Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (born Kemal Karabulut, 17 December 1948) is a Turkish economist, retired civil servant and
social democratic politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
. He is leader of the
Republican People's Party (CHP) and has been
Leader of the Main Opposition in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
since 2010. He served as a
Member of Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
for
İstanbul's second electoral district from 2002 to 2015 and as an MP for
İzmir's second electoral district as of 7 June 2015.
Before entering politics, Kılıçdaroğlu was a civil servant and served as the President of the Social Insurance Institution (SSK) from 1992 to 1996 and again from 1997 to 1999. He was elected to Parliament in the
2002 general election and became the CHP's
parliamentary group leader
A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are their ...
. In the
2009 local elections, he was nominated as the CHP candidate for the
Mayor of İstanbul and lost to the AKP ("
Justice and Development Party") with 37% of the vote, where the candidate from the AKP got 44.71% of the votes. He was elected deputy chairman of the
Socialist International
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations ...
on 31 August 2012.
After
Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...
resigned as the party's leader in 2010, Kılıçdaroğlu announced his candidacy and was
unanimously elected as the leader of the CHP. He was seen as likely to breathe new life into the CHP. Although the CHP saw a subsequent increase in its share of the vote, it was unable to unseat the ruling AKP as of 2021.
Early life
Kemal Karabulut was born on 17 December 1948 in the Ballıca village of
Nazımiye
Nazımiye (, or briefly ''Qisle''; ku, Qisle, italic=yes) is a municipality (''belde'') and seat of the Nazımiye District of Tunceli Province in Turkey. It had a population of 1,262 in 2021.
It is populated by Kurds of the Arel tribe. The mai ...
district in
Tunceli Province
Tunceli Province ( tr, Tunceli ili, ku, Parêzgeha Dêrsimê, Zazaki: ), formerly Dersim Province, is located in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. The least densely-populated province in Turkey, it was originally named ''Dersim Province' ...
,
eastern Turkey
The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ.
It is bordered by the Black Se ...
to Kamer, a clerk-
recorder of deeds
Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...
and his wife Yemuş. He was the fourth of seven children.
His father was among thousands of exiled
Alevi
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
s following the failed
Dersim Rebellion.
Kemal continued his primary and secondary education in various places like
Erciş
Erciş (; ku, Erdiş; hy, Ականց, Akants, historically , ''Arjesh'') is a town and district located in the Van Province, Turkey on Lake Van.
History of Artchesh
During Classical Antiquity, the town was known as Arsissa, and Archesh (Arč ...
,
Tunceli
Tunceli ( ku, Dêrsim) is a city and municipality in eastern Turkey. It is the capital of Tunceli Province, located in the middle of the Eastern Anatolia Region. The city has a Kurdish-majority population and was a site of the Dersim rebellion. ...
,
Genç, and
Elazığ
Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. It is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of . ...
. He was educated in economics at the Ankara Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences (now
Gazi University
Gazi University ( tr, Gazi Üniversitesi) is a public university primarily located in Ankara, Turkey.
It was established in 1926 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk as Gazi Teacher Training Institute. In 1982, it was reorganized by merging with the Bolu ...
), 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
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
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
Halil Turgut Özal (; 13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, who served as the 8th President of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey from 1983 to 1989 as the leader of the Mothe ...
. 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 Insurance Institution (Turkish: Sosyal Sigortalar Kurumu, abbreviated SSK).
In 1994, Kılıçdaroğlu was named "Civil Servant of the Year" by the weekly periodical ''Ekonomik Trend''.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu retired from the Social Insurance Institution in January 1999. Kılıçdaroğlu taught at
Hacettepe University
Hacettepe University is a leading state university in Ankara, Turkey. It was established on 8 July 1967. It is ranked first among the Turkish universities by URAP in 2021.
The university has two main campuses. The first campus is in the old t ...
and chaired the Specialized Commission on the Informal Economy within the framework of the preparation of the Eighth Five-Year Development Plan. He also acted as a member of the Executive Board of
İş Bank.
