Who is the "Bureaucrat of the Year", the man who claims to overthrow Erdogan

2023-03-08 17:42:58Fokus SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Kemal Kilicdaroglu

Anti-corruption bureaucrat Kemal Kilicdaroglu is hoping to win the election against Erdogan, which will take place in about two months.

The opposition has long been looking for a common candidate to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the upcoming elections. She seems to have finally found it: Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu will run against Erdogan in the May 14 election. But who is the man claiming to topple Erdogan – the man who has been in power for over 20 years?

"Bureaucrat of the Year"

Kemal Kilicdaroglu was born the child of a civil servant in 1948 in a village in the eastern Anatolian region of Tunceli. He comes from an Alevi family. Alevis are an ethnic-religious minority in Turkey. He is the fourth of seven children and the only one in the family who has studied.

Who is the "Bureaucrat of the Year", the man who claims to overthrow
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, comes from an Alevi family

He graduated in economics and finance in Ankara, while he started his career in 1971 as an advisor in the Ministry of Finance of Turkey. He gradually rose in the Turkish administration and in 1992 became director of the Social Security Agency (SSK). In 1994, he was declared "Bureaucrat of the Year" by a financial magazine. He retired in 1999.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu has always been noted for honesty and trustworthiness – qualities not taken for granted in politics, especially in Turkey. As a bureaucrat, he fought corruption. Thanks to his many years of work in the insurance industry, he is said to have acquired the ability to find a needle in a haystack: "In a room full of government files, Kilicdaroglu can find all the irregularities and corruption at once," says one member. of the CHP to DW and adds: "Staying honest about it is not just a virtue, it's a necessary duty."

Political career

Kilicdaroglu made a name for himself in public as an anti-corruption bureaucrat. His political career began when he prepared a corruption report at the request of the Kemalist social democratic party CHP. The report was well received by then-party leader Deniz Baykal and prompted Kilicdaroglu's entry into politics. His first entry into the Turkish parliament came after the 2002 election, in which current President Erdogan came to power.

In 2007 he became the deputy chairman of the CHP group. His media exposure increased significantly when he published some evidence of corruption in the country. The war of words with several MPs from the ranks of Erdogan's conservative Islamic AKP party also contributed to his fame. In 2009, he ran for mayor of Istanbul and lost to the AKP candidate.

Party chairman thanks to a sex affair

When a sex scandal ousted CHP head Deniz Baykal from office in 2010, Kilicdaroglu ran for party leadership. At the party congress he received all 1189 valid votes. Although the vast majority of CHP supporters supported his candidacy at the time, his popularity has waned since then. Today, the party base is more divided when it comes to Kilicdaroglu.

He gained international fame when he walked from Ankara to Istanbul in 2017. He and his supporters traveled about 420 kilometers as part of the "Justice March" protest, which wanted to draw attention to the growing repression by the AKP government. . The reason for the 25-day march was the prison sentence of CHP politician and journalist Enis Berberoglu.

Who is the "Bureaucrat of the Year", the man who claims to overthrow
Kemal Kilicdaroglu speaking at an opposition rally

"I never get angry"

Kilicdaroglu, who could become the 13th president of the Turkish Republic, is also known for his calmness. His public nicknames are "Gandhi-Kemal" due to his resemblance in appearance and style to Mahatma Gandhi or "Quiet Force" and "Democratic Uncle".

He once said in an interview that he "never gets angry". His wife confirmed this with the following words: “He is nice and very calm. A little too quiet. Kemal never raises his voice, he never shouts. You can't even argue with this man. The fact that it is so quiet sometimes really drives me crazy," says Selvi Kilicdaroglu.

CHP deputy and vice president Bülent Kusoglu has known Kilicdaroglu for years. "Working with him looks easy - but it's quite difficult. He is extremely patient, determined, detail-oriented and hardworking," Kusoglu told DW.

He is considered the most physically attacked politician, against whom the most assassination attempts have been made, in the political history of Turkey. This includes the attempted lynching in 2019 in Ankara. In an interview with DW, a CHP politician explains how Kilicdaroglu appeared after the attack: "We waited in front of his door. He went out. He had a black face, but he didn't look unhappy at all. He invited us to his office and ordered tea for us. He said there was nothing to exaggerate. We were more emotional and angry than he was. But he was very calm. If only we survived the lynching and not him."

Kilicdaroglu has so far survived several assassinations – an armed attack by the Kurdish PKK militia, an attack on the parliament and an attempted bomb attack by IS (Islamic State) during his march for justice.

The best candidate?

Despite his positive image, Kilicdaroglu has been publicly criticized for years for not being charismatic enough to present a palpable alternative to the anti-Erdogan electorate.

His candidacy has caused divisions in the opposition coalition, which consists of six opposition parties. The CHP and five other opposition parties have been working together for more than a year to boost their chances of winning against Erdogan. These parties have met several times in the so-called "table of six".

Who is the "Bureaucrat of the Year", the man who claims to overthrow
Opposition parties in unity for the overthrow of Erdogan

However, the "table of six" has become a "table of five": The second largest party at the table, the nationalist-oriented LYI party, threatened to leave the table after it became clear that Kilicdaroglu would be the candidate of the opposition. The head of LYI, Meral Aksener, has been campaigning against Kilicdaroglu's candidacy for months, explaining that he "cannot win against Erdogan". Aksener thinks that Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and his counterpart from Ankara, Mansur Yavas, are stronger candidates. In fact, Kilicdaroglu has never won an election.

After much behind-the-scenes negotiations, the crisis in the opposition seems to have calmed down for the time being: Aksener is back at the table of the opposition parties and now supports Kilicdaroglu's candidacy. Consensus: Imamoglu and Yavas should be appointed "vice presidents" in the future. Both of them have won the mayoral elections in Turkey's two biggest cities in 2019. They enjoy strong support in society. The opposition's plan is to strengthen Kilicdaroglu's candidacy. The five leaders of other parties will also be appointed "deputy leaders". According to the Turkish constitution, the president can appoint an unlimited number of deputies. After a few weeks in the elections, it will be seen if this kind of fragile unity is enough for victory against Erdogan.

Authors: Ünveren, Burak / Solaker, Gülsen/DW

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