{"id":285969,"date":"2026-05-17T06:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/?p=285969"},"modified":"2026-05-17T06:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:19:00","slug":"when-13-elections-were-lost-who-was-leading-the-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/when-13-elections-were-lost-who-was-leading-the-party\/","title":{"rendered":"When 13 Elections Were Lost, Who Was Leading the Party?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu is a person who carried a heavy burden during the most difficult periods of this party.<\/p>\n<p>He tried to soften the CHP's structure, which for years was seen as hard, statist and distant to some segments of society. He made contact with conservative voters, developed a calmer language with Kurdish voters, and brought different political traditions together around the same table.<\/p>\n<p>Despite all the criticism, the Table of Six was an important break in Turkish politics.<\/p>\n<p>The March for Justice affected not only CHP supporters but also people of different views. After a long time, people realized that the opposition does not only speak out, but is also willing to pay the price.<\/p>\n<p>The groundwork for winning Istanbul and Ankara was largely laid during his period.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, none of these elections were held on equal terms. Media power, state resources and a highly polarized environment were already narrowing the opposition's space.<\/p>\n<p>But all this does not change another fact.<\/p>\n<p>It would be both unfair and easy to blame every problem in the CHP on the shoulders of Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu alone.<\/p>\n<p>Because in politics no leader acts alone.<\/p>\n<p>There were those who prepared candidate strategies, managed the organizational structure, set up election campaigns, and shaped delegation relations.<\/p>\n<p>\u00d6zg\u00fcr \u00d6zel, Veli A\u011fbaba, O\u011fuz Kaan Sal\u0131c\u0131, Engin \u00d6zko\u00e7, Faik \u00d6ztrak, Seyit Torun, Tekin Bing\u00f6l, Mahir Polat and many others have been influential in the party's decision-making mechanisms for years.<\/p>\n<p>Today, it does not seem sincere to leave all the burden on Mr. Kemal alone and to portray the administrators of those times as if they had no responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>Because if success is shared, so is responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c13 elections were lost,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n<p>And who made the campaign decisions during those elections?<br \/>\nWho managed the organizational structure?<br \/>\nWho prepared the reports that misread the pulse of society?<\/p>\n<p>People have not forgotten that some of the names who make the harshest criticisms today were sitting in the most influential seats at the time.<\/p>\n<p>This is partly at the root of the crisis of confidence.<\/p>\n<p>Because voters now question not only the leaders but also the cadres around them.<\/p>\n<p>People are looking at who fought, who defended their space alone.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps one of Mr. Kemal's biggest shortcomings was that he trusted some people around him too much.<\/p>\n<p>He was not a spender.<br \/>\nHe valued loyalty.<\/p>\n<p>But in politics, sometimes too much patience can empower the wrong people.<\/p>\n<p>Over time, some cadres turned into structures that grew their own influence rather than growing the party.<\/p>\n<p>While the economy is the talk of the street, the party is caught in its own internal balances.<br \/>\nWhile young people were worried about the future, some executives were still calculating the congress.<\/p>\n<p>The corruption allegations, discussions about money ties, shady footage and mayors switching parties are creating a serious erosion of public trust in the CHP.<\/p>\n<p>Because people don't only look at what you say.<br \/>\nIt also looks at what you become when you take power.<\/p>\n<p>It disturbs people that a party that has been defended for years on the grounds of merit, morality, transparency and clean politics is now surrounded by so much controversy.<\/p>\n<p>And there is a heavier question on people's minds today.<\/p>\n<p>Were the mistakes made during the presidential election process really just misanalysis, miscommunication and political incompetence?<\/p>\n<p>Or were some personal calculations, seat struggles, factional wars and future plans so effective that they overruled the will to win the election?<\/p>\n<p>Even more disturbing is this;<br \/>\nWas the post-election balance of power more important for some names than the outcome of the election?<\/p>\n<p>Because people are now looking not only at what was lost, but also at who took what position in that process.<br \/>\nMr. Kemal's statement \u201cI entered the elections with daggers in my back\u201d should be read well.<\/p>\n<p>Asking these questions is not treason.<br \/>\nIt is an accounting of people who love their party.<\/p>\n<p>Because a party does not shrink by losing elections.<\/p>\n<p>It shrinks when it distances itself from the values it defends.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The roots of today's drift were laid yesterday.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":285970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[286],"tags":[289],"class_list":["post-285969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-yazarlar","tag-manset"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285969"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285971,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285969\/revisions\/285971"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/halkweb.com.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}