Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (born 17 December 1948), also referred to by his initials KK, is a Turkish politician who served as the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from 2010 to 2023. He was Leader of the Main Opposition in Turkey between 2010 and 2023. He served as a member of parliament for Istanbul's second electoral district from 2002 to 2015, and as an MP for İzmir's second electoral district from 2015 to 2023.
Before entering politics, Kılıçdaroğlu was a civil servant and served as the director-general of the Social Security Institution from 1992 to 1999. He was elected to Parliament in the 2002 general election and became the CHP's parliamentary group leader. In the 2009 local elections, he was nominated as the CHP candidate to run for Mayor of İstanbul, but lost to the AKP candidate.
After Deniz Baykal resigned as the party's leader in 2010, Kılıçdaroğlu announced his candidacy and was unanimously elected as the leader of the CHP. He was elected deputy chairman of the Socialist International in August 2012. He was seen as likely to modernize the CHP. Although the CHP saw a subsequent increase in its vote share, it was unable to unseat the ruling AKP.
As leader of the main opposition, Kılıçdaroğlu attempted to construct big-tent coalitions with other parties, which culminated in the formation of the Nation Alliance and CHP's subsequent victories in the 2019 local elections. He was the CHP's and the Nation Alliance's joint candidate for the 2023 Turkish presidential election, but lost to incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. After his loss, he was voted out as leader of the CHP on 5 November 2023 and was replaced by Özgür Özel. Kılıçdaroğlu was criticized for not resigning as CHP chairman after losing five general elections.
As of 21 May 2026, Kılıçdaroğlu, in a decision by the Ankara Regional Court of Justice 36th Civil Chamber, was reappointed as chairman of the Republican People's Party, replacing Özgür Özel. The decision invalidated the previous election for chairman of the Republican People's Party and reinstated the entire previous administration. Despite this, large segments within the CHP, as well as parties like the Good Party, the Victory Party and the TİP, did not recognize Kılıçdaroğlu's leadership.
Following the court decision, former chairman Özgür Özel, along with 91 MPs, resigned from the party in July 2026 and announced the formation of Yeni Parti (New Party), leaving the CHP with 44 seats in the parliament.
Early life Kemal Karabulut was born on 17 December 1948 in the Ballıca village of Nazımiye district in Tunceli Province, eastern Turkey, to Kamer, a clerk-recorder of deeds and his wife Yemuş. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was the fourth oldest of their seven children.
Kemal's father changed the family's surname from Karabulut to Kılıçdaroğlu in the 1960s because everyone in their village had the same last name (Karabulut). His father was among thousands of exiled Alevis following the failed Dersim rebellion.
Kemal continued his primary and secondary education in various places such as Erciş, Tunceli, Genç, and Elazığ. He studied economics at the Ankara Academy of Economics and Commercial Sciences, now Gazi University, from which he graduated in 1971. During his youth, he earned his living by selling goods.
Professional career After graduating from university, Kılıçdaroğlu entered the Ministry of Finance as a junior account specialist in 1971. He was later promoted to accountant and was sent to France for additional professional training. In 1983, he was appointed deputy director general of the Revenues Department in the same ministry. At that time he worked closely with Prime Minister Turgut Özal. In 1991, Kılıçdaroğlu became director-general of the Social Security Organization for Artisans and Self-Employed (Bağ-Kur). In 1992 he was appointed director-general of the Social Insurance Institution (Turkish: , abbreviated SSK), tasked with fixing ongoing budget issues.Party Leader Biography , chp.org.tr, Retrieved 11 January 2011.
In 1994, Kılıçdaroğlu was named "Civil Servant of the Year" by the weekly periodical Ekonomik Trend.
Kılıçdaroğlu retired from the Social Insurance Institution in January 1999. He taught at Hacettepe University and chaired the Specialized Commission on the Informal Economy within the framework of the preparation of the Eighth Five-Year Development Plan. He also acted as a member of the Executive Board of İşbank.Party Leader Biography , chp.org.tr Retrieved 2 February 2012.
Early political career Member of Parliament
Kılıçdaroğlu retired from civil service in 1999 and tried to enter politics from within Bülent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP). He was often referred to as the "star of the DSP". It was claimed that he would be a DSP candidate in the upcoming 1999 general election, in which the DSP came first. However, he did not succeed in this venture as he could not get on the party's candidates' list. Instead, during his chairmanship of an association that aimed to protect citizen tax payments, he was invited by the leader of the CHP Deniz Baykal to join his party and accepted the invitation.
Following the 2002 general election, he entered the parliament as a deputy from Istanbul. In the 2007 general election, he was re-elected to parliament. He became deputy speaker of his party's parliamentary group.
Kılıçdaroğlu's efforts to uncover malpractice among high-ranking Justice and Development Party (AKP) politicians carried him to headlines in the Turkish media. Two deputy chairmen of the ruling AKP, Şaban Dişli and Dengir Mir Mehmet Fırat, resigned from their respective positions in the party following television debates with Kılıçdaroğlu. He publicly accused the AKP-affiliated Mayor of Ankara, Melih Gökçek, of complicity in a corruption scandal relating to the "Deniz Feneri" charity based in Germany.
