Necdet Calp

Necdet Calp (September 7, 1922, Karamürsel, Kocaeli Province – September 13, 1998, Ankara) was a Turkish civil servant and politician.

Early life

He was born in Karamürsel of Kocaeli Province, Turkey on 7 September 1922. He graduated from the Faculty of Political Science of Ankara University in 1944. He also studied in London School of Economics. He served as district governor, inspector in the Ministry of Interior as well as province governor of Siirt and İzmir. He also served as executive assistant to İsmet İnönü, then prime minister of Turkey. During the military rule between 1980 and 1983, he was the undersecretary of the prime minister Bülent Ulusu.

Leader of the opposition

On 21 May 1983 together with Avni Güler, Engin Aydın and Turhan Timuçin, he founded People's Party (Turkish: Halkçı Parti, HP) in the course of Republican People's Party (CHP), which was closed by the military rule. He was elected as the chairman of the party. After the main rival SODEP was banned from entering the election,^[1] the HP became the only party attractive for ex-CHP voters. Although he was not a well known name, he caused a nationwide excitement in a panel discussion on TV by his reaction to the proposal of privatization of İstanbul Bosphorus Bridge. In the election held on 6 November 1983, the HP received 30.5% of the votes and Necdet Calp, now depoty from Ankara Province, became the opposition leader.^[2]

The congress

In the local elections held on 21 March 1984, in which SODEP also competed, the HP received 8.8%, which meant a loss of nearly 75% of its votes in less than five months. After learning the results, Calp resigned, but he was soon reelected as the chairman. However, during the reelection period, the opposition group in the party gained strength.^[3] On the general congress of the party held on 29 June 1985, he lost his chair to Aydın Güven Gürkan.

Later years

After 1985, he didn't participate in potitics, and in the 1987 elections, he didn't run for a seat in the parliament. On 13 September 1998, he died in Ankara as a result of a heart attack.

References

1. ↑ Cezmi Kartay:Siyasal Anılar ve Sosyal Demokrasinin Öyküsü (Turkish)
2. ↑ Mainboard (Turkish)
3. ↑ Erdal İnönü:Anılar ve Düşünceler, Cilt III, Doğan Kitap, İstanbul, 2001, ISBN 975-6612-02-9 p.24