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
History of the Republic of Turkey Movement Party (MHP). These two parties, alongside Yılmaz's ANAP formed a government. The government was somewhat effective, if not harmonious, bringing about much-needed economic reform, instituting human rights legislation, and bringing Turkey ever closer to the European Union. A series of economic shocks led to new elections in 2002, bringing into power the conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP) of the former mayor of Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The political reforms of the AKP have ensured the beginning of the negotiations with the European Union. The AKP again won the 2007 elections, which followed the controversial August 2007 presidential election,