2009 İstanbul mayoral candidate
Kılıçdaroğlu was announced as the CHP's mayoral candidate for the 2009 local elections by the party leader Deniz Baykal in January 2009. Kılıçdaroğlu announced that he would run his campaign based on clean politics, vowing to open cases of corruption against the serving incumbent, AKP mayor Kadir Topbaş. Claiming that he would work for the workers of İstanbul, he challenged Topbaş to a televised live debate. Kılıçdaroğlu lost the election with 37% of the votes against Topbaş's 44.7%.
Election to the CHP leadership
Long-time leader of the CHP, Deniz Baykal resigned on 10 May 2010 following a video tape scandal. Kılıçdaroğlu announced his candidacy for the position on 17 May, five days before an upcoming party convention. According to reports, the party was divided over the leadership issue, with its Central Executive Board insisting that Baykal retake the position. After Kılıçdaroğlu received the support of 77 of his party's 81 provincial chairpersons, Baykal decided not to run for re-election.
For a candidacy to become official, CHP by-laws require the support of 20% of convention delegates. At the party convention, in May 2010, Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy received the signatures of 1,246 out of the 1,250 delegates, which set a new record for the CHP.
In view of this overwhelming support, the presidium of the party convention decided to move the election, initially scheduled for Sunday, forward to Saturday. As expected, Kılıçdaroğlu was elected unanimously as party chairman with 1,189 votes, not counting eight votes that were found to be invalid.
Leader of the opposition Kılıçdaroğlu took office as the Leader of the Main Opposition on 22 May 2010 by virtue of leading the second largest political party in the Grand National Assembly. Many media commentators and speculators predicted that Kılıçdaroğlu would breathe new life into the CHP, after consecutive election defeats under Baykal's leadership.
2010 constitutional referendum
Kılıçdaroğlu's first campaign as the CHP leader was the constitutional referendum held on 12 September 2010. Although the initial voting process in Parliament that would determine the proposals that were voted on in the referendum had begun under Baykal's leadership, Kılıçdaroğlu employed a tactic of boycotting the parliamentary process. The governing AKP, which had submitted the proposals, held 336 seats. Since a constitutional reform proposal required 330 votes to be sent to a referendum, the parliamentary approval of all of the government's constitutional reforms was mathematically possible regardless of how the CHP voted. The AKP's proposed constitutional reforms, which included changes to the Turkish Judiciary, were sent for approval in a referendum on 12 September 2010.
Kılıçdaroğlu not only campaigned for a 'no' vote against the proposals, but also sent the Parliamentary voting process to court over alleged technical irregularities. The CHP subsequently sent the proposals to court over alleged violations of the separation of powers in the proposed changes. The Constitutional Court eventually ruled against the CHP. Kılıçdaroğlu, along with members of minor opposition parties, argued that the proposed changes were an attempt to politicise the judiciary and further increase the control of the AKP over neutral state institutions. The referendum proposals were accepted by 57.9% of voters, with 42.1% voting against.
2011 general election
The 2011 general election was the first general election in which Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu participated as the leader of Republican People's Party (CHP). The former CHP leader Deniz Baykal resigned from his post in May 2010 and left the CHP with 26% of the votes, according to opinion polls. Kılıçdaroğlu announced that he would resign from his post if he was not successful in the 2011 elections. He did not provide details as to what his criteria for success were.
Over 3,500 people applied to run for the main opposition party in the June elections. Male candidates paid 3,000 Turkish Liras to submit an application; female candidates paid 2,000 while those with disabilities paid 500 liras. Among the candidates were former CHP leader Deniz Baykal and arrested Ergenekon suspects such as Mustafa Balbay and Mehmet Haberal.
The party held primary elections in 29 provinces. Making a clean break with the past, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu left his mark on the Republican People's Party's 435-candidate list, leaving off 78 current deputies as he sought to redefine and reposition the main opposition. The CHP's candidate list also included 11 politicians who were formerly part of center-right parties, such as the Motherland Party, the True Path Party and the Turkey Party.
Center-right voters gravitated toward the AKP when these other parties virtually collapsed after the 2002 elections. Key party figures that did not make it on to the list, criticised the CHP for making "a shift in axis". His statement on the election results "CHP is the only party that increased the number of deputies in the election. In a short period of 6 months, CHP gained 3.5 million new voters. So we will not demoralise ourselves," he said.
2014 presidential and local elections
2015 general elections
The June 2015 general election was the second general election which Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu participated as the leader of CHP. The party won 11.5 million votes (24.95%) and finished with 132 elected Members of Parliament, a decrease of 3 since the 2011 general election. The decrease of 1.03% compared to their 2011 result (25.98%) was attributed to CHP voters voting tactically for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to ensure that they surpassed the 10% election threshold. While the result demonstrated a stagnant CHP vote, HDP's entry into parliament resulted in AKP losing its parliamentary majority.