In memory of Altan Öymen…

We have lost Altan Öymen, a politician, journalist, intellectual, and a pillar of the Republic who left lasting marks on Turkish political life and the press community. For those who had the opportunity to work with or walk alongside Altan Öymen at any point in his life, he left a significant impression with his calm and wise personality, his meticulous and disciplined working style, and his humility and tolerance.

At a time when the CHP remained below the electoral threshold, Altan Öymen was elected Chairman following the resignation of Chairman Deniz Baykal. Together with Secretary General Tarhan Erdem, he signed off on important reforms that strengthened the membership and the organization, allowed the chairman to delegate powers, and ensured the integration of the organization with the public.

Writing his life's testimonies in clear Turkish, Öymen left his knowledge and experiences as a legacy to future generations by authoring archival books such as "Bir Dönem Bir Çocuk" (A Period, A Child), "Değişim Yılları" (Years of Change), "Öfkeli Yıllar" (Angry Years), "Ve İhtilal" (And the Revolution), and "Umutlar ve İdamlar" (Hopes and Executions).

This wise man, who left important lessons for everyone whose life he touched, also touched my life in July 2012, when the 34th CHP Convention took place. At the convention where Öymen served as the Chairman of the Council, I had the honor of working with him as an İzmir convention delegate in the role of Council Secretary Member. I had written an article after that convention, where I was also a candidate for the Party Assembly, where I was not elected because I was not on the final lists despite being on the Chairman's broad 98-person key list, where the "charşaf" (open) list system was applied, and where the council successfully fulfilled its duty. I would like to share with you the section from that article regarding my esteemed elder, Altan Öymen:

“…..Towards 03:00 in the morning on the second day, the election results began to emerge. As a Council Member, I congratulated our elected Party Assembly members with great pride. The range was very wide due to the open list. Many of them were my old and experienced party elders, and some were popular names in the public eye. My respect for their age and experience was infinite. For me, what mattered was the ideology... Of course, I also shared the happiness of our party member brothers and sisters who entered through the youth quota. Thanks to the youth and gender quota provided by our Chairman, the right to representation for youth and women was protected in the resulting Party Assembly.

The pride we felt from that moment on was due to successfully completing an election held with an open list as the Convention Council... The chief architect of this justified pride was our Council Chairman, our former Chairman Altan Öymen...

As I said, I added many memories to my bag of experience from this Convention... But the greatest memory was the advice Altan Öymen gave me. He explained to me at length that I had not lost the election, but had actually gained a lot. As he described my gains, we almost went on a journey through history...

Öymen began his words by saying, “The year is 1951...”; “It is the election where Kasım Gülek became Kasım Gülek. He was even the Secretary General. He ran as a candidate from Bilecik knowing full well he could not win. And indeed, he lost. But after the election, almost everyone in Bilecik congratulated Gülek, and a bond of affection was formed.” With this memory he shared with me, Altan Öymen emphasized that every lost election is actually a rebirth. He continued his words by saying, “And for someone as young as you, it is a great gain”... After this memory he shared with me, which affected me deeply, I researched the 1951 election. The 9th Convention took place on November 26, 1951. Kasım Gülek, who boldly entered the election and lost, was re-elected as Secretary General. And İsmet İnönü was the Chairman...

And the final piece of advice from living history Altan Öymen; “The late Bülent Ecevit used to say that politics is a disease. This is indisputable. But if you do not want to turn politics into a real disease, you must definitely have a job or occupation that you love.”

“But giving up on politics, holding a grudge, is never an option...” Altan Öymen concluded his words...

I took all the advice that fell to my share with great pride. I felt as if I had become even stronger... It was both Öymen's beautiful words and my party elders and friends who conveyed their good wishes to me that awakened this feeling in me. I was now a young politician who had written all the words of love and support I heard into my heart's notebook and was continuing on her path with confident steps...”

13 years have passed since these lines were written… Every line and every word spoken by Altan Öymen remains valid today. The most important thing for a politician is to establish a throne in people's hearts. Öymen was an esteemed elder of ours who established that throne in our hearts. With respect to his memory…