The resentful, those who burned with the ambition of attaining the party’s leadership or securing some place in the party management, those who suffered from the wrath of the leader, those who failed to seize their desired position in the party they love, those who were saddened by the party’s reins being seized by the deep state, or, in sum everyone who has lost hope for the Deniz Baykal-led CHP, were at the hall where the party congress was held with refreshed hope. I did not witness it myself, but I am just reporting what those who witnessed it knew or expressed: This party congress was the most enthusiastic congress ever conducted since 1971, when Bülent Ecevit was a shining star...So why such excitement? It did not stem, I guess, from Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who, we can conclude based on his long speech, did not say anything newer than or different from the typical CHP line and whose promises were not clear except for his strong emphasis on the CHP’s established statist/militarist line. Although he was elected as the new chairman with the support of a record number of delegates in the congress, where he was the sole candidate running for leadership, the role of the CHP’s oligarchy, particularly Önder Sav, whom we used to know as the cronies of Baykal, in this success cannot be denied. By closely monitoring the developments in the CHP, we will very soon see that this enthusiasm is not because Kılıçdaroğlu is the new leader. Thus, we are left with the only option for defining this frenzied enthusiasm: The CHP and CHP members’ enthusiasm for getting rid of Baykal...
However, given the fact that there is not a single indication of change or renewal in its philosophy, management team and approach to the issues, what can be the significance to the CHP, the left wing and Turkish politics of electing Kılıçdaroğlu as the CHP chairman? Without wasting your time, I will state it: Nothing except a mask or rough make-up. Again based on his speech at the party congress, it wouldn’t be realistic in the least to expect Kılıçdaroğlu to engineer a radical break with the conventional CHP mentality -- of being stuck with the deep state, or always establishing unholy alliances with shady networks, the military and the high judiciary instead of producing political alternatives or alternative solutions.
Riding on the winds of snappy developments that began with the disclosure of Baykal’s sex tape, Kılıçdaroğlu found himself at the helm of the CHP, but I don’t think Kılıçdaroğlu will be a leader who will create a strong enough political wind to take the CHP to power. My advice is: Please do not be fooled by the efforts of certain media organizations, particularly the Doğan Group, to embellish and polish Kılıçdaroğlu and instill great hope and expectations into society. Note that these are old tricks that were proven not to work in numerous cases in the past. A similar wind had been blown by the media in connection with Mehmet Ali Bayar. These media organizations had said he was “the man who would save Turkey” in early 2000. Likewise, they had set their sights and hope on İsmail Cem and Kemal Derviş, whom they had separated from the Democratic Left Party (DSP). They did the same when they took Abdullatif Şener, a senior politician of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), away from the party and attempted to market him as the leader who could save Turkey. Finally, this media had also tried to tout Hüsamettin Cindoruk as the new leader of Turkey, although he had spent many years as the equerry of Süleyman Demirel. These media organizations are still here, but where are the paper tigers they created? Obviously, the media’s king-making efforts cost Bayar his diplomatic career and Şener his political career within the AK Party. Neither Cem nor Derviş nor Cindoruk could appeal to the general public despite heated campaigns waged by the media.
Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu may be traveling to the same sad fate, may he not? If he can manage to stay at the helm of the CHP long enough to see this fate, we can perhaps say that this fate most certainly awaits him. But if you ask me what the main and more urgent fate that will befall Kılıçdaroğlu will be, then my answer will be different. Do not be deceived by the high rate of support from the party delegates at the congress as this is nothing but an attempt to put a thick veil by the elder oligarchy in the CHP between the Baykal era and the new era. I think that the factions that have their own agendas as to the future of the CHP are just using Kılıçdaroğlu as a temporary folding screen over a transient peace. Although there are efforts to re-market the CHP as a new prospect without any intention to correct its political flaws, the actual fighting in the CHP has not yet started.
Baykal, a political guru who could be despotic at times, was able to keep the CHP, a party of myriad factions, together. However, the great enthusiasm expressed at the party congress over his exit from the party leadership shows that his ability to assert that control was not sufficient. Given the fact that he does not show a single sign of being a true leader as he has made progress only with the extra help and support from outside, Kılıçdaroğlu obviously has no chance. I think we will have to wait for a long time to see how he will be ripped to pieces by the old wolves of the party. Like Hikmet Çetin and Altan Öymen, who temporarily acted as the chairmen of the CHP in the past, Kılıçdaroğlu, it seems, is just a political figure on whom the factions who actually fought for control of the party agree since they do not consider him dangerous. This is because Kılıçdaroğlu has unfortunately failed to show himself as a leader capable of leading the CHP, which is made up of different groups. Rather, he is a profile of a figure who is being controlled by the old wolves of the party.
Moreover, Kılıçdaroğlu’s populist rhetoric has already proven itself to be just an empty slogan. Having made it clear that like Baykal, he will continue to act as the lawyer of Ergenekon and will not make any reference to the Kurdish issue and has adopted the typical CHP attitude of taking the latest constitutional amendments promising democratic reforms, which will be voted on in a referendum, to the Constitutional Court, Kılıçdaroğlu should understand that he cannot be populist by just wearing a hat as Ecevit did or not wearing a tie. Perhaps this is not needed as, in my opinion, he is not very likely to assume this office long enough so that we may find it beneficial to tell this truth to him.
