bɪɡˈɪnɪŋ ɪnðə mˈɪd nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd fˈɪfti z, æz ðə tˈɛɹɚɹ ʌvðə nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd fˈɪfti wˈʌn dˈæʃ fˈɪfti tˈuː tˌiːkˌeɪpˈiː ɚɹˈɛsts wˈeɪnd, ðə ɹˈaɪz ʌvðə dˈɛməkɹˌæt pˈɑːɹɾi dˌiːpˈiː bɪɡˈæn tə stˈʌmbəl, ænd ðə vˌiːpˈiː wʌz lˈɪmɪɾᵻd tə hˈɪkmɪt kˌɪvɪlsˈɪmliz ˈɪnɚ sˈɜːkəl, ɐ nˈʌmbɚɹ ʌv lˈɛftɪst ˌɪntəlˈɛktʃuːəlz ænd lˈeɪbɚ lˈiːdɚz, ˌɪndᵻpˈɛndəntli ʌv ˈiːtʃ ˈʌðɚ, tˈʊk ɪɾ əpˌɑːn ðɛmsˈɛlvz tʊ ɪnvˈɛstᵻɡˌeɪt ðə fˌiːzᵻbˈɪlᵻɾi ʌv ɪstˈæblɪʃɪŋ ɐ lˈɛftɪst pəlˈɪɾɪkəl pˈɑːɹɾi.
Beginning in the mid-1950s, as the terror of the 1951-52 TKP arrests waned, the rise of the Democrat Party (DP) began to stumble, and the VP was limited to Hikmet Kıvılcımlı's inner circle, a number of leftist intellectuals and labour leaders, independently of each other, took it upon themselves to investigate the feasibility of establishing a leftist political party.