Deniz Baykal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938 in Antalya, Turkey) is a Turkish politician and long-time leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP). At the moment, he is the main opposition leader of the Turkish parliament.
[edit] Biography
Baykal was born to Hüseyin Hilmi who was a Caucasian muhajir and Feride whose family came from Egypt (claimed to be of Cretan descent).[1] He was educated at the University of Ankara's Faculty of Law. He later studied at the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University, New York in the U.S. as a research fellow, and finished his PhD by 1963 in Ankara. He became an Associate Professor in the University of Ankara's Faculty of Science, where he lectured extensively.
He quit his career as an academician in 1973, when he was elected as a member of the Turkish parliament from the Republican People's Party. He served as the Minister of Finance, Energy and Foreign Affairs in various times throughout his career, as well as Deputy Prime Minister.
He became the Republican People Party's General Secrerary in 1988, and in 1992, he was elected as the leader of the party, a post he still holds. Today, his social democrat and secular Republican People's Party is the second biggest of the country and is serving as the major opposition party in the parliament.
Baykal was elected as the Vice President of the Socialist International in 2003, a position he still holds. Several socialist parties from different countries have expressed doubts whether he or CHP have any relationship with socialism, and have called for the party's expulsion.
Baykal and his party was very active in preventing the deployment of the US military from Turkish territory against Iraq, much to the USA's chagrin. Baykal remains a staunch supporter of a militaristic solution to the Kurdish nationalism in Turkey's southeast. With time, he moved his politics and his party further to the right. His party members on regular basis makes anti-minority statements and Baykal remains one of the main obstacles in front of the pro-EU reforms in Turkey. [2] Baykal promised to swim from the Turkish coast to Rhodes if his party lost the election in July 2007, but has yet to fulfill this promise.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hikmet Çetin |
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Oct 30, 1995–Mar 6, 1996 |
Succeeded by Nahit Menteşe |
| Preceded by Ali Coşkun Kırca |
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Oct 31, 1995–Mar 6, 1996 |
Succeeded by Emre Gönensay |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by 1980 Military coup |
Leader of the Republican Peoples Party Sep 9, 1992–Feb 18, 1995 |
Succeeded by Hikmet Çetin |
| Preceded by Hikmet Çetin |
Leader of the Republican Peoples Party Sep 9, 1995–Apr 22, 1999 |
Succeeded by Altan Öymen |
| Preceded by Altan Öymen |
Leader of the Republican Peoples Party Sep 30, 2000–present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
[edit] References
- ^ SecimMeydani.com - Biographies : Deniz Baykal
- ^ The Journal of Turkish Weekly - CHP's Baykal: We Prevented Deployment of U.S. Troops on Turkish Territories
|
|||||
 |
This article about a Turkish politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
