Patriotic Party (Turkey)

The Patriotic Party[lower-alpha 1] (Turkish: Vatan Partisi, VP) is a political party in Turkey. The Patriotic Party describes itself as "vanguard party"[4] and its chairman, Doğu Perinçek, described the party in 2015 as a bringing together of socialists, revolutionaries, Turkish nationalists and Kemalists. The party is strongly pro-China and pro-Russia as well as anti-American. The party also supports President Erdoğan and what it considers to be his anti-imperialist policies.

Patriotic Party
Vatan Partisi
AbbreviationVatan Partisi (official)
VP (unofficial)
PresidentDoğu Perinçek
Secretary-GeneralÖzgür Bursalı
Founded10 July 1992 (1992-07-10) (as Workers' Party)
15 February 2015 (2015-02-15) (rebranding)
Preceded byWorkers' Party
HeadquartersToros Sokak 9, 06430
Sıhhiye, Çankaya, Ankara
NewspaperAydınlık
Think tankNational Strategy Center (USMER)
Youth wingVanguard Youth
Women's wingVanguard Women
Membership (2023)Decrease 15,993[1]
IdeologyKemalism
Ulusalcılık
Eurasianism
Hard Euroscepticism
Left-wing nationalism
Colors  Red
  White[2]
Grand National Assembly
0 / 600
Metropolitan municipalities
0 / 30
District municipalities
0 / 1,351
Provincial councilors
0 / 1,251
Municipal Assemblies
5 / 20,498
Party flag
Patriotic Party Turkey.png
Website
vatanpartisi.org.tr

History

The party was founded in 1992 as Workers' Party. In 2015, after a long-time political repositioning period, the Workers' Party changed its name to "Patriotic Party" during the extraordinary congress.[5] Like the Workers' Party, the Patriotic Party is led by Doğu Perinçek. The party's founding members include former army generals who had been pursued during the Ergenekon trials and the Sledgehammer case, though both cases have been thrown out since then.[6]

Political positions

The party is closely aligned with the nationalist ideology named ulusalcılık and has been described as left-wing nationalist.[7] It officially supports Kemalism.[8] The party also supports the ruling People's Alliance, though it is not a member.[9] Perinçek has stated that "[r]epublicans, nationalists, populists, socialists and revolutionaries all unite in one party, the Patriotic Party".[10] According to its charter, advocates for a "national democratic revolution", calls for "ideological independence" and organizes itself on the basis of democratic centralism.[4]

Foreign policy

The party is strongly pro-Russia[11] and pro-China[12] and anti-American because of its Eurasianist ideology.[13] It is also strongly anti-NATO and advocates for Turkey's departure from it.[11] It is also Eurosceptic and against Turkey's EU candidacy.[13] The Patriotic Party supports strong relations with countries such as Iran[14] and North Korea.[15] It also has strong party-to-party relations with parties such as the Chinese Communist Party[16] and the Workers' Party of Korea.[17]

The party strongly opposes the current Turkish intervention in Syria and actively promotes better ties with the Assad government.[18] In 2022, the party and its leader, Doğu Perinçek, openly supports Vladimir Putin and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[19][20] saying that "it is the weapon that Russia is currently using that brings peace and tranquility".[20]

Media

The Patriotic Party is affiliated with a number of news publications including Aydınlık, Ulusal Kanal and Bilim ve Ütopya.

Electoral performance
Election Number of votes for VATAN Share of votes Seats
June 2015 general election 161,616 0.35%
0 / 550
November 2015 general election 118,803 0.25%
0 / 550
2018 general election 114,872 0.23%
0 / 600
2023 general election 53,339 0.10%
0 / 600

Presidential elections
Election Candidate Votes  % Outcome
2018
Doğu Perinçek		 98,955 0.20% 6th
2023 Endorsed Erdoğan in the Second Round

Notes
  1. The party's Turkish name Vatan directly translates to Motherland or Homeland; however the party has adopted the English name Patriotic Party. This is most likely in order not to clash with parties that have a similar name when translated to English, such as the Motherland Party (Anavatan Partisi) or the Homeland Party (Yurt Partisi). Patriotic in Turkish translates to Vatansever or Yurtsever. The party's official short name (abbreviation) is Vatan Partisi, i.e., the same as the name of the party itself.[3] Colloquially the acronym VP is used. The party is not directly related to an earlier, communist party of the same name, founded in 1954, closed by court order in 1957, re-established in 1975 and forced to close again in 1981.

    References
    1. "Vatan Partisi" (in Turkish). Court of Cassation. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
    2. 2015 GENEL SEÇİM KURUMSAL KİMLİK KILAVUZU Archived 24 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine, 2015.
    3. "Vatan Partisi" (in Turkish). T.C. Yargıtay Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
    4. "Vatan Partisi tüzüğü" (in Turkish). Retrieved 18 May 2015.
    5. Yurdakul, Mithat (16 February 2015). "Artık 'İşçi' değil 'Vatan' Partisi" [No Longer 'Workers' Now 'Patriotic' Party]. Milliyet. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
    6. "Vatan Partisi MYK üyeleri belli oldu, işte o isimler!" Archived 28 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Çağdaş Ses.
    7. "Türkiye'de Partilerin Milliyetçilik ve Din Anlayışları". DergiPark. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
    8. "Doğu Perinçek: Atatürk ne kadar paylaşılırsa". Archived from the original on 19 November 2017.
    9. "Cumhur İttifakı'na Perinçek ve Uzan" (in Turkish). 20 December 2019.
    10. Turkey: Workers' Party changes name to Patriotic Party Archived 22 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine. turkishweekly.net. 16 February 2015
    11. @DFRLab (23 November 2017). "#LetsLeaveNATO trends in Turkey". Medium. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
    12. "CPC-led China offers hope for better world -- Turkish party leader". China Daily. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
    13. "Turkey elections 2018: Understanding the political parties". TRT World. 23 June 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
    14. "Doğu Perinçek: "Vatan Partisi hükümeti İran'a yaptırıma katılmayacak"". Retrieved 29 August 2019.
    15. "Vatan Partisi Heyeti, Kuzey Kore'ye Gitti - İstanbul". Haberler.com (in Turkish). 5 September 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
    16. "Çin Komünist Partisi'nden Vatan Partisi'ne ziyaret". Retrieved 29 August 2019.
    17. "Kuzey Kore'den Vatan Partisi'ne kutlama mesajı" [Celebration Message from North Korea to the Patriotic Party]. CNN Türk. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
    18. "Vatan Partisi President Perinçek's Call to President Erdoğan: "Cooperate with Syria or resign"". Vatan Partisi. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
    19. "Doğu Perinçek'ten Rusya açıklaması: Karadeniz'e barış Türkiye'ye refah". www.cumhuriyet.com.tr (in Turkish). Retrieved 24 March 2022.
    20. "Doğu Perinçek'ten Rusya değerlendirmesi: Hz. Peygamberin Uhud savaşına Bedir savaşına hayır diyebilir misiniz?". Independent Türkçe (in Turkish). 2 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.


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