New CHP leader’s ‘radical’ statements draw cautious reaction

Just over the past week, Kılıçdaroğlu made several “radical” statements that left their mark on the country’s agenda. One of these was his pledge to solve Turkey’s long-standing headscarf problem if he comes to power. During a rally against government-backed reforms earlier last week, he directed criticism at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for failing to solve the headscarf problem and pledged that he would do so if he came to power. Many found this surprising for the leader of a staunchly secular party to say, because the CHP has so far been the strongest supporter of the ban and successfully appealed to the Constitutional Court to reverse the lifting of the ban approved by Parliament in 2008.

In addition to this, speaking in his hometown of Tunceli on Wednesday, Kılıçdaroğlu said the rejection of the constitutional amendment package in the upcoming Sept. 12 referendum would clear the path for a general amnesty for PKK members, a call that concerns hundreds of members of the terrorist PKK who are currently in prison on charges of terrorism and separatism.

The CHP has become a political party that cares about the demands and sensitivities of the public as it has opened up to society, said Ahmet Taşgetiren, a columnist for the Bugün daily.

“When the public is heading toward a certain direction and demands more freedoms and rights, it is impossible for the CHP to remain indifferent to this,” Taşgetiren told Sunday’s Zaman.

Nevertheless, the writer said Kılıçdaroğlu’s sincerity in these pledges and moves remains questionable, as the party leader has had to retract some of his statements as a result of pressure from the CHP administration on previous occasions.

In July, Kılıçdaroğlu, who excited many with a statement published in the Radikal daily that his party would solve Turkey’s controversial headscarf problem, later disappointed them with a retraction, denying having made remarks in favor of the abolition of the ban at universities.

During another referendum rally in the eastern province of Van last week where he addressed a small group of his party’s supporters, Kılıçdaroğlu asked the government to change the name of the Muğlalı Military Barracks.

Gen. Mustafa Muğlalı was convicted of killing 33 Kurds who crossed the Turkish border in 1943. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and died in jail, but his name was nevertheless given to a military barracks in the district where he killed his victims.

Berat Özipek, an academic and member of the Association for Liberal Thinking, said the seemingly democratic change in the CHP’s discourse with Kılıçdaroğlu has not gone to the heart of the party.

“It is like a public relations project. Everything, from the cap Kılıçdaroğlu wears to his worn-out shoes, is part of efforts at image making,” he said.

During his referendum campaign, Kılıçdaroğlu sometimes wears a cap, like former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, who had made a symbol of his social background.

According to Özipek, for Kılıçdaroğlu’s democratic maneuvers to be meaningful, he needs to take a concrete step that will back up his pledges and statements and he should not retract his statements later on. For instance, the CHP supporting the constitutional reforms would be one such step, he noted.

The 26-article reform package that will be presented to a referendum on Sept. 12 has been hailed by pro-democratic circles as well as the European Union on the grounds that the reforms will bring Turkey’s judiciary and democracy to the level of contemporary democracies. The CHP is waging a campaign against the reforms.

The CHP grass roots, which Özipek describes as a privileged group, and the party’s roots in Kemalism are the main obstacles facing the CHP’s change in essence, he said.

“Establishing a new party is easier than trying to change the CHP,” Özipek added.

The Yeni Şafak daily’s Fehmi Koru, who analyzed the “radical” statements of Kılıçdaroğlu in one of his columns last week, explained that as Kılıçdaroğlu, who took over leadership of the CHP in the wake of the resignation of the party’s long-time leader Deniz Baykal earlier this year, meets the public in throughout the country, he feels forced to make such statements, which will be favored by most.