Felicity Party (Turkey)
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The Felicity Party is a Turkish political party of strongly Islamist views, often seen as the main voice of Islamic fundamentalism in Turkey.
It was founded on 20 July, 2001 by the members of the Virtue Party which had been declared unconstitutional on the grounds of threatening the secular nature of Turkey's constitution. This provoked debate within the ranks of Turkish Islamism, with the gelenekçiler or traditionalists remaining true to the Turkish Islamist movement's traditional Islamic fundamentalism aims, and the yenilikçiler or renewalists, led by current prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seeking to adapt Islamist politics to a secular democratic system.
The Felicity Party seeks a thorough Islamicisation of Turkish society, and while it has not called for the declaration of an Islamic republic for legal reasons, few doubt that this is its long-term aim.
The Felicity Party has not been particularly successful electorally, polling just 2.5% of the vote in the 3 November, 2002 general elections, thereby failing to pass the 10% threshold necessary to gain representation in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. It was more slightly more successful in the local elections of 29 March, 2004, winning 4.1% of the vote and a number of mayoralties, although none of any particular significance.
The Felicity Party has found itself outflanked and outclassed by the successful moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party government, although it has launched sustained attacks of the government's desire to join the European Union, military ties with Israel and the United States, gradualism and general acceptance of Turkish state secularism. It is led by veteran politician Necmettin Erbakan, and a key weakness is that is dominated by politicians who cut their teeth in the bloody 1970s, and it has failed to foster a new generation of leaders.
External links
- Official home page (in Turkish) (http://www.sp.org.tr/)