More than 15 thousand people gathered in the Ankara Arena Sport Hall and followed the Congress. The Congress was also followed by the national press, by foreign press institutions. Dozens of retired Ministers, retired bureaucrats, retired officers of the Turkish Armed Forces and many presidents and administrators of democratic mass organizations, trade unions attended the congress.
In the Congress, the name and the emblem of the Workers’ Party (Turkey) has been changed by the delegates of the Party unanimously. The new name of the Party has been changed to Patriotic Party (Turkey). As stated in the statutes, the Patriotic Party (Turkey) embraces the nationalist, populist and the socialist forces of the Turkish Revolution.
The Second Secretary of the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt –Mr. Muhammed Atef Elhusseiny- attended the Congress and the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam as well as the Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa sent a congratulation message to the Workers’ Party (Turkey).
New members of the Patriotic Party
The name change of the party aims at uniting all the patriotic forces of Turkey for the reunification of the country, it’s independence from foreign domination and the joint fight against the governing enemies of the Republic.
Within the congress, hundreds of people joined the Patriotic Party (Turkey). Some of them are:
- Ret. Judge and Honorary Member of the Supreme Court Mr. Turgut Okyay
- Ret. Lieutenant-General and Former Head of the Intelligence of the General Staff Mr. İsmail Hakkı Pekin
- Former Vice Chairman of the Turkish Parliament, Mr. Hasan Korkmazcan
- Former Minister of State Mr. Tayfun İçli
- Former Minister of National Defence and Former Deputy Chairman of the Free Party, Mr. Barlas Doğu
- Former Minister of Labour and Social Security, Mr. Yaşar Okuyan
- Former Governor of Istanbul, Mr. Erol Çakır
- Former Rector of the Uludağ University, Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yurtkuran
Several veterans, retired officers and vanguards of the workers’ struggle joined the Party, as well.
The day following the Extraordinary General Congress and the change of the name of the Party, thousands of people from Turkey and the world joined the ranks of the Patriotic Party. Within the first 48 hours after the congress, the Patriotic Party registered more than 4500 new members by appeal via internet.
The new leadership of the Party
The Congress elected unanimously Dr. Doğu Perinçek as the Chairman of the Patriotic Party (Turkey).
The first Central Committee Meeting of the Patriotic Party gathered on the 19th of February 2015. In this meeting the Central Committee elected Dr. Serhan Bolluk as the Secretary General, Ret. Lieutenant General İsmail Hakkı Pekin as the Chairman of the International Relations Bureau. The Former Chairman of International Relations, Yunus Soner, will continue as the Vice-Chairman of the Bureau.