Political travelers in a polarized country: the Freedom Party experience in Turkish history

This article intends to broaden our understanding of Turkish politics of the 1950s by focusing on the Freedom Party (1955–1958) (FP) founded by the former leading members of the Democrat Party (DP). Unlike earlier studies which mostly concentrate on the ideology and the leading political figures of the party, an attempt has been made to locate this experience in its historical context. After presenting a detailed account of the literature, we analyze the party by focusing on the power struggles of the internal factions inside the DP. By so doing, this study suggests that factionalism was a major cause of many noteworthy political developments of the era. Moreover, rather than strict ideological differences, we argue that this factionalism rested upon personal disputes and micropower struggles. Thus, the FP was born out of the DP not simply as a result of social discontent, but mainly of factionalism from within.