|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
|
 Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 8:08 am Post subject: CHP welcomes unity with DSP (Ankara, Turkiye) |
 |
|
CHP welcomes unity with DSP
Thursday, May 3, 2007
ANKARA � TDN Parliament Bureau
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday called on the Democratic Left Party (DSP) to join his party before the coming national elections in the most vocal manner yet.
Baykal's call follows two huge rallies held in Ankara and Istanbul by pro-secular groups that attracted a huge number of people who called on the left parties to unite against the government.
Baykal, speaking to his parliamentary group, asked the DSP to consider their offer for unification. �We want to integrate with DSP,� he said, noting that the founder of the DSP B�lent Ecevit was also CHP's chairman in the past.�
The CHP's leader said his party did not favor an alliance with DSP or any other social democratic party only for the general elections, implying that such alliances unraveled soon after the elections. �We'll cry together we'll laugh together,� Baykal said.
Most commentators believe the leftist constituency in Turkey forms around 30 percent of the voting public and considering the fact that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a parliamentary majority with only 34 percent of the vote in the 2002 national elections, a single left party could become a political force.
http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=72217 |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Woland
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject: Re: CHP welcomes unity with DSP (Ankara, Turkiye) |
|
|
| Adventurer wrote: |
| Baykal, speaking to his parliamentary group, asked the DSP to consider their offer for unification. �We want to integrate with DSP,� he said, noting that the founder of the DSP B�lent Ecevit was also CHP's chairman in the past.� |
Of, ya. He fails to note that Ecevit left the CHP to form the DSP after being defeated by Baykal in a leadership race, and that Ecevit really didn't like Baykal, and knew him for the slimy opportunist he is. Any unification would require obedience to Baykal as party leader. And Baykal would get rid of any potential rivals as soon as they outlived their usefuleness in an election. I just don't see the leadership of any of the left parties falling for the sweet talk of Deniz Baykal.
| Adventurer wrote: |
| The CHP's leader said his party did not favor an alliance with DSP or any other social democratic party only for the general elections, implying that such alliances unraveled soon after the elections. �We'll cry together we'll laugh together,� Baykal said. |
Mostly cry. I'm serious about this. I'm a secularist, and I wouldn't vote for Deniz Baykal because I know he would be a disaster for the country. I really can't begin to impress on you what a sleaze he is. The true party he leads is the Deniz Baykal Party, and everything he does is about self-promotion. If selling out women would get him votes, he would do itt in a heartbeat. If pandering to religion is the way, he's your man. He is truly, truly awful.
| Adventurer wrote: |
| Most commentators believe the leftist constituency in Turkey forms around 30 percent of the voting public and considering the fact that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a parliamentary majority with only 34 percent of the vote in the 2002 national elections, a single left party could become a political force. |
AK has scored higher vote % in local elections since then, in part by drawing some of the old DYP constituency.
The 30% figure for the left is probably about right, given that 20% of the population are Alevi, who have reasons to be concerned about conservative Sunni rule. The number may be a bit high, though, as a chunk of the leftist vote is Kurdish and supports HADEP (or whatever they call themselves now), the party that represents Kurdish interests. To get them to support a unified left candidate would require a move away from the Turkish nationalism that Baykal has been pandering to for the past couple years.
Overall, unless Deniz Baykal can be replaced with someone honest, who can reach out to the diverse left constituencies, any talk of unification is a fantasy. The only figure on the left who has the stature to do it is Erdal Inonu, son of the second president of the republic, and he has retired from politics, in part over frustration with the left's disarray.
If the left can get its act together, Turkey has the possibility in front of it of evolving a three part system similar to Germany before the Greens. AK will be like the Christian Democrats, a socially conservative, somewhat populist economic party with religious roots. ANAP will be the Free Democrats, a socially conservative, economically liberal party. And the CHP would be like the Social Democrats, a socially liberal party of populist economics, which incorporates representation of the country's minority populations.
A few minor parties would persist, e. g., the ultra-nationalist MHP, drawing between 5 and 10 percent, depending on the national mood, and a hard core religious party like Saadet, drawing 3 to 5 percent. It would be nice if something like the Greens started up.
The country would be better off for such a restructuring. But for it to happen, Baykal has to go. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
|
| Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Woland, Evet, I agree with what you wrote. The secularists need to unite, but there is no credible leader, and since the Kurds (Mountain Turks as some like calling them) are not included they can't tap into the Kurdish Left effectively. The AK is limited by the fact that Turkey has many seculars in the population. I think the AK has proved itself in politics. If Baykal is serious about some kind of unity and would not focus on himself and promote someone else to do it or is open to compromise for the country instead of being a sleeze bag. Do you think Baykal is kind of on the same level as Yilmaz was? Many seculars in Turkey feel that the AK is not their government and is being pushed on them by the U.S. where do you think this paranoid perception is coming from? I know the U.S. has been good to Gul and Erdogan, but they have been a source of stability for Turkey. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
