Green Left Party

The Party of Greens and the Left Future (Turkish: Yeşiller ve Sol Gelecek Partisi, YSGP), abbreviated as Green Left Party (Turkish: Yeşil Sol Parti, YSP), is a green and left-libertarian party in Turkey.

Party of Greens and the Left Future Yeşiller ve Sol Gelecek Partisi
Abbreviation	YEŞİL SOL PARTİ (official) YSP, YSGP (unofficial)
Co-Spokespersons	Ahmet Asena Didem Betül Göçer
Founded	25 November 2012 (2012-11-25) (first) 24 November 2023 (2023-11-24) (second)[1]
Merger of	Equality and Democracy Party Greens Party (first)
Merged into	Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (first)
Headquarters	Atatürk Bulvarı No:88 Daire: 16 Çankaya – Ankara
Ideology	Green politics Left-libertarianism Anti-capitalism Alter-globalization Direct democracy Secularism Anti-Zionism
Political position	Centre-left to left-wing
National affiliation	Peoples' Democratic Congress Labour and Freedom Alliance
European affiliation	European Green Party associate member[2]
International affiliation	Global Greens
Colours	Green, Red
Grand National Assembly	0 / 600
Website
yesilsolparti.org
Politics of Turkey Political parties Elections

History

Logo of the first "Green Left Party"

The first YSP was founded on 25 November 2012 as a merger of the Greens Party and the Equality and Democracy Party. The party changed its name in April 2016. Prominent members include Murat Belge, left-wing political author and former columnist for Taraf; Kutluğ Ataman, filmmaker and contemporary artist; and Ufuk Uras, former Istanbul deputy and president of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP).

The party is one of the participants in the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK), a political initiative instrumental in founding the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in 2012.

Their chairpersons were temporarily arrested in February 2018 but released with a travel ban for the exterior and under monitoring of the police. They were charged over social media activity and books in their possession.^[3]

In the 2023 parliamentary election, members of the HDK most famously the HDP ran on the YSP list because of the threat of a ban. YSP was transformed into the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party on 15 October 2023 and a new YSP was founded in November of the same year.

Political positions

The party supports decentralization and advocates for significantly shifting central powers to local governments.^[4] Ufuk Uras identifies as a left libertarian. In 2015 he said:

The libertarian left is different from the traditional left because of its principles. These are: going in and out of power through elections, respect for different identities and beliefs, socially libertarian, egalitarian, eco-minded, participatory and for the restoration of justice. We would like the HDP to have such a profile. What we are trying to do is to adopt the Syriza experience in Greece to the HDP in Turkey.^[5]

The party has formally acknowledged the Armenian genocide.^[6]