Welfare Party

The Welfare Party "(Refah Partisi)" (RP) in Turkey was founded by Ahmed Tekdal in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, "Milli Nizam Partisi" (National Order Party, MNP) and "Milli Selamet Partisi" (National Salvation Party, MSP), which were banned from politics. The RP participated in mayoral elections at that time and they won in three cities- Konya, Şanlıurfa, and Van. Their vote percentage was approximately 5%. Their popular vote increased over the years until they became the largest party under Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan in 1996. The coalition government of Erbakan was forced out of power by the Turkish military in 1997, due to being suspected of having an Islamic agenda.cite journal|url=http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/51/294.html
accessdate=2008-08-28
title=Behind the Turkish Military’s “Soft Coup”
date=1997-10-19
work=Green Left Weekly
volume=294
first=Michael
last=Karadjis]

In 1998 the Welfare Party was banned. The ban was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on February 13, 2003. The ECHR's decision was criticized by Human Rights Watch for lack of consistency, as the ECHR had refused disbanding of other parties in several occasions. [http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/07/31/turkey19521.htm Turkey: Party Case Shows Need for Reform - Ruling Party Narrowly Escapes Court Ban] , "Human Rights Watch", 31 July 2008] [cite journal
url=http://www.icnl.org/KNOWLEDGE/ijnl/vol6iss1/special_5.htm
accessdate=2008-08-28
title=Refah Partisi (The Welfare Party) and Others v. Turkey
work=International Journal of Not-for-Profit Law
volume=6
issue=1
publisher=International Center for Not-for-Profit Law
month=September
year=2003
issn=1556-5157
first=Christian
last=Moe]

References