Social Freedom Party

The Social Freedom Party (Turkish: Toplumsal Özgürlük Partisi, TÖP) is a political party in Turkey, founded on 9 March 2020. Initially a part of Socialist Refoundation Party,^[7] the group broke away from the SYKP in 2013 and established the Social Freedom Party Initiative (TÖPG), prior to declaring TÖP as a party in 2020.^[8]

Social Freedom Party Toplumsal Özgürlük Partisi
President	Şilan Sürmeli
Spokesperson	Perihan Koca Pelin Kahiloğulları Juliana Gözen
Founded	9 March 2020
Split from	Socialist Refoundation Party
Headquarters	Süleyman Ayten Cad. Çiçek İş Merkezi No: 37/8 Mamak, Ankara
Membership (2024)	427[1]
Ideology	Socialism[2] Libertarian socialism[3] Ecological socialism[4] Socialist feminism[5] Anti-capitalism[2] Anti-imperialism[2] LGBT rights[6] Minority rights[2] Democratic republicanism[2]
Political position	Left-wing to far-left
National affiliation	Peoples' Democratic Congress Labour and Freedom Alliance Green Left Party (for 2023 elections)
Colors	Yellow and Red
Website
https://toplumsalozgurluk.org
Politics of Turkey Political parties Elections

Perihan Koca [tr] is one of three spokespersons of the party, alongside Pelin Kahiloğulları and Juliana Gözen.^[9] The party is noteworthy for the focus it puts on women's leadership and women's labour issues, in particular its women's organisation Purple Solidarity.^[10]

The party's ideology and political programme is heavily influenced by Hikmet Kıvılcımlı and his works.^[11][12] TÖP is a participant of Peoples' Democratic Congress^[13] and a member of Labour and Freedom Alliance.^[9]

In terms of international outlook, like most of the Peoples' Democratic Congress organisations, the Social Freedom Party is known to condemn Turkish and NATO militarism as well as Russian expansion, as in the case of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[14]

Perihan Koca was elected to the 28th Parliament of Turkey in the 2023 Turkish parliamentary election from Mersin.

References

1. "Toplumsal Özgürlük Partisi" (in Turkish). Court of Cassation. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
2. "Program – Toplumsal Özgürlük". Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
3. "Program Kopya". Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
4. "Ekoloji". Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
5. "Kadın". Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
6. "lgbti". Archived from the original on 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
7. "Sosyalist Yeniden Kuruluş Partisi (SYKP) Kuruldu". Ertuğrul Kürkçü (in Turkish). 2013-06-25. Archived from the original on 2022-08-28. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
8. "Toplumsal Özgürlük Partisi, "Artık yeter devir değişsin" diyerek yola çıktı". Sendika.Org (in Turkish). 2020-08-13. Archived from the original on 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
9. "Seçimlere 9 ay kala üçüncü ittifak da kuruldu: Emek ve Özgürlük İttifakı". KARAR (in Turkish). 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
10. "Green Left, "How women are increasingly leading Turkey's socialist movement"". greenleft.org.au. 2018-08-03. Archived from the original on 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
11. "Hikmet Kıvılcımlı". Toplumsal Özgürlük (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
12. "Turkey's Rejuvenated Left". Jacobin. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2015-06-07.
13. "Bileşenler". www.halklarindemokratikkongresi.net (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2022-08-28. Retrieved 2022-08-28.
14. Price, Susan (2022). "Asian socialists condemn Russia's invasion, NATO expansionism". Green Left Weekly (1336): 18. Retrieved 2023-03-03.