18.07.2026 12:00
Olcay Baykal, wife of the late Deniz Baykal, former Chairman of the CHP, was laid to rest in Ankara. Following the ceremony marked by a distant handshake between Özgür Özel and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, amid cool tensions after statute debates, Deniz Baykal's daughter Aslı Baykal made a harsh statement on social media.
The wife of the late Deniz Baykal, former Chairman of the CHP, Olcay Baykal, was laid to rest in a funeral ceremony held in Ankara. After the ceremony, where Özgür Özel and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu met face-to-face for the second time following their "absolute nullity" debates and exchanged a cold handshake, a scathing statement came from the Baykal family. Deniz Baykal's daughter, Aslı Baykal, criticized politicians who were not there for them during their difficult times for taking the front row, calling it "ostentation and hidden polytheism."
COLD WINDS BETWEEN ÖZEL AND KILIÇDAROĞLU While many figures from the CHP attended the funeral ceremony held in Ankara, all eyes were on the party's current leader, Özgür Özel, and former leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Following the "absolute nullity" decision and charter debates, cold winds have been blowing between the two, who had previously come together at the funeral ceremony of 22nd Term Balıkesir Deputy Orhan Sür at the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The distant and tense handshake moments of Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu, who came together again at Olcay Baykal's funeral, were captured by lenses and marked the ceremony.
MEANINGFUL POST FROM ASLI BAYKAL Deniz Baykal's daughter, Aslı Baykal, who made a very harsh and meaningful statement on her social media account the day after the funeral, lashed out at the politicians who took the front row at the ceremony. Baykal, implying that they were left alone in the struggle she and her mother fought for years, complained about ingratitude.
Aslı Baykal's statement that made headlines is as follows: "Our Prophet described ostentation as 'hidden polytheism.' One understands what this means most of all in pain. Yesterday, we bid farewell to my mother Olcay Baykal on her final journey. Pain quietly reveals one's surroundings to a person. I saw this once again yesterday while bidding farewell to my mother. I watched people who were not with us while my mother and I struggled through difficulties for years; who neither asked how we were, nor knocked on our door, and sometimes even hurt us, taking the front row. It inevitably makes one think when those who are not with you on your hardest days are at the forefront in your most visible moments."
"SINCERITY DOES NOT NEED CAMERAS" Stating that the concept of loyalty is not about showing off in front of cameras in the continuation of her statement, Aslı Baykal recalled her mother's dignified stance with these words: "Loyalty is not about appearing in front of crowds, but about being there when no one is watching. My mother demonstrated this throughout her life. She stayed away from ostentation. She valued humanity, not positions. She lived a quiet but dignified life. While bidding farewell to her, I understood once again that sincerity does not need cameras. True loyalty is reflected in memories, not lenses. May God have mercy on my mother. May her soul rest in paradise."