Deniz Baykal

Deniz Baykal
Baykal in 2015
Speaker of the Grand National Assembly
Interim
In office
17 November 2015 – 22 November 2015
PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded byİsmet Yılmaz
Succeeded byİsmail Kahraman
In office
23 June 2015 – 1 July 2015
PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Preceded byCemil Çiçek
Succeeded byİsmet Yılmaz
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
In office
31 October 1995 – 6 March 1996
Prime MinisterTansu Çiller
Preceded byNecmettin Cevheri
Succeeded byNahit Menteşe
Leader of the Opposition
In office
19 November 2002 – 22 May 2010
Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan
Abdullah Gül
Preceded byTansu Çiller
Succeeded byKemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
31 October 1995 – 6 March 1996
Prime MinisterTansu Çiller
Preceded byAli Coşkun Kırca
Succeeded byEmre Gönensay
Vice President of Socialist International
In office
31 October 2003 – 2 July 2008
PresidentAntónio Guterres
George Papandreou
CountryTurkey
Preceded byErdal İnönü
Succeeded byKemal Kılıçdaroğlu
4th Leader of the Republican People's Party
In office
30 September 2000 – 10 May 2010
Preceded byAltan Öymen
Succeeded byKemal Kılıçdaroğlu
In office
9 September 1995 – 23 May 1999
Preceded byHikmet Çetin
Succeeded byAltan Öymen
In office
9 September 1992 – 18 February 1995
Preceded byBülent Ecevit
Succeeded byHikmet Çetin
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources
In office
5 January 1978 – 12 November 1979
Prime MinisterBülent Ecevit
Preceded byKamran İnan
Succeeded byAhmet Esat Kıratlıoğlu
Minister of Finance
In office
26 January 1974 – 17 November 1974
Prime MinisterBülent Ecevit
Preceded bySadık Tekin Müftüoğlu
Succeeded byBedri Gürsoy
Member of the Grand National Assembly
In office
14 November 2002 – 11 February 2023
ConstituencyAntalya (2002, 2007, 2011, June 2015, Nov 2015, 2018)
In office
14 December 1987 – 18 April 1999
ConstituencyAntalya (1987, 1991, 1995)
In office
14 October 1973 – 12 September 1980
ConstituencyAntalya (1973, 1977)
Personal details
Born(1938-07-20)20 July 1938
Antalya, Turkey
Died11 February 2023(2023-02-11) (aged 84)
Ankara, Turkey
Resting placeTurkish State Cemetery
Political partyRepublican People's Party (1968–1980, 1992–2023)
Populist Party/Social Democracy Party (1983–1985)
Social Democratic Populist Party (1985–1992)
Spouse
Olcay Baykal
(m. 1963)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Ankara
University of California
Columbia University

Deniz Baykal (20 July 1938 – 11 February 2023) was a Turkish politician. A member of the Republican People's Party (CHP) who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 1996. Having served in numerous government positions, Baykal led the CHP from 1992 to February 1995, from September 1995 to 1999 and again from 2000 to 2010. Between 2002 and 2010, he also served as the Leader of the Opposition by virtue of leading the second largest party in the Parliament.

First elected to Parliament in 1973, Baykal went on to serve as Minister of Finance in the CHP-MSP coalition of 1974 and as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources in the third government of Bülent Ecevit from 1978 to 1979. With the CHP shut down during the 1980 Turkish coup d'état, Baykal was briefly imprisoned before being elected to Parliament once again in 1987 from the new Social Democratic People's Party (SHP).

Baykal was one of the leading members of the re-established CHP, which was founded again in 1992. He served as the party's leader until 1995, when the CHP and SHP merged during a convention. He was re-elected leader in September 1995, after which Baykal contested the 1995 general election and formed a coalition government with Tansu Çiller's True Path Party. He served concurrently as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs between 1995 and 1996. Leading the CHP into a landslide defeat in the 1999 general election, Baykal resigned after the party was entirely ejected from Parliament for failing to surpass the 10% election threshold. Regardless, he was re-elected as leader in 2000 and led the party to a moderate success in the 2002 general election, becoming the Leader of the Opposition.

As the oldest MP in Parliament following the June 2015 general election, Baykal briefly served as the interim Speaker of the Grand National Assembly. He was the CHP's candidate to become the permanent Parliamentary Speaker for the 25th Parliament of Turkey in the June–July 2015 speaker elections, but lost to Justice and Development Party candidate İsmet Yılmaz. Following a breakdown of coalition talks after the election, Baykal was offered a ministerial position in the subsequent interim election government formed by AKP leader Ahmet Davutoğlu, which he turned down in line with the party executive's decision.[1] He became interim parliamentary Speaker for a second time on 17 November 2015 by virtue of being the oldest MP after the November 2015 general election. He was succeeded by the AKP MP İsmail Kahraman, who was elected Speaker on 22 November 2015.

  1. ^ "Deniz Baykal bakanlık teklifine 'tarihi' yanıtı". 27 August 2015.