Today in History – 29 July

The notion of “left of the center”

By the mid 1960s, CHP and the notion of “social democracy” were mentioned interchangeably. Immediately before the 1965 general elections, on July 29th, CHP leader İsmet İnönü referred to his party’s political line for the first time as “left of the center” with the following words:

In terms of its nature, CHP is a statist party and thus naturally stands on the left of the center. In the past statism was only a remedy for development, today statism is a fundamental element of our economic life.

By then, CHP administrators were frequently using the terms “social justice,” “revolutionism”, and “statism.” Having passed a crossroads and now defining itself as “left of the center,” CHP, would produce unexpectedly courageous policies on economic independence, foreign trade, oil, mining, and foreign capital in the declarations prepared for the 1965 elections.