Turkish Deputy PM Retains Party Chairmanship
August 6, 2001 - 0:0
ANKARA -- Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz has retained the chairmanship of his center-right Motherland Party (ANAP), the minor partner in the three-way Ankara government. Yilmaz, 54, won the race against four other candidates with 921 votes from 1210 delegates at a party convention that lasted until early Sunday. ANAP is in an odd coalition with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's center-left Democratic Left Party and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party of Devlet Bahceli. ANAP, which spearheaded major economic reforms during its term in power in the 1980s under the leadership of the late Turgut Ozal, has recently seen its popularity nosedive due to accusations of fraud.