CHP leader Baykal resigns, puts blame on ruling party

Unease had dominated the main opposition party since late last week when a video clip appeared on several news websites, apparently showing Baykal intimately involved with CHP Ankara deputy Nesrin Baytok. The longtime CHP leader heeded insistent calls from both members and supporters of his party and announced yesterday afternoon that he has decided to step down from his position.

“This is not merely a matter of a tape showing impropriety. This is a conspiracy. I will not surrender myself to such a picture. I will not allow anyone to question me. If that has a cost, and if that's leaving the CHP, I will pay it,” Baykal said during a televised press conference at the CHP headquarters. Baytok was the CHP leader's private secretary before she was elected to Parliament in 2007. Baykal and Baytok are both married. The sudden decision sent shockwaves through the main opposition party -- many CHP members listened to Baykal's speech in tears.

With the resignation of Baykal, who has been elected to head the party 10 times, the CHP finds itself in a quandary as to who will step in as its new leader. The decision also spells the end of Baykal’s four-decade political career.

During his angry speech yesterday, Baykal -- who had vowed to lead the CHP indefinitely after the party’s national congress in 2008 -- pointed to the AK Party as being responsible for the emergence of the scandalous video clip, saying he was the victim of a political plot by the government. He suggested that the ruling party must have had knowledge of the video clip.

“It would not be possible to carry out such a plot using such advanced technology without the power and connections of the ruling party. It would not be possible to carry out such a conspiracy against the leader of a main opposition party without the assistance of the ruling party, either,” he said.

Baykal’s remarks, however, drew strong reactions from the AK Party. AK Party parliamentary group deputy chairman Bekir Bozdağ said Baykal misinterpreted the ruling party’s choice to keep silent on the video scandal. “The AK Party preferred to remain silent on the incident due to its political and moral values. We have targeted the CHP and its leader for their policies and political discourse. But we have never appreciated attempts to hit below the belt in politics. However, Baykal has misinterpreted our position. The people know best. Baykal was an important figure in Turkish politics, and he should not have ended his political life in this way,” Bozdağ added.

Bozdağ also challenged Baykal, calling on him to disclose to the public any evidence that the AK Party had a hand in the video scandal.

The outgoing CHP leader also denied claims that the video had been filmed around eight years ago. “This conspiracy is the product of today’s political conjecture. There is no video tape that has been awaiting [release] for many years. It was not taken recently, either. That’s a plot. The tape is fabricated. It is a two-week-old plot,” Baykal remarked.

Baykal’s resignation comes only one week before the CHP’s national congress, scheduled for May 22. Baykal was hoping to go to the congress without any rivals for the party’s top spot. The video, however, spoiled Baykal’s plans. CHP officials said Baykal is not considering attending the next party congress. However, there are rumors that Baykal may return to the party’s leadership at the congress at the demand of the CHP administration and supporters.

In his speech yesterday, Baykal rebuked his critics, arguing that his resignation does not mean he is running away or giving in. He vowed to seek legal redress against the people behind the video, both in his name and in the name of his party, as he alleged the conspirators aimed to discredit the CHP.

Baykal announced his resignation after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) at party headquarters. According to rumors, MYK members protested the decision after the CHP leader expressed his intention to resign from the party leadership. Their resistance, however, proved futile.

The outgoing CHP leader also said he believes in the sincerity of a message of sympathy he received from “Pennsylvania,” in a clear indication that he had contacted Fethullah Gülen, a preacher, prolific writer and advocate of interfaith and intercultural dialogue, after the release of the videotape. Gülen lives in self-imposed exile in a small town in Pennsylvania.

In the meantime, Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül filed a criminal complaint against the CHP’s Önder Sav and Yılmaz Ateş for their recent statements alleging that the mayor had bribed a criminal to shoot Baykal in his legs during a visit to Brussels in April. Sarıgül denied knowledge of any underhanded plan against Baykal and said the accusations infringed on his personal rights.

