Turkish political veteran Deniz Baykal was re-elected Sunday as head of the main opposition People's Republican Party (CHP) after a stormy, and at times violent, congress which left several people injured. But his win was expected to exacerbate divisions within the party and further erode public support.
Baykal, 66, won with 674 votes over his younger rival Mustafa Sarigul, 48, who garnered 460 votes from the 1,219 CHP delegates who voted early Sunday.
The CHP chief represents the old guard of the party created in 1923 by the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, while his rival Sarigul, mayor of the wealthy Sisli district in Istanbul, is part of a new wave of reformers at the heart of the party.
The CHP took 19 percent of the vote in the last national elections in November 2002, won by the Justice and Development party with 34 percent (AKP), of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan's party, born out of the ashes of an Islamist party, now holds an absolute majority in parliament.
The opposition's defeat in 2004 municipal elections was even more crushing with the AKP winning 41.5 percent of the vote and the CHP only 18 percent, which lead to party grumblings about Baykal's leadership.
Sarigul, an ambitious politician who has irritated the party leadership by criss-crossing the country to garner support, was accused by Baykal of taking bribes but was later cleared by a party disciplinary committee.
Sarigul has become the main political hope for the millions of left-wing voters who want the CHP to act as a rampart against Islamist political forces in Turkey.
During the CHP party congress, held in a sports stadium in Ankara, party militants clashed with several people, with chairs being thrown into the air. Several people were injured including two journalists and anti-riot police were called.
Television news crews were at hand filming the unprecedented violence which even saw Sarigul hit a political opponent.
The press was highly critical of the events at the congress which it deemed "were unworthy of the CHP". The newspaper Hurriyet, ran a headline "Civil War at Party Congress", saying Baykal had won a "pyrrhic victory" as it would worsen party divisions and lose public support.
Party supporters are also questioning the future of the party when the AKP is gaining in popularity with good performances on the economy and European integration.
"It's sad for the future of Turkey, there is now almost no opposition to the politics of the AKP, it's dangerous," said Sina Taskin, a retired teacher.
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