Turkey's Republican People's Party (Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics)

Turkey’s Republican People’s Party: Intra-Party Democracy and Ideological Change under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu examines the transformation of Turkey’s oldest political party during a period of profound political upheaval and democratic challenge.

Focusing on the Republican People’s Party (CHP) between 2010 and 2023, the book traces how the party reinvented itself under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership, evolving from a traditionally rigid, secular-nationalist organization into the country’s principal democratic opposition force. Drawing on speeches, party documents, interviews, electoral data, and original statistical analysis, it explores the CHP’s efforts to strengthen intra-party democracy, reform leadership and candidate selection processes, and broaden its ideological platform toward a more inclusive social democratic vision. Situating these developments within the wider context of Turkey’s authoritarian turn, constitutional changes, mass protests, and competitive elections, the study demonstrates how internal party reform became central to the broader struggle for democratic renewal.

This book will appeal to students and scholars of Turkish politics, comparative politics, and political parties, as well as journalists, policymakers, and readers interested in opposition movements, democratization, and political transformation in contemporary Turkey.

Carlo Sanna (PhD) is a political scientist and researcher specializing in international studies, Turkish politics and Middle Eastern and Mediterranean politics. He earned a PhD with honors in International Studies and currently collaborates with the Regional Council of Sardinia while teaching at the University of Sassari and collaborating in research at the University of Cagliari. His research focuses on Turkey–EU relations, populism, party politics, and regional cooperation, with publications in national and international academic journals and volumes.