Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ISTANBUL1420
2005-08-18 15:06:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Istanbul
Cable title:  

CHP DISSIDENTS: VOICES FROM ISTANBUL

Tags:  PGOV PREL TU POLITICAL PARTIES 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001420 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL TU POLITICAL PARTIES
SUBJECT: CHP DISSIDENTS: VOICES FROM ISTANBUL

REF: A. ANKARA 4042


B. ANKARA 581

Classified By: Consul General Deborah K. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001420

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL TU POLITICAL PARTIES
SUBJECT: CHP DISSIDENTS: VOICES FROM ISTANBUL

REF: A. ANKARA 4042


B. ANKARA 581

Classified By: Consul General Deborah K. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: Discontent among "dissidents" within the
opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) (ref A) continues
to fester in Istanbul. The party's July 31 Istanbul
Congress, which began in fisticuffs, left the provincial
party apparatus firmly in the hands of supporters of CHP
Chairman Deniz Baykal. Several CHP contacts complain that
Baykal used unfair and illegal tactics to achieve victory in
Istanbul. They unanimously believe that Baykal will run
unopposed and retain the party chairmanship at a national
congress this fall. Their views differ, though, about
whether to address the CHP's lack of internal democracy
through conventions and law suits or by forming a new party.
End summary.

Istanbul Congress: We have a contender
--------------


2. (SBU) On July 31, the Republican People's Party (CHP)
held its Istanbul Congress to elect a new provincial leader.
Representing CHP Chairman Deniz Baykal and his supporters was
the incumbent, Sinasi Oktem, who was challenged by former CHP
Chairman Altan Oymen. (Note: Oymen served as CHP Chairman
after Baykal resigned in the wake of CHP's 1999 failure to
cross the 10 percent electoral threshold. End note.) Of the
624 delegates to the Istanbul convention, 124 signatures were
necessary to nominate a candidate; Oymen receivel close to
150, contacts told us.


3. (C) The Congress began badly, as a scuffle broke out at
the convention hall's entrance. Press reports state that
"uninvited members" (comment: Oymen supporters) were denied
entry by "Congress officials" (comment: Baykalistas); the
scuffle was carried on national TV. (Fisticuffs also broke
out during the CHP's national convention in January (ref B)).
Later, with order restored, Oymen addressed the convention,
and reportedly criticized changes made to the party's by-laws
in recent years which increase from 5 percent to 20 percent
the number of signatures required to nominate a candidate for
party positions. Oymen also referred to a recent
Constitutional Court ruling in favor of disgruntled CHP
members who had petitioned the CHP to hold an extraordinary

meeting to discuss the by-law changes, but who received no
response thus went to court. (Note: The recent court
decision said the CHP must hold a meeting within six months
to consider the petitioners' complaints. Since the national
congress is already scheduled for October, it will not be
hard for the party to comply with the Court's ruling. End
note.) At the end of the day, Sinasi Oktem took the votes of
387 delegates to Oymen's 213.

How they won
--------------


4. (C) It was over before it began, says former Istanbul
Chairman and Oymen sympathizer Mehmet Boluk, because of the
way delegates to the convention were (s)elected. Boluk
claims the majority of delegates from 11 of Istanbul's 32
districts were "nylon" (i.e. plastic, fake),elected when
Baykal supporters registered "new members" en masse at local
level offices. He illustrated with an example from his home
district on Buyukada, where the normally registered 115
members ballooned to 205 just prior to the vote for
delegates. Normally, a new member is held in "temporary"
status for six months before becoming a full member, but that
practice is not being followed, he said. He pointed to
municipal leaders in Kadakoy, Besiktas and Bakirkoy - three
districts which alone account for 147 delegates - as being
particularly influential in re-electing Oktem. Finally, Boluk
said the timing of local-level elections for delegates was
not in accordance with earlier party memoranda, and were held
earlier than previously announced in many cases.


5. (C) Hursit Gunes, a businessman from a prominent CHP
family, who flirted with the idea of running against Baykal
for the party chairmanship earlier this year, added that
local level party organizations sent "invitations" to vote
for delegates this year. Invitations to Baykal supporters
were sent promptly, he said, while invitations to others
"were sent to the wrong address."


6. (C) Ozgur Unluhisarcikli of the center-right ARI
Movement told Ankara poloffs that the CHP administration also
controlled the Istanbul convention by announcing
pre-convention organizing meetings at one location, but then
switching them to another location only Baykal supporters
knew about.

Taking it to the courts
--------------


7. (C) Boluk, tapping documents on his desk, told poloff
that members had filed cases in the courts against the CHP
based on the party's disregard for its by-laws. Boluk had
assisted in preparing a case in Istanbul questioning the
membership credentials of hundreds of delegates to the
convention. He told us that the district-level election
commission issued an unfavorable decision in that case, but
the high election commission in Ankara sided with the
plaintiffs. Nevertheless, he said, the political party law
maintains that district level commissions prevail in such
disputes, thus the Ankara decision provided no remedy.
Dissidents within the party will continue to use the
judiciary to fight the unfair and, in many cases, they say,
illegal, practices Baykal supporters are utilizing to keep a
firm grip on the party, Boluk said.
October convention
--------------

8. (C) Unlike some contacts who believe the fall convention
might be canceled (ref A),Boluk, Gunes and CHP MP Damla
Gurel expect it to go forward, with Baykal standing as
candidate and easily winning with votes from as many as 1000
of the approximately 1300 delegates. They all agreed that it
would be next to impossible for any other potential candidate
to meet the new signature requirements, and they expect
Baykal to stand unopposed. According to Gunes, "there's a
one percent chance, but not two," that Baykal will hand over
the reins to someone else after winning in October. He
thought it most likely, however, that Baykal would lead the
party into the next elections.


9. (C) Gurel, one of approximately 40 CHP MPs who have
publicly broken with Baykal, believes he will never hand over
party leadership. (Bio note: Gurel worked with the ARI
Movement in the late 1990s. She was brought into the party
by Kemal Dervis, and remains close to him, having just
visited him in New York. She became an MP in 2002. She
served on the CHP board for six months before resigning from
that position, in a move she knows will keep her off the CHP
list in the coming elections. She appears to have no plans
to resign from the party, though, saying that joining another
party as MP is "unethical" and going independent results in
no power at all. End bio note.) Gurel says she has spoken
at length with Baykal, and he firmly believes he is
contributing to the "nation's salvation" through his party
leadership, she said. And besides, where would he go? As a
board member, she said, she realized that the prospect of
change from within the party was hopeless.


10. (C) Comment: The antics at the Istanbul convention
further undermine CHP's image, damaged by the fights at the
January convention (after which one national newspaper
carried photographs of the fighting beneath a headline
reading "Oh, Please." End comment.
JONES