Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has sought an image change ahead of the June 7 general election. The move comes after suffering successive defeats at the hands of the Islamist-rooted AK Party, which has portrayed it as hostile to religion.

Izmir parliamentary candidate Selin Sayek Boke is one of the new faces of the pro-secular CHP, which, unlike in previous campaigns, is putting its focus on the economy.

“The reason we decided to structure around economic issues to appeal to the larger audiences, regardless of your ethnicity, regardless of your religious belief we all share a common issue, which is all economics,” said Sayek Boke.

Sayek Boke is taking her message to small businesses, traditional voters of the ruling AK Party. The CHP is pledging cuts in taxation on diesel and other policies aimed at revitalizing a sluggish economy.

The message appears to be resonating with some traders, many of whom complain about slow business.

Slick campaign messages produced by a leading advertising company are also part of the CHP’s strategy of dispelling its staid pro-secular image.

The CHP’s legacy of being the party of the founder of the secular state, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and until recently advocating restrictions on religious practices like wearing religious headscarves, remain an electoral liability, according to Betul Durmaz, a sociology teacher at Izmir’s Gediz University.

“CHP is seen as banning some religious practices in Turkey. Sometimes questioning the headscarf in Turkey. For that reason, still some people are not trusting CHP,” said Durmaz.

Many CHP publications aim to counter claims by the ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party that it is anti-Muslim, but Izmir, with a large staunchly secular population, is a traditional stronghold for the CHP. Its past hardline secularist polices were popular among many voters here.

Sayek Boke insists its new pluralistic message does not mean it is rejecting its secular roots.

“There is a huge effort to show that by heart, we are a social democratic party. A social democratic party stands equal distance to all beliefs, all ethnicities. And indeed, Turkey has been divided into multiple parts through ethnicity and religion. We would like to actually reconcile this,” she said.

In Izmir, Sayek Boke and her fellow candidates are seeking to broaden support from the devoutly religious in Turkey’s population, but at the same time not alienate its base. The success of the CHP in achieving that goal will be key to determining whether it can achieve the electoral breakout it is seeking.

Dorian Jones

Voice of America, May 22, 2015

IZMIR

Dr. Selin Sayek Böke,

CHP Vice-Chair in charge of Economic Policy

Latest statements on the issues concerning Turkey and regional developments

• “The AKP’s unregulated and arbitrary management of economy costs 30 billion dollar to Turkey”

The Republican People’s Party new chief of economy, Selin Sayek Böke comments on the World Bank’s Ease of Business Index. “The AKP’s unregulated and arbitrary management of economy costs 30 billion dollar to Turkey”, says Böke.

http://selinsayekboke.com.tr/basin-aciklamalarim/30/

• “Fighting against corruption is a precondition for fighting against poverty”

“Fighting against corruption is a precondition for fighting against poverty” says the Republican People’s Party’s new chief of economy, Selin Sayek-Böke, After the ruling AKP managed to brush the far-reaching corruption cases under the rug, Turkey now strives for digesting this violation of basic constitutional provisions.

http://selinsayekboke.com.tr/basin-aciklamalarim/29/ 

• “The MTP for 2015-2017 period is a copy-paste document.”

“After the announcement of Turkey’s medium term program (MTP) by the economic executives of the AKP government, the discussions about its credibility and predictability followed. “Almost one third of the so-called new MTP is an evidence of plagiarism regarding the last year’s program,” says The Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) new chief of economy, Selin Sayek Böke. She continues, “the MTP for 2015-2017 period is a copy-paste document.”

http://selinsayekboke.com.tr/basin-aciklamalarim/28/

• ‘Erdoğan’s statements on Bank Asya constitute a major crime’

Speculation publicly expressed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Bank Asya doesn’t have a sound structure and his obvious attempts to sink this bank constitute a crime under Turkish law, according to Selin Sayek Böke, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy chair in charge of the economy.

http://www.todayszaman.com/anasayfa_erdogans-statements-on-bank-asya-constitute-a-major-crime_359865.html