Necdet Calp (September 7, 1922 – September 13, 1998) was a Turkish civil servant and politician.

Early life

He was born in

Karamürsel Karamürsel is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 262 km2, and its population is 59,676 (2022). It is on the south coast of the Gulf of İzmit. Before its conquest by the Ottoman Empire, ...

ilçe The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''. Most provinces bear the s ...

of Kocaeli Province, Turkey on 7 September 1922. He graduated from the Faculty of Political Science of

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

in 1944. He also studied at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. He served as district governor, inspector in the

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, th ...

as well as province governor of Siirt and

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

. He also served as executive assistant to

İsmet İnönü Mustafa İsmet İnönü (24 September 1884 – 25 December 1973) was a Turkish politician and military officer who served as the second List of Presidents of Turkey, president of Turkey from 1938 to 1950, and as its Prime Minister of Turkey, pr ...

, then prime minister of Turkey. During the military rule between 1980 and 1983, he was the undersecretary of the prime minister Bülent Ulusu.

Leader of the opposition

On 21 May 1983 together with Avni Güler, Engin Aydın and Turhan Timuçin, he founded People's Party (, HP) in the course of

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 ...

(Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP), which was closed by the military rule. He was elected as the chairman of the party. After the main rival SODEP was banned from entering the election, the HP became the only party attractive for ex-CHP voters. Although he was not a well known name, he caused a nationwide excitement in a panel discussion on TV by his reaction to the proposal of privatization of İstanbul Bosphorus Bridge. In the election held on 6 November 1983, the HP received 30.5% of the votes and Necdet Calp, now PM from

Ankara Province Ankara Province (, ) is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey with the capital city Ankara. Its area is 25,632 km2, and its population is 5,782,285 (2022). History The site of the modern city has been home to settlements ...

, became the opposition leader.

The congress

In the local elections held on 21 March 1984, in which SODEP also competed, the HP received 8.8%, which meant a loss of nearly 75% of its votes in less than five months. After learning the results, Calp resigned, but he was soon reelected as the chairman. However, during the reelection period, the opposition group in the party gained strength.Erdal İnönü:Anılar ve Düşünceler, Cilt III, Doğan Kitap, İstanbul, 2001, p.24 On the general congress of the party held on 29 June 1985, he lost his chair to Aydın Güven Gürkan.

Later years

After 1985, he did not participate in politics, and in the 1987 elections, he did not run for a seat in the parliament. On 13 September 1998, he died in Ankara as a result of a heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calp, Necdet 1922 births 1998 deaths People from Karamürsel Populist Party (Turkey) politicians Leaders of the opposition (Turkey) Leaders of political parties in Turkey Deputies of Ankara Governors (Turkey) Turkish civil servants Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Turkish political party founders