ABSTRACT
MHP was able to profit from an untarnished reputation in the same way as RP did in the previous elections. The advance of DSP and MHP should therefore not be regarded as a polarization, or as an expression of increased left-right animosity, of Turkish politics. In 1985 local elections took place. The old parties could again partake but not with their old names or led by banned leaders. AP came back as DYP, True Path Party, a name with religious connotations; CHP on the other hand was split into Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP) and, slightly later, the social democratic SHP with Ismet Inunu's son Erdal Inunu as central figure. He was actually no politician but a professor of physics and chosen because of the attraction of the family name. But his want of experience in the labyrinths of Turkish politics was well redeemed by his integrity and lack of a political past.
