Nation Alliance (Turkey)

The Nation Alliance[4] (Turkish: Millet İttifakı), or simply Nation (Turkish: Millet), is an electoral alliance in Turkey, formed to contest the country's 2018 general election. The alliance was officially launched on 1 May 2018, and consists of four opposition parties, namely the Republican People's Party (CHP), the İyi Party (İYİ), the Felicity Party (SP), and the Democratic Party (DP).[5] The constituent parties of the Nation Alliance contested the parliamentary election under a common banner, while each individual party nominated its own candidate for the presidential election.

Nation Alliance Millet İttifakı
Leader	Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (CHP) Meral Akşener (İYİ) Gültekin Uysal (DP)
Founded	1 May 2018 (launched) 3 May 2018 (agreement signed) 5 July 2018 (dissolved) 25 January 2019 (re-established)[1]
Ideology	Parliamentary democracy[2] Anti-Erdoğanism[3] Liberal democracy Kemalism Pro-Europeanism Secularism Civic nationalism Factions: Social democracy Liberal conservatism National conservatism
Political position	Big tent Factions: Centre-left to centre-right
Grand National Assembly	174 / 600
Metropolitan municipalities	11 / 30
District municipalities	277 / 1,351
Provincial councillors	164 / 1,251
Municipal Assemblies	4,736 / 20,498
Politics of Turkey Political parties Elections

Formed against the backdrop of the 2017 constitutional referendum and subsequent constitutional amendments, the Nation Alliance brings together groups that campaigned for a "no" vote against the transition to a presidential system, and that are in opposition to the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[6] As such, the Nation Alliance is seen as rivalling the pro-government People's Alliance,[7] which was established on 20 February 2018.

On 4 July, having won 189 seats in total, the İYİ Party General Secretary Aytun Çıray announced that the Nation Alliance had been dissolved, citing the lack of a need for a post-election alliance.[8] In response, the CHP's spokesperson Bülent Tezcan said that the election alliance was no longer technically necessary, but the union of alliance parties under a joint set of fundamental values (such as separation of powers and the rule of law) would continue.[9]

History

Formation

A constitutional referendum was held in April 2017 on transforming the political system of Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential one. The referendum was sponsored by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the smaller oppositional Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). The referendum ultimately passed, effectively triggering the country's systemic transition. Meanwhile, the main opposition Republican People's Party, along with MHP dissidents like Meral Akşener, voiced strong opposition to the constitutional amendments. When the AKP and MHP later legalized the formation of pre-election alliances in order to contest the 2018 general election together, speculation arose over the possibility of opposition groups also establishing an alliance. After several rounds of talks, the CHP announced on 1 May 2018 the formation of its alliance with Akşener's new İyi Party, as well as with the extraparliamentary Felicity and Democratic parties.

Composition

Founding members

Name			Ideology	Position	Leader	MPs
	CHP	Republican People's Party Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi	Kemalism, Social democracy	Centre-left	Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu	144 / 600
	İYİ	Good Party İyi Parti	Kemalism,[10] Social justice[11]	Centre[12][13][14][15] to centre-right[16]	Meral Akşener	42 / 600
	SP	Felicity Party Saadet Partisi	Millî Görüş	Far-right	Temel Karamollaoğlu	2 / 600
	DP	Democrat Party Demokrat Parti	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right	Gültekin Uysal	1 / 600

Supporting parties

Name			Ideology	Position	Leader	MPs
	DSP	Democratic Left Party Demokratik Sol Parti	Social democracy	Centre-left	Önder Aksakal	0 / 600
	DYP	True Path Party Doğru Yol Partisi	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right	Çetin Özaçıkgöz	0 / 600
	YP	Homeland Party Yurt Partisi	National conservatism	Right-wing	Sadettin Tantan	0 / 600
	TİYAP	Unemployed and Workers' Party of Turkey Türkiye İşsizler ve Emekçiler Partisi	Social democracy	Centre-left	Rıfat Derya Sercan	0 / 600
	KP	Women's Party Kadın Partisi	Feminism	Left-wing	Benal Yazgan	0 / 600
	EYP	Unhindered Life Party Engelsiz Yaşam Partisi	Disability rights		Hayri İdin	0 / 600
	BTP	Great Turkey Party Büyük Türkiye Partisi	Democratic socialism	Left-wing	Ali Çetin	0 / 600
	MMP	National Struggle Party Milli Mücadele Partisi	Turkish nationalism	Right-wing	Ahmet Kaya	0 / 600
	MHHP	Defense of Rights Movement Party Müdafaa-i Hukuk Hareketi Partisi	Kemalism		Kadir Kartal	0 / 600
	TBP	Unity Party of Turkey Türkiye Birlik Partisi	Kemalism		Hüseyin Ekici	0 / 600
	TBP	Turkish Union Party Türk Birliği Partisi	Turkish nationalism		Hurşit Yiğit	0 / 600
	GAP	Young Anatolia Party Genç Anadolu Partisi	National conservatism	Right-wing	Ali Alemdaroğlu	0 / 600

