ABSTRACT
Turkish social democracy is an area of research that requires adopting a prudent methodology to examine its theory and praxis as it was nurtured in a developing context. A straightforward outcome of this prudency is the subconscious reference in the minds of the Turkish people to the question: ‘Is there social democracy in Turkey?’ because the main determinant of the response to this question is whether ‘Turkish social democracy has the same practical content and value as European social democracy’. From this perspective, naturally, the answer is ‘no’ (for example, see Kahraman, 1993). Instead, in this particular sub-section, I will concentrate on the formation, evolution and current stage of Turkish social democracy in terms of the institutional stock of social democratic theory enumerated in the first part and examine the theoretical formulations and practical initiatives of Turkish social democrats within the systemic coexistence of this institutional stock rather than the practical manifestations of European social democracy.
