Multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey Multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey The multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey started with the establishment of the opposition Liberal Republican Party ("Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası") by Ali Fethi Okyar in 1930 after President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk asked Okyar to establish the party as part of an attempted transition to multi-party democracy in Turkey. It was soon closed by the Republican People's Party government, however, when Atatürk found the party to be too influenced by Islamist-rooted reactionary elements. In 1945, the National Development Party ("Milli Kalkınma Partisi") was founded by Nuri Demirağ. The next year, the Democratic Party
Multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey effective, if not harmonious, bringing about much-needed economic reform, instituting human rights legislation, and bringing Turkey ever closer to the European Union (EU). A series of economic shocks led to new elections in 2002, bringing into power the religiously conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) of former mayor of Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Erdoğan government started negotiations with the EU on October 3, 2005. The AKP again won the 2007 elections, which followed the controversial August 2007 presidential election, during which AKP member Abdullah Gül was elected President at the third round. Recent developments in Iraq (explained under positions