Former CHP head shows progress after three surgeries

ANKARA – Doğan News Agency

Deniz Baykal, the former leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), is still in a medicine-induced coma and in critical condition, however he has shown progress compared to Oct. 18, Ankara University Rector Dr. Ercan İbiş said on Oct. 19.

“Of course, he is still in critical condition, yet his situation is not worsening. His vital signs are good and under control. We have observed progress in his neurological symptoms,” İbiş, who analyzed the patient’s CAT scan results, told reporters.

İbiş is not the only name who sees a hopeful future for Deniz Baykal’s health conditions.

“His treatment is ongoing. We have seen some positive results and hope he will be even better. Currently, he has been put to sleep for his brain to rest,” Turkish Health Minister Ahmet Demircan told reporters during his meeting with his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Faiz Sucuoğlu on Oct. 19.

“He is being treated by the best surgeons in the country,” the minister added.

Upon President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s instruction, prominent brain surgeon Uğur Türe was sent to Ankara to check on Baykal.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly visited the hospital on Oct. 16 and met Baykal’s son, Ataç Baykal and his daughter Aslı Baykal Ataman.

Erdoğan was accompanied by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın during the 20-minute visit in which they wished Baykal a speedy recovery.

Numerous political figures including former Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, former Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Şenel, as well other current and former politicians from the CHP, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have visited the hospital to wish Baykal a speedy recovery on Oct. 18 and Oct. 19.

Baykal was taken to the hospital early on Oct. 16 over a blood clot in a major artery going to his brain. He then underwent three operations at Ankara University’s İbn-i Sina Hospital on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17.

Following the third operation, Ankara University Rector Ercan İbiş said there had been some “negativities,” while the CHP issued a statement saying rumors of Baykal’s death were “unfounded.”

A fixture in the Turkish political scene for over 40 years, Baykal has served in cabinets as a minister and deputy prime minister. He has also served as a leader of the CHP for 17 years in total and left the post in 2010.