Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu,  born 17 December 1948) is a Turkish social democrat politician. He is currently leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and Leader of the Main Opposition in Turkey. He has been the Member of Parliament for İstanbul since 2002.

He was nominated by the CHP as candidate for Mayor of Istanbul in the 2009 local elections, in which he gained 36.8% of all votes. He is considered likely to breathe new life into the CHP.

Politics

He retired in 1999 and tried to enter politics from within Bülent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP). He did not succeed in this venture, though, as he could not get on the party's candidates' list. During his chairmanship of an association that aimed to protect citizens' tax payments, he was invited by the leader of the CHP, Deniz Baykal, to join his party. He accepted the invitation.

Following the 2002 general election, he entered the parliament as a deputy from Istanbul. In the 2007 general election, he was re-elected to parliament. He became deputy speaker of his party's parliamentary group.

Kılıçdaroğlu's efforts to uncover malpractice among high-ranking Justice and Development Party (AKP) politicians carried him to headlines in the Turkish media. Two deputy chairmen of the ruling AKP, Şaban Dişli and Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, resigned from their respective positions in the party following television debates with Kılıçdaroğlu. Furthermore, he publicly accused the AKP-affiliated Mayor of Ankara, Melih Gökçek, of complicity in a corruption scandal relating to the "Deniz Feneri" ("Lighthouse") charity based in Germany.

Election to CHP leadership

Long-time leader of the CHP, Deniz Baykal, resigned on May 10, 2010 following a video tape scandal. Kılıçdaroğlu announced his candidacy for the position on May 17, five days before an upcoming party convention. According to reports, the party was divided over the leadership issue, with its Central Executive Board insisting that Baykal retake the position. But after Kılıçdaroğlu received the support of 77 of his party's 81 provincial chairpersons, Baykal decided not to run for re-election.

For a candidacy to become official, CHP by-laws require the support of 20% of convention delegates. At the party convention, which started on May 22, 2010, Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy received the signatures of 1,246 out of the 1,250 delegates, which set a new record for the CHP.

In view of this overwhelming support, the presidium of the party convention decided to move the election, initially scheduled for Sunday, forward to Saturday. As now expected, Kılıçdaroğlu was elected as party chairman. The election was unanimous, with 1,189 votes (not counting eight votes that were found to be invalid).

Family life

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu married Selvi (unofficially Sevim) in 1974. The couple has a son, Kerem, two daughters, Aslı and Zeynep, and a granddaughter from Aslı's marriage. The Economist said that he is an Alevi, however Kılıçdaroğlu hasn't made a statement about his religious belief.

Early life

He was born on December 17, 1948 in Ballıca village of Nazimiye district in Tunceli Province, eastern Turkey to Kamer, a clerk-recorder of deeds and his wife Yemuş. He was the fourth of seven children. His father was among thousands of exiled Alevis following the failed Dersim Rebellion.

The family belonged to the Cebeligiller clan of the Kureyşan tribe. There are some claims about his ethnicity; some sources mention that he has Kurdish, Zaza origin, but he said his roots have come from Turkmen. His father changed their family name in the 1950s from originally Karabulut to Kılıçdaroğlu since all the people in the village they lived in had the same family name.

Kemal continued his primary and secondary education in various places like Erciş, Tunceli, Genç and Elazığ. He finished the high school as the school's best. He was educated in economics at the Ankara Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences (now Gazi University), from which he graduated in 1971. During his youth days, he earned his living by selling goods.

Professional career

After university, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu entered the Ministry of Finance as a junior account specialist in 1971. He was later promoted to accountant and was sent to France for additional professional training. In 1983, he was appointed deputy director general of the Revenues Department in the same ministry. At that time he worked closely with Prime Minister Turgut Özal. In 1991, Kılıçdaroğlu became director-general of the Social Security Organization for Artisans and Self-Employed (Bağ-Kur). The following year he was appointed director-general of the Social Security Organization (SSK).

In 1994, Kılıçdaroğlu was named "Civil Servant of the Year" by the weekly periodical Ekonomik Trend.


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• Elections in Turkey ,Turkish ruling party elections:Aim 3