Late last month, while commenting on the AK Party’s plans to make changes to the Constitution, which he strongly opposes, as well as the possibility of a coalition government following next year’s parliamentary elections, CHP head Deniz Baykal signaled a rapprochement between the two parties. “It would not be appropriate to comment on a coalition model at the time being. Our aim is to be a single-party government. However, I would prefer to establish a coalition with the SP rather than the AK Party. The AK Party has experienced a major spiritual failure. Although they had set sail as if they were representing Islamic and spiritual values and the mentality of humbleness, protecting the rights of orphans [an important value in Islam] and not having an eye on the state’s properties, is it possible that those people are still pursuing these values? The SP’s cadres and administrators don’t seem to be a part of this corrupt mentality. I don’t see this when I look at [SP leader] Numan Kurtulmuş. He is an upright man,” Baykal had said.
Seeing that the polls conducted following the announcement of the AK Party’s plans to amend the Constitution have shown that the ruling party is likely to garner a high percentage of votes in the next elections, the CHP has devised a new strategy. Baykal and his team also think that the Turkey Change Movement, led by Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül, which has not yet formally organized as a political party but which is expected to be a major rival of the CHP, is also secretly supported by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who they think is attempting to divide the CHP’s voter base.
In response to this perceived move, the CHP is moving closer to the SP. The SP and the AK Party were both established after the closure of the Virtue Party (FP) in 2001 by the Constitutional Court. While the SP more strictly follows the line of the FP, a party which was close to Islam, the AK Party became more moderate and democratic than both the FP and its current incarnation, the SP.
Upon the olive branch offered by the CHP leader to the SP, SP leader Kurtulmuş thanked Baykal but underlined that his party keeps an equal distance from every party. The CHP is also currently concerned that the SP is likely to support the government’s planned constitutional changes if they are taken to a public vote. Kurtulmuş has recently stated that they are supportive of current efforts to amend the Constitution, though they still point to deficiencies contained within. Noting that their stance toward the Constitution is open and clear, he stressed that they have never said they would not lend support to it through any specific measure.
The CHP is also reportedly seeking election cooperation with the Democratic Left People’s Party (DSHP), which was established by the widow of the late prominent left-wing politician and former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit in November of last year after an intraparty row in the Democratic Left Party (DSP) following a party congress in May of that year.
