Navigating Contradictions: The Zafer Partisi, Social Movements, and the Normalization of Far-Right Discourses in Turkey

Far right politics has gained strength and proliferated in diverse political contexts across Europe and elsewhere. Far right parties have become prominent political actors and won several national elections, gaining legitimacy and public trust. This growth has led far right discourses to be normalised and increasingly become integral to mainstream politics. The mainstreaming of these discourses has considerably challenged progressive social movement as they enhance resonances with the wider public of illiberalism, anti-immigrant sentiments and acts, racism and ultra-nationalism, and an anti-gender and anti-LGBTI+ position. Despite sharing major commonalities, far right political parties need to be under scrutiny for any context-specific deviating features for a more nuanced understanding of agenda setting of the far right.

Against this backdrop, this paper focuses on the secular ultra-nationalist Zafer Partisi (ZP) (Victory Party) as a newly established movement party in far right political landscape in Turkey. ZP stands out with its position against the Islamic governance of the leading Justice and Development Party (AKP), diverging in issues such as gender equality, withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention (The Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as “the Istanbul Convention”), and immigration policies. Based on media coverage of ZP statements, electoral manifesto, local election materials, and ethnographic observation carried out during the electoral cycle, this paper investigates the dynamics of mainstreaming of selected ZP discourses. Focusing on two significant political moments – the 2024 local elections and withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the paper points out conflicting positions of the ZP vis-à-vis the leading AKP in mainstreaming challenging issues for the various progressive social movement actors.