Kilicdaroglu reelected head of main opposition party

By Seval Guler, Baris Gundogan, and Mehmet Tosun

ANKARA

Kemal Kilicdaroglu was reelected chairman of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Saturday.

Voting was held in the capital, Ankara, at the party’s 36th ordinary congress chaired by Yilmaz Buyukersen, mayor of Eskisehir Metropolitan Municipality.

Kilicdaroglu received 790 out of 1,237 valid votes. His main opponent -- Muharrem Ince, a lawmaker from northwestern Yalova province -- secured 447 votes.

Thirteen delegates abstained from voting.

Ince, a former deputy group chairman of the party, also ran for the chairmanship against Kilicdaroglu in the 2014 party congress, where 740 delegates voted for Kilicdaroglu while Ince secured 415 votes.

Kilicdaroglu has been leading the party since May 2010.