Didim Today

Former Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal, who resigned from party leadership after the emergence of a video that revealed his alleged affair with a CHP deputy, left many questions behind after his departure from the party. Baykal’s resignation came less than two weeks before a CHP general assembly in which Baykal was to run without any rivals, sparking debate over who is to assume the party leadership and whether a return for Baykal was possible.

There are various scenarios with regard to this. While some say Baykal will return to the helm of the party after “bowing to pressure from CHP administrators and supporters who want him to return,” others find a return unlikely for him and say such a move would not only damage him but also his party and Turkish politics. According to Sabah’s Nazlı Ilıcak, if Baykal returns to party leadership saying he could not resist the pressure from the CHP, such a move will eliminate any perception of him as a victim.

She thinks that both the perception of Baykal as a victim will end and that he will be an open target for his rivals in the general elections. In her view, Baykal returning to the CHP will damage both Baykal and his party in the short run. “I think he will not run for party leadership in the general assembly of the CHP. But he may return to the CHP at an extraordinary general assembly that will be held later. Let’s see who will be the CHP’s new leader.

If a low-profile person is elected to party leadership, this will mean that Baykal still has an eye on that seat,” Ilıcak says. “Will Baykal move aside, or will he immediately return to party leadership after the general congress on May 22?” asks Milliyet’s Hasan Cemal, saying that the first clues he has dropped so far show that he will return to his seat without waiting too long. Discussing the possible consequences of Baykal not returning to CHP leadership, he says Baykal will in such a case have someone he wants elected as CHP leader. “I have no suspicions about this.

Going a step further, even if Baykal does not point to somebody as the new party leader or does not influence CHP delegates about whom to vote for, the CHP will still elect someone who has the same mentality as Baykal to the party’s leadership,” Cemal thinks. Baykal has two choices before him: He will either go home, ending his political career, or he will fight, says Vatan’s Okay Gönensin, who thinks it would be very unfortunate for him to end his 40-year-long political career over a videotape scandal. “If Baykal opts for the second option, he has to make sure that a second or third such video will not appear.

If there are other similar video clips, no matter how much we insist that it is about his private life and that making this public is wrong, Baykal will be crushed,” Gönensin says. Star’s Mustafa Karaalioğlu thinks Baykal’s possible return to the CHP will damage him significantly because he will always be remembered for that video. “This is a very heavy burden for him to bear, and it will not only hurt him but also politics.

No one should have any doubt that the CHP will be dealt the heaviest blow as a result of this,” he says. In his view, if Baykal returns, it will not be Baykal’s political rivals who will use the video scandal against him but the public. “And no politician can withstand that,” he adds.

F Disli Zibak reported for Todays Zaman