Merkez Sağ’ın Krizi ve Sağ Siyasetin Yeniden Yapılanışı: Türkiye Örneği
The Crisis of Center Right and Reconstruction of Right: The Case of Türkiye

Summary/Abstract: This study examines the ideological, organizational, and social transformation of right-wing politics in post-1980 Türkiye. The primary objective of the research is to reveal how the political arena, reshaped by the military intervention of September 12, 1980, influenced the institutional structures, voter bases, and discourses of right-wing parties, while analyzing the evolutionary trajectory of right-wing politics from the Motherland Party to the Welfare Party, and ultimately to the Justice and Development Party. Employing a historical-sociological methodology, this study comparatively evaluates periodic election data, existing literature, official documents and research on the social base of right-wing movements. The findings indicate that post-1980 right-wing politics has progressed through three primary stages: the emergence of a liberal-conservative synthesis under the Motherland Party, the rise of political Islam with the Welfare Party, and the consolidation of right-wing politics into a hegemonic structure under the Justice and Development Party. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the right-wing electorate has evolved from a rural-conservative core into an urban middle class, a shift accelerated by neoliberal policies and social welfare programs, while media and civil society networks have actively sustained right-wing ideology. In conclusion, right-wing politics in Türkiye has been reshaped in tandem with broader social transformations; the nationalist-conservative framework that emerged with the transition to a multi-party system has assumed a more heterogeneous and institutionalized character in the 2000s. Accordingly, this study reveals that the future of right-wing politics in Türkiye hinges on the sustainability of its current adaptive capacity and the quality of the democratic responses it formulates to address newly emerging social demands.

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