Turkey’s main opposition party elected a new leader on Saturday after a sex scandal earlier this month led to the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, who had led the party for 18 years.
With the selection of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a 61-year-old deputy party chairman known for his fierce opposition to public corruption and support of transparency in government, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) hopes to re-establish its image as the representative of the country’s secular left.
The party’s reluctance to grant extended rights to ethnic minorities, its generally elitist approach to politics and failure to connect with working-class voters are often blamed for its declining popularity and repeated electoral defeats in the last decade.
Some 1,200 delegates, a record turnout, voted for Kilicdaroglu at a party convention in Ankara. He was the only nominee after the current leader, Deniz Baykal, refused calls by some loyalists to accept renomination. Baykal lacked support among educated, urban and secular elites.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey and the CHP in 1923, and the party has been active ever since, having survived three military coups.
Many left-leaning groups that have long been divided seem to have reunited, at least for the time being, under the leadership of Kilicdaroglu, whose serene personality has earned him the nickname “Gandhi Kemal” in political circles.
For example, Rahsan Ecevit, widow of Bulent Ecevit, the late Socialist prime minister, had cut ties with the CHP for decades, but attended Saturday’s congress.
“I accept Mr Kilicdaroglu’s nomination as a real change and believe that it will open new horizons for the CHP,” Ecevit said in an interview broadcast on NTV from the hall where the congress was held.
Many analysts said they saw Kilicdaroglu’s selection as a very positive sign for the Turkish left.
“Kilicdaroglu’s rhetoric supporting the underdog was something that was long missed,” said Haluk Sahin, a political columnist for Radikal, a center-left newspaper.
“The unusual turnout at today’s congress showed how much such an approach was missed in the Turkish left and surely this would reflect itself in the next elections,” Sahin said.
Kilicdaroglu, an accountant turned state bureaucrat for 27 years, is expected to lead the CHP to a much stronger showing against the Justice and Development (AK) Party, which has strong Islamic roots and widespread popularity among the working class.
Two investigations headed by Kilicdaroglu in his role as deputy CHP chairman led to the resignations of two senior AK party officials after they were charged with fraud. The outcome strengthened Kilicdaroglu’s popularity in the eyes of many Turks, who are often wary of corruption in politics.
Following his nomination, Kilicdaroglu reiterated his support for transparency in politics and government. Before the vote, he had posted what he said were all his family assets on his personal Web site.
Kilicdaroglu claims that corruption under the leadership of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has “increased at the fastest pace in the history of the republic.”
Originally from eastern Turkey, Kilicdaroglu, who represents Istanbul, is an Alevi, a member of a secular-leaning Muslim sect. He is one of seven brothers and is married with three children.
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