Leftist party expels 1, warns 4 of its members
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Hurriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 15, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Turmoil in the DSP continues as the party’s disciplinary board expels Ahmet Tan and issues a warning to Emrehan Halıcı, Mücahit Pehlivan, Recai Birgün and Tayfun İçli for backing Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, in the race for the Istanbul mayor post
The central disciplinary board of the Democratic Left Party, or DSP, has expelled one member and warned four others who backed a candidate from another party in the local elections.
The DSP’s disciplinary board expelled Ahmet Tan late Monday and issued a warning to Emrehan Halıcı, Mücahit Pehlivan, Recai Birgün and Tayfun İçli for backing Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, in the race for Istanbul mayor.
Tan said he would seek justice in court. "What is strange is that the administration, which is the remnant of [former leader] Zeki Sezer’s term, has dismissed a deputy from the party on the same day that the country was shaken by another Ergenekon wave," Tan said, likening the disciplinary action to the government’s operation. Tan was the only one among the five DSP members who drew attention to the excessive expenditures in the party’s budget.
Tan, who had opposed the DSP’s pick for Istanbul mayor, Vekif Alp, sent a letter to Sezer asking him to either back the CHP’s Kılıçdaroğlu or run for the job himself. The other four members had supported Tan.
Later, Tan attended a CHP rally and lent his backing to Kılıçdaroğlu. After the local election, chaos erupted in the DSP when the party’s secretary-general, Süleyman Yağız, announced that these five members had been referred to the disciplinary board and that their dismissal had been requested.
Yağız said the referral was not only for supporting Kılıçdaroğlu, but also for campaigning to prevent people from voting for the party’s candidate, a situation that he said no party would tolerate.
Sezer stepped down as the party’s leader last weekend after the DSP’s poor showing in the local elections.
The five disciplined deputies are known for their loyalty to Bülent Ecevit, who founded the DSP with his wife, Rahşan Ecevit, after the 1980 military coup. Rahşan Ecevit stood behind the five and defined Sezer’s move as an attempt to remove "Ecevit supporters" from the party.
İçli puts his name forward to become party leader
Following Sezer’s resignation from his post over the weekend, İçli announced his candidacy for the leadership seat. The DSP is set to hold an extraordinary congress in the second half of May to elect its new party leader.
"Our supporters will do what is necessary during the congress. I will run as a candidate," İçli said. Whether Rahşan Ecevit will support İçli is not clear. Sources say she might nominate Halıcı for the post at the last minute.
Meanwhile, the party administration is considering Tayyibe Gülek, a former minister and current deputy leader of the party, for the president’s seat.
Gülek served as a cabinet minister during Bülent Ecevit’s term of office. She is the daughter of Adana deputy Kasım Gülek, who was the CHP’s secretary-general before the 1980 military coup.
The DSP’s disciplinary board expelled Ahmet Tan late Monday and issued a warning to Emrehan Halıcı, Mücahit Pehlivan, Recai Birgün and Tayfun İçli for backing Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, in the race for Istanbul mayor.
Tan said he would seek justice in court. "What is strange is that the administration, which is the remnant of [former leader] Zeki Sezer’s term, has dismissed a deputy from the party on the same day that the country was shaken by another Ergenekon wave," Tan said, likening the disciplinary action to the government’s operation. Tan was the only one among the five DSP members who drew attention to the excessive expenditures in the party’s budget.
Tan, who had opposed the DSP’s pick for Istanbul mayor, Vekif Alp, sent a letter to Sezer asking him to either back the CHP’s Kılıçdaroğlu or run for the job himself. The other four members had supported Tan.
Later, Tan attended a CHP rally and lent his backing to Kılıçdaroğlu. After the local election, chaos erupted in the DSP when the party’s secretary-general, Süleyman Yağız, announced that these five members had been referred to the disciplinary board and that their dismissal had been requested.
Yağız said the referral was not only for supporting Kılıçdaroğlu, but also for campaigning to prevent people from voting for the party’s candidate, a situation that he said no party would tolerate.
Sezer stepped down as the party’s leader last weekend after the DSP’s poor showing in the local elections.
The five disciplined deputies are known for their loyalty to Bülent Ecevit, who founded the DSP with his wife, Rahşan Ecevit, after the 1980 military coup. Rahşan Ecevit stood behind the five and defined Sezer’s move as an attempt to remove "Ecevit supporters" from the party.
İçli puts his name forward to become party leader
Following Sezer’s resignation from his post over the weekend, İçli announced his candidacy for the leadership seat. The DSP is set to hold an extraordinary congress in the second half of May to elect its new party leader.
"Our supporters will do what is necessary during the congress. I will run as a candidate," İçli said. Whether Rahşan Ecevit will support İçli is not clear. Sources say she might nominate Halıcı for the post at the last minute.
Meanwhile, the party administration is considering Tayyibe Gülek, a former minister and current deputy leader of the party, for the president’s seat.
Gülek served as a cabinet minister during Bülent Ecevit’s term of office. She is the daughter of Adana deputy Kasım Gülek, who was the CHP’s secretary-general before the 1980 military coup.