On 18 May, Democratic Left Party (DSP) announced that they will support Nation Alliance.[17]

İnce will be supported by the YP,[18] ANAP,[19] the TİYAP, the KP, the EYP, the BTP, the MMP, the MHHP, the Unity Party of Turkey, the United Turkey Party and the GAP[20] and Akşener will supported by the DSP and the DYP (Muğla branch)[21] for the presidential election.

Current members

Name			Ideology	Position	Leader	MPs
	CHP	Republican People's Party Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi	Social democracy, Kemalism	Centre-left	Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu	135 / 600
	İYİ	Good Party İyi Parti	Social justice,[11] Kemalism	Centre to centre-right[16]	Meral Akşener	37 / 600
	DP	Democrat Party[22] Demokrat Parti	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right	Gültekin Uysal	2 / 600

Election results

General elections

Grand National Assembly of Turkey

Election	Leaders	Votes			Seats		Government
		#	%	Rank	#	±
2018	Meral Akşener Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu Temel Karamollaoğlu Gültekin Uysal	16,347,669	33,95	2nd	189 / 600	47	AKP

Local elections

Election date	Party leaders	Mayoral election votes	Percentage of votes	Number of municipalities	Number of councillors
2019	Meral Akşener Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu	17,443,229	37,57%	265	5,705 (27,50%)

References

1. CHP ve İYİ Parti'den ittifak açıklaması
2. "Akşener'den 'Millet İttifakı' liderlerine toplantı çağrısı; "24 Haziran öncesi bir yol haritası açıklamak millete güven verecek"". T24 (in Turkish). 31 March 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
3. "PressTV-4 Turkish opposition parties form coalition". Retrieved 16 May 2018.
4. "Turkish four-party alliance to sign agreement". Ahval News. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
5. "4 parti birleşti! Millet İttifakı geliyor". Haberiniz. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
6. "Turkish opposition joins forces for parliament vote". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
7. "Opposition parties agree to unite against People's Alliance in upcoming Turkish elections". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
8. "İYİ Parti sözcüsü açıkladı... Millet İttifakı sona erdi". www.hurriyet.com.tr.
9. "CHP Parti Sözcüsü Bülent Tezcan: Gündemimizde kurultay yok". BirGün Gazetesi. 4 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
10. "İyi Parti Mustafa Kemal Atatürk'ün huzurunda".
11. http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/meral-aksener-halk-parlamenter-sistemi-istiyor-1713914
12. Uras, Umut (25 October 2017). "Ex-Turkish minister Meral Aksener launches new party". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 23 September 2020. Meral Aksener, ex-interior minister, unveils centrist Good Party
13. "İyi Parti - Parti Programı" (PDF). 25 October 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
14. "Ümit Özdağ: Merkez sağ değil, milli merkez". Hürriyet. 13 August 2017.
15. "Turkey's Good Party emerges as serious challenger to Erdogan". Euronews. 10 January 2018.
16. Istanbul, Hannah Lucinda Smith (25 October 2017). "Nationalist forms new party to challenge Erdogan". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
17. DSP'den Millet İttifakı'na destek
18. "Sadettin Tantan kimi destekliyor". odatv.com.
19. https://www.birgun.net/haber/anavatan-partisi-nden-muharrem-ince-ve-millet-ittifaki-na-destek-220560
20. Mynet. "9 siyasi partiden Muharrem İnce'ye destek". Retrieved 24 June 2018.
21. "DYP'den İYİ Partiye destek kararı". www.hamlegazetesi.com.tr.
22. "Millet İttifakı'ndayız bir yere gitmiyoruz". Ahval News. Retrieved 24 January 2020.