The 18th Republican People's Party Extraordinary Convention () took place on 5 and 6 September 2014 in order to elect a leader of the
Republican People's Party
The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...
(''Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi - CHP''), a
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
* Something related to Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire
* The w ...
centre-left
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
. Initially, an ordinary convention was due to be held in 2014, two years after the previous one in 2012. However, the party's incumbent leader
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (; born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the Leader of the Republican People's Party, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Lis ...
accepted calls for an extraordinary convention to be held following the loss of the CHP's presidential candidate
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu
Ekmeleddin Mehmet İhsanoğlu (; born 26 December 1943) is a Turkish chemistry and science history professor, academician, diplomat and politician who was Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) from 2004 to 2014. He i ...
in the
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The p ...
held in August. The ordinary convention will thus be held in 2015 instead.
The result was a victory for incumbent leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who was re-elected with 64.1% of the delegates' votes. He had initially been nominated for the leadership with the signatures of 944 delegates (84.2%). His rival Muharrem İnce congratulated Kılıçdaroğlu and conceded defeat.
Background
CHP leader
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (; born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the Leader of the Republican People's Party, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Lis ...
announced that his party would support Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu's candidacy for the presidency, claiming further that he himself had thought of İhsanoğlu as an adequate candidate. Besides the controversy over İhsanoğlu's alleged lack of secular credentials, Kılıçdaroğlu drew criticism for not consulting MPs on his choice of candidate. When İhsanoğlu came a distant second with 38.44% of the vote in the presidential election, several MPs within the CHP voiced opposition to Kılıçdaroğlu's choice of candidate and called for an extraordinary convention to be held before the
June 2015 general election. Such MPs included
Emine Ülker Tarhan,
Muharrem İnce
Muharrem İnce (; born 4 May 1964) is a Turkish physics teacher, school principal, sport executive, and politician. He is the founder and the incumbent leader of the Homeland Party since May 2021. Formerly a four term Republican People's Party ...
and
Süheyl Batum
Bedii Süheyl Batum (born 6 May 1955) is a Turkish professor of constitutional law, political scientist, columnist and Kemalist politician who had served as the Member of Parliament for Eskişehir from June 2011 to June 2015. He was the forme ...
, with İnce claiming that former CHP leader
Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal (20 July 1938 – 11 February 2023) was a Turkish politician. A member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in numerous governmen ...
also supported his opposition to Kılıçdaroğlu. Initially, Kılıçdaroğlu expressed regret for bringing the rebellious MPs into the party, accusing them of not helping in the presidential campaign and thus contributing to rival candidate
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's victory in the first round. Regardless, Kılıçdaroğlu and the CHP Youth Wing both accepted the notion to hold an extraordinary convention with a leadership election in September 2014, nullifying the need to obtain signatures before any convention can be proposed.
The convention is expected to take 3 days, either between 9–11 September or 14–17 September.
78 of 81 province heads of CHP except
Yalova
Yalova is a market-gardening town located in northwestern Turkey on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. It is the seat of Yalova Province and Yalova District.[Düzce
Düzce () is a city in northwestern Turkey, the capital city of Düzce Province, the eighty-first Provinces of Turkey, province in the country. It is the seat of Düzce District.][Isparta
Isparta is a city in western Turkey. It is the seat of Isparta Province and Isparta District.][İl ...]
expressed their support to Kılıçdaroğlu.
Candidates
Confirmed candidates
*
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (; born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the Leader of the Republican People's Party, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Lis ...
- incumbent leader of the CHP, supported by former
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
mayoral candidate
Mustafa Sarıgül
Mustafa Sarıgül (born 15 November 1956) is a Turkish writer, entrepreneur and politician who is currently a member of the Grand National Assembly from Erzincan.
He was the mayor of the ÅžiÅŸli district in Istanbul between 1999 and 2014 as a m ...
.
*
Muharrem İnce
Muharrem İnce (; born 4 May 1964) is a Turkish physics teacher, school principal, sport executive, and politician. He is the founder and the incumbent leader of the Homeland Party since May 2021. Formerly a four term Republican People's Party ...
- Former CHP parliamentary group leader
*
Şahmar Dalmış -
Member of Parliament candidate for
Kars
Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.[� ...]
in the
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
,
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
and
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
general elections. Former engineer and campaign activist.
Possible candidates
*
Emine Ülker Tarhan - A CHP MP seen as a potential presidential candidate who decided not to run against
Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu
Ekmeleddin Mehmet İhsanoğlu (; born 26 December 1943) is a Turkish chemistry and science history professor, academician, diplomat and politician who was Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) from 2004 to 2014. He i ...
.
Declined candidates
Metin FeyzioÄŸlu
Metin Feyzioğlu (born 7 July 1969) is a Turkish lawyer and a professor of criminal law who served as the 8th president of the Turkish Bars Association between May 2013 and December 2021. Metin Feyzioğlu was appointed as Türkiye's new ambassado ...
, who currently serves as the President of the
Turkish Bars Association
The Turkish Bars Association (correctly, the Union of Turkish Bar Associations) or ''Türkiye Barolar Birliği'' (TBB) has been established in 1969 and is an organisation for Turkish lawyers, uniting over 70,000 lawyers in 79 Turkish bar associat ...
, stated that he would not be a candidate for the CHP leadership on 16 August. FeyizoÄŸlu had become famous for his opposition to
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan
Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
when the two publicly quarrelled at the
State Council's 146th anniversary ceremony. In late August 2014, FeyizoÄŸlu stated that he did not regard the convention as democratic due to being held at such short notice and claimed that he would have been a candidate had the convention met "democratic standards".
Opinion polls
Although normal CHP members or supporters could not vote, opinion polls were conducted to gauge voter's preferences before the convention.
Results
References
{{Republican People's Party Conventions
2014 in Turkish politics
Extraordinary Conventions of the Republican People's Party (Turkey)
2014 conferences
September 2014 in Turkey
2010s political conferences