Early political career
Member of Parliament
![Kilicdarogluinankara](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Kilicdarogluinankara.jpg)
He retired from bureaucracy in 1999 and tried to enter politics from within
Bülent Ecevit's
Democratic Left Party (DSP). Kılıçdaroğlu was often referred to as the "star of the DSP".
It was claimed that he would be a DSP candidate in the upcoming
1999 general election (in which the DSP came first). However, he did not succeed in this venture as he could not get on the party's candidates' list. Instead, during his chairmanship of an association that aimed to protect citizens' tax payments, he was invited by the leader of the CHP
Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...
to join his party. Kılıçdaroğlu accepted the invitation.
Following the
2002 general election, he entered the
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
as a deputy from
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
. 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
Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat (8 August 1943 – 11 July 2019) was a Turkish politician of Kurdish origin who was one of the founders of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2001. He served as a Member of Parliament for the Grand National Asse ...
, 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
İbrahim Melih Gökçek (; born 20 October 1948) is a Turkish politician who served as the Mayor of Ankara from 1994 to 2017. From 1991 to 1994, he was an MP. Gökçek has won municipal elections in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, and was controversial ...
, of complicity in a
corruption scandal relating to the "Deniz Feneri" charity based in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
2009 İstanbul mayoral candidate
Kılıçdaroğlu was announced as the CHP's mayoral candidate for the
2009 local elections by the party leader
Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...
on 22 January 2009. Kılıçdaroğlu announced that he would run his campaign based on clean politics, vowing to open cases of corruption against the serving incumbent, AKP mayor
Kadir Topbaş
Kadir Topbaş (8 January 1945 – 13 February 2021) was a Turkish architect, businessperson and politician who served as Mayor of Istanbul from 2004 to 2017.
Biography
He was born on 8 January 1945 in Altıparmak village of Yusufeli district ...
. Claiming that he would work for the workers of İstanbul, he also challenged Topbaş to a televised live debate.
Kılıçdaroğlu lost the election with 37% of the votes against Topbaş's 44.7%.
Election to the CHP leadership
Long-time leader of the CHP,
Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...
, resigned on 10 May 2010 following a video tape scandal. Kılıçdaroğlu announced his candidacy for the position on 17 May, 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 22 May 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).
Leader of the Opposition
Kılıçdaroğlu took office as the
Leader of the Main Opposition on 22 May 2010 by virtue of leading the second largest political party in the
Grand National Assembly Great National Assembly or Grand National Assembly may refer to:
* Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia, an assembly of Romanian delegates that declared the unification of Transylvania and Romania
* Great National Assembly (Socialist Republic of R ...
. Many media commentators and speculators predicted that Kılıçdaroğlu would breathe new life into the CHP after consecutive election defeats under Baykal's leadership.
2010 constitutional referendum
Kılıçdaroğlu's first campaign as the CHP leader was the constitutional referendum held on 12 September 2010. Although the initial voting process in Parliament (that would determine the proposals that were voted on in the subsequent referendum) had begun under Baykal's leadership, Kılıçdaroğlu employed a tactic of boycotting the parliamentary process. Since a constitutional reform proposal required 330 votes to be sent to a referendum (the governing AKP, which had submitted the proposals, held 336 seats), the parliamentary approval of all of the government's constitutional reforms was mathematically possible regardless of how the CHP voted. Thus, the AKP's proposed constitutional reforms, which included changes to the
Turkish Judiciary, were sent for approval in a referendum on 12 September 2010.
Kılıçdaroğlu not only campaigned for a 'no' vote against the proposals, but also sent the Parliamentary voting process to court over alleged technical irregularities. The CHP subsequently sent the proposals to court over alleged violations of the separation of powers in the proposed changes. the
Constitutional Court
A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
eventually ruled against the CHP. Kılıçdaroğlu, along with members of minor opposition parties, argued that the proposed changes are an attempt to politicise the judiciary and further increase the control of the AKP over neutral state institutions. The referendum proposals were nonetheless accepted by 57.9% of voters, with 42.1% voting against.
