13th Republican People's Party Extraordinary Convention 13th Republican People's Party Extraordinary Convention The 13th Extraordinary Convention of the Republican People's Party (Turkish: "13. Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi Olağanüstü Kurultayı)" was held on 29 and 30 January 2005 in order to elect a leader for the Republican People's Party (CHP), a Turkish centre-left political party. Incumbent leader Deniz Baykal was challenged by the Mayor of Şişli, Mustafa Sarıgül for the leadership. The convention was marred by violence between supporters of the two rivals, who had accused each other of corruption and elitism during their speeches. The final result was a victory for Baykal, who won 59.4% of the
Republic Protests parliament does not decide based on crowd gatherings. A Reuters article that appeared in the French newspaper Le Monde stated that if Erdoğan became president, Turkey would face its greatest political crisis since the creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, noting the intricate connections between the secular elites and the army, and that the Chief of the Turkish Armed Forces had warned people of the danger threatening Turkish secularism. The article also reported that the Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi (Republican People's Party), the main opposition party, have declared their intention to leave the parliament and ask the Constitutional Court to