The Democrat Party (Turkish: Demokrat Parti, DP for short) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, and the country's third legal opposition party, after the Liberal Republican Party (Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası) established by Ali Fethi Okyar in 1930, and the National Development Party (Milli Kalkınma Partisi) established by Nuri Demirağ in 1945. Founded and led by Celâl Bayar and Adnan Menderes, it was the first of the opposition parties to rise to power, de-seating the Republican People's Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) during the national elections of 1950 and ending Turkey's one party era. The party ″facilitated the resurgence of Islam, especially at the popular level, in Turkey″. History The events and outcome of World War II played a large role in the emergence of the Democrat Party. A condemnation of fascism coincided with the defeat of the Axis Powers, and President İsmet İnönü realized that if he did not invite opposition against the CHP, Turkey would fall into social upheaval: one-party governments were no longer acceptable means of rule for modern states. Though the Independent Group - an opposition group of independents - was formed upon İnönü's assention as President in 1938, the opposition was weak and confined to 5 - 8% of the parliament. On November 1, 1945, İnönü made a speech in which he formally invited the formation of opposition parties in order to align Turkey with the democratic principles that had emerged victorious in the war. But other factors were already at work in undermining the rule of the Republican People’s Party— namely, the stagnant nature of the economy. Within the CHP and throughout the country, a rift was forming between statists and liberals, and that rift was magnified with the passage of the land reform bill of 1945. Although the bill was passed, 4 CHP parliamentarians, Celal Bayar, Adnan Menderes, Refik Koraltan, and Fuat Köprülü signed a motion criticizing party regulations, and were expelled from the CHP. They formed the Democrat Party that same year. Due to the Democrat Party’s infancy and its inability to fully organize or establish rapport with the Turkish public immediately after its conception, they lost the 1946 national elections with no surprise. In the four years that spanned before the next election, İnönü and the CHP tried desperately to reaffirm their popularity in the Republic, but voters were unconvinced that the party could implement any real change after 27 years in