UPDATE - Former chairman of Turkish main opposition party dies at 84

UPDATES WITH CONDOLENCES MESSAGES OF TURKISH PRESIDENT, PARLIAMENT SPEAKER

By Orhan Onur Gemici

ANKARA (AA) – The former chairman of Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, died at the age of 84, the current party leader announced on Saturday.

“I have learned with great sadness the death of Deniz Baykal, our chairman, a lover of Türkiye and the Republican People’s Party, our lawmaker from Antalya province …,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on Twitter.

“He left us a legacy full of stories of struggles. My condolences to our nation,” Kilicdaroglu added.

Baykal suffered from circulatory problems in a major artery, and had received treatment in hospitals in the Turkish capital Ankara and Germany’s Munich since 2017 before he returned to parliament in 2019.

When the senior lawmaker first won a parliamentary seat in 1973, he was the youngest Turkish deputy.

Many Turkish leaders and politicians expressed grief and condolences over the death of Baykal.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called Baykal's family and extended his condolences.

On Twitter, the Turkish leader described Baykal as "one of the esteemed figures of Turkish politics."

Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop also conveyed his condolences on Twitter. "It is with sorrow that I learned of the death of Antalya Deputy and Former Chairman of the Republican People's Party Deniz Baykal, who is among the important names of our political history," he said.

He wished Allah's mercy on him and sympathized with Baykal's family and the CHP group.