thumb|right|A clock displaying the emblem of the Welfare Party. The party slogan translates as "Justice is our goal."

The Welfare Party (, RP) was an Islamist political party in Turkey. It was founded by Ali Türkmen, Ahmet Tekdal, and Necmettin Erbakan in Ankara in 1983 as heir to two earlier parties, National Order Party (MNP) and National Salvation Party (MSP), which were banned from politics. The RP participated in mayoral elections at that time and won in three cities Konya, Şanlıurfa, and Van. Their vote percentage was approximately 5%.

The Welfare Party participated in the 1991 elections in a triple alliance with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Reformist Democracy Party (IDP). They gained 16.9% of the vote. They won 62 deputies to parliament, but 19 deputies of MHP (with founding Democratic Movement Party on 25 December 1991 and joining the MÇP on 29 December 1991) and 3 of IDP left the Welfare Party after the election. 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 Islamist agenda.

In 1998, the Welfare Party was banned from politics by the Constitutional Court of Turkey for violating the separation of religion and state. The ban was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on 13 February 2003. The ECtHR's decision was criticized by Human Rights Watch for lack of consistency, as the ECtHR had refused disbanding of other parties on several occasions, but the ECtHR defended its decision.

Turkey's incumbent president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is a former member of the party. After being banned from politics for a period, he left this Islamist group and founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Abdullah Gül, the former President of Turkey, was the deputy leader of the Welfare Party until its dissolution.

Dissolution

The Welfare Party came into the political sphere at a time when the impoverished public was discontented with the current government. Relying on Islamic rhetoric, they encouraged certain aspects of sharia law. Turkey, as a secular state, took issue with their religious narrative. Article 2.1 of the Turkish Constitution states that Turkey is a “democratic, secular, and social state.” Refah’s theocentric policy and speeches violated this commitment to secularism.  On January 16, 1998, the Constitutional Court dissolved the Welfare Party because it had become a “center of activities against the principle of secularism.”

The Welfare Party then appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), stating that the Turkish Supreme Court violated Article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights that protects assembly and association. Refah also complained that its rights protected in Articles 9, 10, 14, 17, and 18 of the Convention and Articles 1 and 3 of Protocol No. 1 had been violated.

Paragraph 2 of Article 11 states that if free speech rights are limited, and both parties agreed that they had been, it must be “necessary in a democratic society.” Therefore, any separatist or generally revolutionary party threatened Turkish politics and was banned in the Constitutional Court and was deemed an illegal party. Turkey’s current Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was originally a member of the Welfare Party, and he used his status as a Islamist leader to garner support for his current party, the Justice and Development Party. Referring to the Civil War, Necmettin Erbakan said "Turkey will not turn into Algeria" in 1992 and in 1997. However, on 10 May 1997, Welfare Party Şanlıurfa MP İbrahim Halil Çelik threatened that "If you try to close the İmam Hatip schools under the RP government, blood will be spilled. It would be worse than Algeria." Erbakan and his associates developed ties with FIS, and when Erbakan visited the American Muslim Council in October 1994, he engaged with FIS representatives.

Election results

Grand National Assembly

{| class="wikitable"

!Election date

!Party leader

!Votes

!% of votes

!Seats

!Government

|-

|1987

| rowspan="8" |Necmettin Erbakan

|1,717,425

|7.20%

|

|

|-

| rowspan="2" |1991

| rowspan="2" |4,121,355

| rowspan="2" |16.87%

| rowspan="2" |

|

|-

|

|-

| rowspan="5" |1995

| rowspan="5" |6,012,450

| rowspan="5" |21.38%

| rowspan="5" |

|

|-

|

|-

|

|-

|

|-

|

|}

Local elections

{| class="wikitable"

|+

! rowspan="2" |Election date

! rowspan="2" |Party leader

! colspan="2" |Provincial council

! rowspan="2" |Number of municipalities

|-

!Votes

!%

|-

|1984

|Ahmet Tekdal

|780.342

|4.40%

|

|-

|1989

| rowspan="2" |Necmettin Erbakan

|2.170.431

|9.80%

|

|-

|1994

|5.388.195

|19.14%

|

|}

See also

  • List of Islamic political parties
  • New Welfare Party

References

  • ECHR Third Section judgment (2001)
  • ECHR Grand Chamber judgment (2003)