CHP Leader Baykal Resigned - Claim of Political Complot

Chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, resigned.

Apparently intimate footage of Baykal and a female CHP deputy was published on the internet last week and created a stir in domestic politics. In a press conference at the CHP headquarters, Baykal said on Monday (10 May), "This is not a matter of a tape. This is a conspiracy. I am not the only target of this complot; it is also aimed at the CHP".

Baykal pointed towards the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) when he said that this kind of conspiracy would not have been possible without the knowledge and the approval of the political power. Baykal said he supposed a complot for political reasons.

When Baykal had left after his announcement, party members shouted the slogan "Baykal out of spite, left out of spite". CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Gürsel Tekin, who could not hold back his tears during Baykal's speech, declared that a new chair will be elected on the party's general convention on 22/23 May. The CHP Central Executive Committee met in order to declare a substitute until a new chair will be elected.

Baykal finished his speech saying, "I give my blessings to everyone, you should do the same". He did not take any questions. (TK/VK)