13th Republican People's Party Extraordinary Convention
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| Turnout | 82.04% (nomination) 97.29% (election) |
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The 13th Extraordinary Convention of the Republican People's Party (Turkish: 13. Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi Olağanüstü Kurultayı) was held on 29 and 30 January 2005 in order to elect a leader for the Republican People's Party (CHP), a Turkish centre-left political party. Incumbent leader Deniz Baykal was challenged by the Mayor of Şişli, Mustafa Sarıgül for the leadership. The convention was marred by violence between supporters of the two rivals, who had accused each other of corruption and elitism during their speeches. The final result was a victory for Baykal, who won 59.4% of the delegates' votes against Sarıgül's 40.6%.
Issues discussed were the CHP's performance in the 2004 local elections, which was substantially below expectations and even resulted in the loss of Baykal's home province of Antalya to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Sarıgül claimed that Baykal had lost the support of most voters and had isolated the party from the people due to perceived elitism. Baykal in turn criticised Sarıgül due to alleged corruption charges and subsequently resulted in fights breaking out between rival party members, which was brought under control by security forces.
The convention was the last to feature a leadership election with more than one candidate until the 2014 extraordinary convention 9 years later.
The Republican People's Party, initially founded by revolutionary leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1921, was re-established by Deniz Baykal in 1992 after the party was shut down after the 1980 military coup. Since party leaders in Turkish politics tend to wield substantial power due to the Political parties law (SPK), the convention was significant for having more than one candidate for the leadership. The convention was held at the Ahmet Taner Kışlalı stadium in Çankaya, Ankara.
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