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====Opposition to Atatürk in 1930–1931====
On 11 August 1930, Atatürk decided to try a multiparty movement once again and asked [[Fethi Okyar]] to establish a new party. Atatürk insisted on the protection of secular reforms. The brand-new [[Liberal Republican Party (Turkey)|Liberal Republican Party]] succeeded all around the country. However, without the establishment of a real political spectrum, the party became the center to opposition of Atatürk's reforms, particularly in regard to the role of religion in public life. On 23 December 1930, a chain of violent incidents occurred, instigated by the rebellion of Islamic fundamentalists in [[Menemen]], a small town in the [[Aegean Region]]. The [[Menemen Incident]] came to be considered a serious threat against secular reforms.

[[File:Ataturk and Fethi Okyar.jpg|thumb|Atatürk with the [[Liberal Republican Party (Turkey)|Liberal Republican Party]] leader [[Fethi Okyar]] and his daughter in [[Yalova]], on 13 August 1930]]

In November 1930, Ali Fethi Okyar dissolved his own party. A more lasting [[multi-party period of the Republic of Turkey]] began in 1945. In 1950, the CHP ceded the majority position to the [[Democratic Party (Turkey, historical)|Democratic Party]]. This came amidst arguments that Atatürk's single-party rule did not promote [[direct democracy]]. The reason experiments with [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralism]] failed during this period was that not all groups in the country had agreed to a minimal consensus regarding shared values (mainly secularism) and shared rules for conflict resolution. In response to such criticisms, Atatürk's biographer [[Andrew Mango]] writes: "between the two wars, democracy could not be sustained in many relatively richer and better-educated societies. Atatürk's enlightened authoritarianism left a reasonable space for free private lives. More could not have been expected in his lifetime."<ref>Mango, ''Atatürk'', 536</ref> Even though, at times, he did not appear to be a democrat in his actions, Atatürk always supported the idea of building a [[civil society]]: a system of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions as opposed to the force-backed structures of the state. In one of his many speeches about the importance of democracy, Atatürk said in 1933:

{{bquote|Republic means the democratic administration of the state. We founded the Republic, reaching its tenth year. It should enforce all the requirements of democracy as the time comes.<ref>İnan, ''Atatürk Hakkında Hatıralar ve Belgeler'', 260</ref>}}