.[5][42] The party has been widely described as ananti-Erdoğanist alternative for right-leaning voters disillusioned with both theNationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the governingJustice and Development Party (AKP).[43][44][45]
Meral Akşener, a formerMinister of the Interior who served from 1996 to 1997, was a prominentmember of parliament from theNationalist Movement Party (MHP) from 2007 to November 2015, having been a member of the centre-rightTrue Path Party (DYP) during her ministerial career.[46] Her relation with MHP leaderDevlet Bahçeli became noticeably strained after Bahçeli refused to nominate her for another term asDeputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly after theJune 2015 general election, a post she had held since 2007.[47] Bahçeli eventually withdrew her parliamentary nomination before theNovember 2015 snap election, resulting in her losing her parliamentary seat.[48]
The MHP, having won 16.29% of the vote and 80 seats inJune 2015, suffered a heavy defeat in theNovember snap election with just 11.90% of the vote and 40 seats. The loss was widely blamed on Bahçeli's refusal to consider any coalition agreement after the June 2015 election resulted in ahung parliament.[49] The significant loss resulted in MHP dissidents including Akşener launching a drive to unseat Bahçeli from the party's leadership, a process made difficult by the party's strict bylaws. Other prominent MHP dissidents who declared their candidacy for the leadership includedÜmit Özdağ,Koray Aydın andSinan Oğan. Özdağ and Aydın would eventually join Akşener in forming the İYİ Party, as did prominent MHP dissident MPsYusuf Halaçoğlu,İsmail Ok [tr] andNuri Okutan [tr].[50]
With several MHP delegates supporting the dissidents' drive for a fresh leadership election, Akşener and the other leadership candidates joined forces to hold a constitutional convention, claiming they had the right to do so due to surpassing the required number of delegate signatures required. The MHP leadership boycotted the congress and declared it illegal, taking the process to court. The courts eventually upheld the claim that enough signatures had been submitted and forced the MHP leadership to hold a congress.[51] In a controversial move, another court and theSupreme Electoral Council of Turkey (YSK) both struck down the ruling and asked the MHP leadership to not hold a congress.[52] The move was widely seen as an interference in the judicial process and inner-party democracy by the governingJustice and Development Party (AKP) and theMinistry of Justice, which both had an interest in keeping the increasingly cooperative Bahçeli as MHP leader and preventing Akşener from mounting a challenge to the government.[53] Akşener and several other dissidents were expelled from the party in the following months, mounting unsuccessful challenges against their suspensions. The constitutional convention held in June 2016 was annulled by the courts in January 2017.[citation needed]
In December 2016, the governing AKP and opposition MHP agreed to put forward a joint constitutional amendment proposal that would change Turkey'sparliamentary system into anexecutive presidency. The MHP's support for the proposals came as a surprise given the party's historically staunch opposition to an executive presidency.[54] Many MHP members and prominent dissidents refused to support the party leadership and began their own 'No' campaigns. Polls and dissident politicians predicted that between 70 and 90% of MHP voters would defect from their party's official position and vote 'No'.[55]
Akşener, Okutan, Halaçoğlu and Özdağ all became prominent 'No' campaigners, with many political commentators seeing the alliance as a signal of a forthcoming new political party united under Akşener's leadership.[56] The referendum was very controversial due to a last-minute change in the ballot counting procedure by theSupreme Electoral Council, causing the dissident nationalists and other 'No' campaigners to allege fraud and not recognise the results.[57] According to official results, the 'No' side lost with 48.6% of the vote to 'Yes's 51.4%, though Akşener alleged that the actual result was a victory for 'No' by a margin of 52–48%.[58]
Following the2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, it was announced that MHP dissidents would unite under a new party led by Akşener, with the party's official announcement expected in September or October 2017. During its preparation period, the party was touted as a 'nationalist conservative' alternative to the MHP and the AKP, while endorsing theprinciples ofMustafa Kemal Atatürk.[18] The party was also described to be strictlycentrist. During the establishment preparations, the names of 'Centrist Democrat Party'(Merkez Demokrat Parti) and 'Mainland Party'(Anayurt Partisi) were alleged to have been selected.[59][60]
The party was announced at a congress at theNâzım Hikmet Cultural Centre inAnkara on 25 October 2017.[61] On that day, the party's name, logo and slogan were revealed to the public. Meral Akşener was formally elected as the party's first leader—unopposed, carrying all votes.[62]
The party's name, logo and slogan were immediately subject to legal challenges and controversy, with allegations that they bore resemblance toAKPAntalya MayorMenderes Türel's2014 local election campaign. Türel issued a statement claiming that he owned the patents as of 24 October 2015. The AKP Mayor ofBilecik, Selim Yağcı, threatened legal action alleging that the logo was stolen from the official seal ofBilecik Province.[63] TheKayı tribe Association also announced legal challenges, claiming that they had the patent to the flag since 2014.[64] A former AKP mayoral candidate alleged that the party's slogan belonged to him and threatened legal challenges if the party refused to stop using it.[65]
The party quickly gained fivemembers of parliament in theGrand National Assembly who were originally elected for other parties, and numerous provincial and municipal council members that also defected from their former parties.[66] On 22 April 2018, in the run-up to general elections, a further 15MPs from the CHP moved to the İYİ Party following a joint agreement between the two parties. This was to allow the İYİ Party to form a parliamentary group that would be eligible to field a presidential candidate without the need to collect signatures and compete independently.[67]
Meral Akşener was the party's2018 presidential candidate, but didn't stand for election as anMP.[68] İYİ participated in theNation Alliance (Millet İtifakı) with theCHP,SP, andDP in theparliamentary election, receiving 9.96% of the vote.