2011 general election
![Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, VOA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Kemal_K%C4%B1l%C4%B1%C3%A7daro%C4%9Flu%2C_VOA.jpg)
The 2011 general election was the first general election in which Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu participated as the leader of
Republican People's Party (CHP). The former CHP leader
Deniz Baykal
Deniz Baykal (born 20 July 1938) is a Turkish politician at the Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, abbreviated CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in ...
resigned from his post in May 2010 and left the CHP with 26% of the votes, according to opinion polls. Kılıçdaroğlu announced that he would resign from his post if he was not successful in the 2011 elections. He did not provide details as to what his criteria for success were. Over 3,500 people applied to run for the main opposition party in the June elections. Male candidates paid 3,000 Turkish Liras to submit an application; female candidates paid 2,000 while those with disabilities paid 500 liras. Among the candidates were former CHP leader Deniz Baykal and arrested
Ergenekon
Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples. suspects such as
Mustafa Balbay
Mustafa Ali Balbay (born August 8, 1960 in Burdur) is a journalist, writer and Turkish MP. As the main political correspondent in Ankara for the left-wing Kemalist daily newspaper ''Cumhuriyet'', he wrote a regular column called ''Gözlem'' whi ...
and
Mehmet Haberal
Mehmet Haberal (born 1944), is the founder of Başkent University in Ankara, Turkey, best known for becoming the first transplant surgeon in Turkey after leading the team that performed Turkey's first living-related kidney transplant in 1975, a ...
.
The party held
primary elections
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...
in 29 provinces. Making a clean break with the past, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu left his mark on the Republican People's Party's 435-candidate list, leaving off 78 current deputies as he sought to redefine and reposition the main opposition. The CHP's candidate list also included 11 politicians who were formerly part of center-right parties, such as the
Motherland Party, the
True Path Party
The True Path Party ( tr, Doğru Yol Partisi, DYP) was a centre-right political party in Turkey, active from 1983 to 2007. For most of its history, the party's central figure was Süleyman Demirel, a former Prime Minister of Turkey who previously ...
and the
Turkey Party
Turkey Party (''Türkiye Partisi'', TP) was a conservative liberal party in Turkey, which was founded on 25 May 2009 by Abdüllatif Şener in Çankaya, Ankara. It had one seat in Turkish Grand National Assembly
The Grand National Assembly of ...
. Center-right voters gravitated toward the AKP when these other parties virtually collapsed after the 2002 elections. Key party figures that did not make it on to the list, criticised the CHP for making "a shift in axis."
June 2015 general election
![CHP 2015 manifesto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/CHP_2015_manifesto.jpg)
The June 2015 general election was the second general election which Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu participated as the leader of CHP. The party won 11.5 million votes (24.95%) and finished with 132 elected
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, a decrease of 3 since the
2011 general election. The decrease of 1.03% compared to their 2011 result (25.98%) was attributed to CHP voters voting tactically for the
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to ensure that they surpassed the 10%
election threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
. No opinion poll (apart from one dubious poll released in March 2014) showed the CHP ahead of the AKP between 2011 and 2015.
2016 lawsuit
In January 2016, he was prosecuted for
insulting President Erdoğan against Kılıçdaroğlu making statements that implied the President is a dictator after Kılıçdaroğlu spoke out against the arrest of over 20
Academics for Peace
The Academics for Peace (, BAK) refers to an association of academics who support a peaceful solution to the Kurdish Turkish conflict. They were established in November 2012 and their first public appearance was in support of hunger strikers in T ...
who signed a petition condemning a military crackdown in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.
[ What Kılıçdaroğlu said was: "Academics who express their opinions have been detained one by one on instructions given by a so-called dictator"][ An Ankara protester also opened an investigation into whether Kılıçdaroğlu's were "openly insulting" to the President.]
Constitutional referendum
After the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum, which significantly expanded President Erdoğan's powers, Kılıçdaroğlu and CHP filed a court appeal against a decision by Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) to accept unstampted ballots. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said that the YSK decision may be appealed to the ECHR, but members of the AKP government have said that neither ECHR nor Turkey's Constitutional Court have any jurisdiction over the YSK decision. Kılıçdaroğlu said: "In 2014 he Constitutional Courtsaid ‘Elections are canceled if there is no seal on ballot papers or envelopes.’ ... he YSK can't express an opinion above the will of the parliament, ... f the Constitutional Court rejects our application, we will regard the changes as illegitimate. There is also the ECHR. If necessary, we will take the case there.”
