US embassy cable - 05ISTANBUL1420

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, Istanbul, 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