Akşener continued the alliance withKılıçdaroğlu's CHP, dividing the country into regions where only CHP and İYİ candidates would run without interfering with each other.Ekrem İmamoğlu andMansur Yavaş won as joint Nation Alliance candidates for theIstanbul and Ankara municipalities respectively, however İYİ failed to capture any provincial or metropolitan mayorships for themselves.
In 2020, prominent İYİ member Ümit Özdağ separated from the party, forming the right wingVictory Party the next year.
On 3 March 2023, Meral Akşener announced that she took the decision to withdraw from the Nation Alliance, and said her party would not support main opposition CHP leaderKemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the joint candidate in the2023 Turkish presidential election.[69] However, on 6 March, Akşener and the Good Party rejoined the alliance after intense public criticism and after it was announced thatEkrem İmamoğlu andMansur Yavaş would be appointed vice-presidents if Kılıçdaroğlu won the presidential election.[70]
On 31 March 2023, theIstanbul headquarters of the Good Party was targeted in a shooting attack.[71] Akşener criticized Erdoğan after the attack by saying "A political party cannot be intimidated one and a half months before an election. We are not afraid. I fear nothing but God. Mr. Recep, I am not afraid of you. But you are the president and you are responsible for every citizen in this country."[72][73]
İYİ participated in the Nation Alliance with the CHP, SP, DP,DEVA, andGP in the2023 parliamentary election, receiving 9.69% of the vote. After the election, İYİ's secretary generalUğur Poyraz declared the Nation Alliance dissolved.
For the2024 local elections, Akşener refused an offer from the CHP for an electoral alliance. While the Good Party won the mayoralty ofNevşehir province, its national showing collapsed to less than 5% due to most of its supporters voting for the CHP, which won the popular vote. Meral Akşener declared her intention to resign from the party leadership, and was replaced byMüsavat Dervişoğlu, her preferred successor, in a party congress.
Meral Akşener describes İYİ Party as anationalist,developmentalist anddemocratic party that is on thecentre of the political spectrum.[74][75] The media describes İYİ Party as aTurkish nationalist,conservative andKemalist political party on thecentre-right orright-wing.[82] The party advocates for a new constitution and a parliamentary form of government and is opposed to Erdoğan'sexecutive aggrandizement.
Although the party described itself asnationalist conservative during its formation period, its ideology representscivic nationalism rather than the MHP's ardent ethnic nationalism.[18] It is strongly in favour of theideals and principles of Turkey's founding president,Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.[83]
Akşener employed populist andradical feminist rhetoric in the early days of her party.[citation needed] In addition to her being the first woman candidate for Turkish presidency in history, Akşener put great emphasis onwomen's rights in Turkey and made this a central plank of her presidential campaign. She announced that her movement would spark aTülbent Revolution - named after atraditional piece of clothing which rural Turkish women wear to partially cover their heads, but that is non-religious nor associated with political Islam. It would result in reconciliation of different lifestyles in Turkey, since according to Akşener, respect is more important than tolerance because tolerance usually describes a majority's behavior upon a minority which is not the case inTurkish society.[84][85]
Her campaign drew attention to the drastic increase of cases ofviolence against women andrape in Turkey under the AKP administration. Akşener declared her pledge to liftgood conduct time in all cases of violence against women and rape, and instead of forcefully sending women to therapy in such cases, her party would send the perpetrator to mandatory therapy before or after serving their sentence and therapy for women would be optional.[86] She is heavily against child marriages.[86][87] Although there was an increase in participation of women in the workforce in Turkey, Akşener stated she finds this inadequate and would implementbenevolent sexism to increase participation ofwomen in workforce and to reduce thewage gap.[86]
İYİ Party does not have awomen's wing. Akşener advocated that women's wings discriminate against women. Instead İYİ Party has mandatory women's quota of 25% for all branches and candidates of her party, including the general administrative board.[88] As of 2023, İYİ party's 43 MP delegation to the Grand National Assembly contains only 5 women, which is a ratio of 11.6%.