ECHR
Kılıçdaroğlu criticized the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...
for rejecting a petition from a Turkish teacher who applied to the ECHR claiming that he was wrongly dismissed from his position during the 2016-17 Turkish purges. The ECHR said that plaintiffs should apply to Turkey's State of Emergency Investigation Commission before applying to the Court. Kılıçdaroğlu replied: "Don’t you know what is going on in Turkey? Which commission are you talking about? People are dying in prisons. We waited five months to just appoint members."
Policy on Syrians and Other
Kılıçdaroğlu has flashed the sign of the Grey Wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
, a Turkish ultranationalist organization with connections to the country's MHP (Nationalist Movement Party
The Nationalist Movement Party (alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party; tr, Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, MHP) is a Turkish far-right and ultranationalist political party. The group is often described as neo-fascist, and has bee ...
). It has been suggested that this is to compete with right-wing coalitions between the MHP and the AKP ( Justice and Development Party). Kılıçdaroğlu has explicitly supported the deportation of Syrian refugees from Turkey, citing economic strain on citizens and the alleged desire of humans to live in their region of birth.
March for Justice
On 15 June 2017, Kılıçdaroğlu started the 450 km March for Justice from Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
to Istanbul in protest of the arrest of Enis Berberoğlu
Kadri Enis Berberoğlu (born 1 April 1956) is a Turkish politician and journalist from the Republican People's Party (CHP), who has served as the Member of Parliament for Istanbul's second electoral district since 2015. Since the 18th CHP Ext ...
following the 2016 coup d'état attempt. Initially only joined by a few hundred protesters, the march grew to the thousands. On 9 July 2017, a final rally was held in Istanbul with hundreds of thousands of people.
2018 Elections
In the 2018 elections, Kılıçdaroğlu as leader of the CHP and İyi Parti leader Meral Akşener
Meral Akşener (née Gürer, ; born 18 July 1956) is a Turkish politician, teacher, historian and academic. She served as Minister of the Interior and was a vice-speaker of the Grand National Assembly. She also founded and is leader of the Good ...
established Nation Alliance Nation Alliance may refer to:
* Nation Alliance (Egypt), Egyptian electoral alliance
* Nation Alliance Party, former Canadian political party
* Nation Alliance (Turkey)
The Nation Alliance ( tr, Millet İttifakı), or simply Nation ( tr, M ...
(Millet İtifakı) as an electoral alliance in response to the AKP and MHP's People's Alliance (Cumhur İtifakı). Nation Alliance was soon joined by the Felicity Party
The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey.
It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the ...
and Democrat Parties.
2019 Municipal Election
In 2019, Kılıçdaroğlu and Akşener continued their parties' cooperation in the 2019 municipal election, capturing the mayoralties of Istanbul and Ankara from the AKP after a quarter of a century of control by Islamist parties.
2023 Presidential Election
Kılıçdaroğlu, who has followed a big tent policy for a long time, announced on his social media account and CHP social media accounts on 13 November 2021 that the CHP has made mistakes in the past and has decided to embark on a journey of reconciliation with his "Call for Reconciliation".
Upon Kılıçdaroğlu's call, on 12 February 2022, 6 opposition party leaders (Good Party
The Good Party ( Turkish: ''İyi Parti'') is a nationalist, national conservative, Kemalist, and liberal democrat political party in Turkey, established on 25 October 2017 by its current leader Meral Akşener. Their fraternal party is the liber ...
Chairman Meral Akşener
Meral Akşener (née Gürer, ; born 18 July 1956) is a Turkish politician, teacher, historian and academic. She served as Minister of the Interior and was a vice-speaker of the Grand National Assembly. She also founded and is leader of the Good ...
, Future Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu
Ahmet Davutoğlu (; born 26 February 1959) is a Turkish academic, politician and former diplomat who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Turkey and Leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) from 2014 to 2016. He previously served as ...
, DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan, Felicity Party
The Felicity Party ( tr, Saadet Partisi, SP) is an Islamist Turkish political party. It was founded in 2001, and mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey.
