Who is Cemal Enginyurt, who resigned from the Democrat Party?

Democrat Party Istanbul MP Cemal Enginyurt and Izmir MP Salih Uzun have announced their resignations from the party.

 Stating that he has been involved in politics within the Democrat Party for 4 years, Cemal Enginyurt announced his resignation via his social media account. In his statement, Enginyurt said, "The conditions Turkey is currently in have shown that a centrist formation is necessary. With this goal in mind, a decision had been made to hold a congress for the Democrat Party in March 2025. We wanted to create a center by bringing together those who have engaged in politics in the Motherland Party, the True Path Party, and other parties to consolidate the center-right before the congress. However, the Democrat Party suddenly made a decision to hold a congress and held it on November 17. We politely warned and requested the chairman. We said that this sudden congress decision would not benefit the Democrat Party. If things are to continue as they have always been, the Democrat Party will not grow. It does not suit the Democrat Party to hold a congress in a hotel hall now, when 2 years ago we held a congress with 10 thousand people at the Atatürk Indoor Sports Hall. A congress means growth. However, our proposal was not accepted."

WHO IS CEMAL ENGİNYURT?

Cemal Enginyurt was born on April 9, 1965, in the village of Dedeli in Ordu. Having completed his primary, secondary, and high school education in Ordu, Enginyurt completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Anadolu University.

While still a first-year high school student, he spent 3 years in prison following the September 12, 1980 coup. Cemal Enginyurt, who was among the nationalists who began organizing efforts under the name of the Bizim Ocak magazine following the banning of Idealist Hearths (Ülkü Ocakları) organizations after the September 12, 1980 coup, founded the Ordu provincial representation of the Bizim Ocak magazine in 1986, initiating the first Idealist Hearths activity in Ordu after September 12.

His party management career, which began as the Nationalist Work Party (MÇP) provincial secretary in 1991, continued as he became a member of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Central Executive Committee (MYK) in 1993 and was elected as the party's Ordu provincial chairman in 1994. That same year, he became the MHP's mayoral candidate for Ordu, and in the 1995 elections, he was the 1st-rank parliamentary candidate for the MHP in Ordu.

He was re-elected as MHP Ordu provincial chairman in 1997, and in the 1999 elections, which he entered as the 1st-rank candidate for the MHP, he was elected as a member of parliament, becoming the first MP elected for the MHP in the province of Ordu. He supported the "Rahşan Amnesty" and cast an affirmative vote in the ballot held on December 21, 2000.

In 2012, he was re-elected as the MHP Ordu Provincial Chairman and held this position until 2014. He became the MHP's candidate for Mayor of Ordu Metropolitan Municipality in the 2014 local elections but was not elected. In the June 2015 general elections, he was the 1st-rank parliamentary candidate for the MHP in Ordu but was not elected. He re-entered the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) in the 2018 general elections.