Akşener and her party has promotedpro-Europeanism, and is in favor of continuingEuropean integration of Turkey and close relations between EU and Turkey.[13][89] However she is against a "privileged partnership" and does not refrain from criticizing the certain attitudes implemented by EU in the past process in its party program, stating that "Positive EU-Turkey relations are vital for EU as vital as they are to Turkey, butde facto freeze of the full membership process and negotiations is not only because of Turkey's inability to satisfy all the membership requirements but also because of EU's policy towards Turkey being shaped through interior fears in line with rising racist sentiment across EU in the last years."
İYİ Party supports Turkey'sNATO membership.[90] They opposeSweden's accession into NATO.[91] Listing the party's reservations to vote "yes" for Sweden's NATO membership, the deputy chairman of the party has stated that "Turkey's request for F-16s should be approved immediately".
The Good Party identifies theGülen Movement as the "most serious internal threat" to national security and advocates for an effective counter-terrorism strategy against the group which have been alleged to be behind thefailed coup attempt in July 2016.[42]
The party supports thewelfare state.[92][19]
The party calls for a full adoption ofUNESCO Declaration of Animal Rights.[89]
The party supports freedom of speech, and was against the2017–2020 block of Wikipedia in Turkey.[93]
After the United States Congress voted torecognize the Armenian Genocide in 2019, party spokespersonYavuz Ağıralioğlu [tr] said, "We will retaliate against it with our decision to name our childrenEnver,Cemal andTalat".[94][95]
| Election | Leader | Votes | Seats | Position | Map | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | Rank | # | ± | ||||
| 2018 | Meral Akşener | 4,990,710 | 9.96 | 5th | 43 / 600 | new | Opposition |  |
| 2023 | 5,272,482 | 9.69 | 4th | 43 / 600 | 0.18pp | Opposition |  | |
| Election | Candidate | Votes | % | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | _(cropped).jpg) Meral Akşener | 3,649,030 | 7.29% | 4th |
| Election | Party leader | Mayoral election votes | Percentage of votes | Municipal councillor votes | Percentage of votes | Number of municipalities | Number of councillors | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Meral Akşener | 3,351,418 | 7.76% | 3,142,757 | 7.31% | 24 / 1,335 | 1,092 / 20,745 |  |
| 2024 |
| # | Leader (birth–death) | Portrait | Took office | Left office | Term of Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meral Akşener (1956-07-18)18 July 1956 (age 68) | | 25 October 2017 | 1 May 2024 | 6 years, 189 days |
| 2 | Müsavat Dervişoğlu (1960-02-01)1 February 1960 (age 65) | .jpg) | 1 May 2024 | Incumbent | 332 days |
Source:[96]
| # | Name | Mission |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Müsavat Dervişoğlu | Chairperson |
| 2 | Uğur Poyraz | General Secretary |
| 3 | Enver Yılmaz | Deputy Chairman / Director of Political Affairs |
| 4 | Ersin Beyaz | Director of Financial Affairs (Treasurer) |
| 5 | Hasan Toktaş | Director of the Organization |
| 6 | Şükrü Kuleyin | Director of Institutional Relations |
| 7 | Hakan Şeref Olgun | Director of Juristical, Election Affairs and Parliamentary Relations |
| 8 | Ahmet Kamil Erozan | Director of International Relations |
| 9 | Kevser Ofluoğlu | Director of Women, Family and Social Services |
| 10 | Ayyüce Türkeş Taş | Director of Turkic World and Organization Abroad |
| 11 | Cenk Özatıcı | Director of National Security and Immigration Policies |
| 12 | Cumali Durmuş | Director of Local Administirations |
| 13 | Selcan Taşcı | Director of Media Promotion |
| 14 | Erhan Usta | Director of Economical Policies |
| 15 | Alparslan Yüce | Director of R&D-Education and Politics Academy |
| 16 | Alper Akdoğan | Director of NGO Relations |
| 17 | İmren Nilay Tüfekçi | Director of Social Policies |
| 18 | Kadir Ulusoy | Director of Agricultural Policies |
| 19 | Dursun Çolak | Deputy General Secretary |
Source:[2]
| # | Name | Mission | Mission start |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Müsavat Dervişoğlu | Group President | 1 May 2024 |
| 2 | Turhan Çömez | Deputy Presidents | 6 May 2024 |
| 3 | Buğra Kavuncu |
İYİ Parti'nin kısa adı da İYİ Parti'dir.
Selim Sazak is the chief advisor to the secretary-general of Turkey's Iyi (Good) Party, a center-right opposition party.
Other Erdogan rivals, Meral Aksener of the right-wing Good Party and the imprisoned Selahattin Demirtas of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), each had around 8 percent.
An alliance of the right-wing IYI Party and the centre-left CHP led to Erdogan's AKP losing control of Istanbul and Ankara municipalities in 2019, shattering his image of invincibility.