It was founded on 20 July 2001 after the Virtue Party (FP) was banned by the ...
Chairman Temel Karamollaoğlu
Temel Karamollaoğlu (born 20 September 1941) is a Turkish engineer and politician who is currently the leader of the Felicity Party (SP) since 2016. A prominent Islamist, Karamollaoğlu was the Mayor of Sivas from 1989 to 1995 and served twice ...
) met in Ahlatlıbel, Ankara to discuss a consensus text on a strengthened parliamentary system and an electoral alliance was officially announced, the alliance was called the "Six Table".
When the issue of a joint candidate was raised by the Table of Six, Kılıçdaroğlu pointed to the table of Six on FOX TV's morning show "Çalar Saat" on 5 September 2022 and said, "If there is a consensus on me, I am ready to run for the presidential elections." This was the first time Kılıçdaroğlu openly expressed his will to run for the presidential elections.
Later, Kılıçdaroğlu organised a meeting called "Call for the Second Century" and announced his "vision document". In addition, some of his 70-member team of experts, whom he called his "supra-political brain trust", some including Jeremy Rifkin
Jeremy Rifkin (born January 26, 1945) is an American economic and social theorist, writer, public speaker, political advisor, and activist. Rifkin is the author of 23 books about the impact of scientific and technological changes on the economy, ...
, Hakan Kara, Refet Gürkaynak and Daron Acemoglu, were introduced to the meeting.
Personal life
According to İdris Gürsoy, his family belonged to the Cebeligiller clan of the Kureyşan tribe, but Kılıçdaroğlu avoided mentioning any specific ethnicity. During the 1950s, his father changed their family name from Karabulut to Kılıçdaroğlu, since all the people in the village they lived in had the same family name. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu married his relative, Selvi Gündüz in 1974. Selvi is a former journalist who did not speak any other language than Zaza until the age of 4. Kılıçdaroğlu's aunt also speaks Zaza and doesn't speak Turkish. In response to a question asked to him in 2022, Kılıçdaroğlu said that he did not speak Zaza because he did not know it, but understands Zaza, and that his mom and dad was also known Zaza. He also said, "There is a difference between the language spoken in Tunceli and the language spoken in the Palu Genç region", adding that he better understood the Zaza spoken in the Bingöl
Bingöl ( diq, Çolig; ku, Çewlik; hy, Ճապաղջուր, translit=Chapaghjur) is a city in Eastern Turkey and the capital of Bingöl Province.
Etymology
One of the historical names for the city, ''Bingöl'' literally means ''thousand lake ...
region. The couple has a son, Kerem, two daughters, Aslı and Zeynep, and a granddaughter from Aslı's marriage. Some journals denoted his Alevi
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, w ...
identity, however Kılıçdaroğlu did not make a statement about his religious beliefs for a long time. In July 2011, he said "I always refused to do politics upon ethnic identities and religion. I am an Alevi. Since when is it a crime to be Alevi in this country?".
He speaks Turkish and French. In addition, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has four published books and many articles.
Electoral history
Parliamentary
Local
See also
* Muharrem İnce
Muharrem İnce (born 4 May 1964) is a Turkish physics teacher, school principal, sport executive, and politician. He founded and is leader of the Homeland Party since May 2021. Formerly a four term Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet ...
* Canan Kaftancıoğlu
Canan Kaftancıoğlu (born 3 February 1972) is a Turkish physician and politician. She is the president of the Republican People's Party's (CHP) in Istanbul. In September 2019, she was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months imprisonment for insulting ...
References
Notes
External links
*
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's biography at TBMM's website
*
*
(Gastbeitrag, www.nytimes.com 7 July 2017)
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilicdaroglu, Kemal
1948 births
Deputies of Istanbul
Gazi University alumni
Leaders of political parties in Turkey
Leaders of the Opposition (Turkey)
Leaders of the Republican People's Party (Turkey)
Living people
Members of the 22nd Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 23rd Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey
Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey
People from Nazımiye
Turkish Alevis
Turkish civil servants
Turkish economists
Turkish twins
Contemporary Republican People's Party (Turkey) politicians
Members of the 26th Parliament of Turkey