An ongoing investigation has revealed that the video clip was first published on the metacafe.com website. The site is based in Toronto, Canada. The Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office is now preparing to send an official notice to Canada’s Justice Ministry to request information from metacafe.com as to how the website obtained the video.

Baykal’s resignation receives mixed reactions

Baykal’s decision to end his longtime leadership of the CHP was met with mixed reactions. While some said they were expecting such a decision from the main opposition leader, others said they were surprised to see Baykal end his political career so suddenly. “That’s Baykal’s decision. I see the plot against him as an attempt to remove him from politics. I do not know the internal sides of the incident. But, I think he decided to resign to continue his fight against the pressure directed at him,” stated Masum Türker, leader of the Democratic Left Party (DSP).

The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democratic Party’s (BDP) Muş deputy Sırrı Sakık, however, said Baykal dropped hints in his speech of a return to politics. “His decision to resign from the party leadership was not a surprise at all. But, no one can know what will happen in the next few days. During his speech, he gave signals that he may return to politics. If he does so, I will not be surprised,” he added.

Most CHP members and deputies, on the other hand, expressed “deep sorrow” over Baykal’s decision. The party’s provincial chairman in İstanbul, Gürsel Tekin, was seen crying as he listened to his leader’s good-bye message. “Baykal will continue to serve his country no matter what his position is. We sleep with ease when we put our heads on the pillow. But, whoever did this to us will not be able to sleep with ease. The real fight has begun,” declared CHP İstanbul deputy Mehmet Sevigen.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy chairman Recai Yıldırım said Baykal displayed an “honorable” position by resigning from party leadership after the scandal. “Turkish bureaucracy does not have a tradition of resignation. We are not used to such resignations. Thus, we appreciate Baykal’s decision. I think that’s an honorable decision,” Yıldırım added. İstanbul Today’s Zaman

Baykal steps down as CHP leader after two decades

Deniz Baykal, who yesterday stepped down as the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was born in 1938 in Antalya. He was first elected to CHP leadership in 1992.

Baykal, who has been active in politics for the past 37 years, has served as foreign minister, deputy prime minister, energy minister and finance minister in the past. Baykal, the second founder of the CHP, which remained closed for many years until its revival under him, was born to Hüseyin Hilmi, a migrant from the Caucasus, and Feride Hanım, whose family migrated from Egypt. He finished at Ankara University’s faculty of law in 1959. In 1960, he became an assistant in the same university’s political science department. In 1963, he completed his doctoral studies and moved to the US, where he studied at Columbia and Berkeley.

He started his political life as a student activist in the 1960s in protests against the Democrat Party (DP) government. In 1973, he was elected as the Antalya deputy for the CHP. In 1974, he served as finance minister to Bülent Ecevit. In 1978, he was energy minister under another Ecevit government. He also held positions as a party council member, a member of the central steering committee and deputy secretary-general of the CHP. He was banned from politics for five years with the passing of the 1982 Constitution after the 1980 coup d’état.

In 1987 he was elected a deputy for Antalya from the Social Democratic People’s Party (SHP). He also worked as the co-chairman of the EU-Turkey Joint Interparliamentary Commission at the time. He was elected as a member of the European Council Parliamentary Assembly and served as a member on the Foreign Affairs Commission in Parliament.

He served as deputy prime minister and foreign minister under the True Path Party (DYP)-CHP coalition government established on Oct. 30, 1995.

He was re-elected to Parliament as an Antalya deputy on Dec. 24, 1995. He left his post as foreign minister and deputy prime minister after the election. He was elected CHP leader for the third time on May 23, 1998. In the election of 1999, the CHP, for the first time, stayed out of Parliament. He resigned after the election results were announced but was voted in as CHP leader once again on Sept. 30, 2000 at the 11th extraordinary party congress of the CHP. İstanbul Today’s Zaman