Sinan Ogan, a Turkish nationalist presidential candidate

Sinan Ogan, a tutorial with Azerbaijani Turkish roots, will run as ATA Alliance’s presidential candidate within the upcoming May election after amassing greater than 100,000 signatures, a authorized requirement to run for the nation’s high put up. 

Ogan’s endorsers are the ATA alliance, a block of 4 events – Zafer Party, Memleket Party and Türkiye Alliance Party – recognized for his or her nationalist stances. 

The ATA alliance is a low-profile alliance in comparison with the opposite two main political blocks, AK Party chief Recep Tayyip Erdogan-led People’s Alliance and the principle opposition Republican People’s Party chief Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance. All these alliances are competing in opposition to one another on May 14 to say victory in each parliamentary and presidential elections.

The 56-year-old Ogan’s profession started within the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). In 2011, he grew to become a deputy from his hometown Igdir, an japanese Anatolian province with a large Azerbaijani inhabitants. 

Initially, he was on good phrases with Devlet Bahceli, the MHP chief. But after Bahceli adopted a brand new coverage of backing Erdogan’s insurance policies following the November 2015 elections, Ogan joined different nationalist figures to oppose his management.

Fractious politics

Bahceli and Erdogan weren’t in a political alliance earlier than 2015 when Türkiye noticed a second common election after the primary threw up a fractured mandate with no clear winner. 

But after the AK Party gained the November elections following the collapse of Türkiye’s Resolution Process, which Bahceli fiercely opposed, a rising alliance developed between Bahceli’s MHP, which has been on the centre of Turkish nationalism for greater than 5 a long time, and Erdogan, an influential conservative chief. 

However, some nationalist politicians like Sinan Ogan, Meral Aksener, Umit Ozdag, and Koray Aydin – all MHP members earlier than floating their very own political platforms – opposed Bahceli’s alliance with Erdogan. Eventually, these politicians emerged as an opposing bloc to Bahceli’s long-time management. 

In June 2016, Bahceli’s opponents, together with Ogan, referred to as for a contentious occasion congress to change the MHP’s constitution regardless of the occasion administration’s objections, aiming to oust Bahceli from the management put up. But as a result of inner disagreements, the controversial June congress ended up in courtroom. 

The occasion congress deliberate for July by no means occurred, the courtroom threw out the choice to vary the MHP constitution, and Bahceli remained in his place. Months later, Aksener and her supporters parted methods with the MHP and based the IYI Party in 2017. 

But Ogan stayed put within the MHP regardless of being twice expelled for alleged anti-party actions. Once, his expulsion was revoked by a courtroom. “…He did not switch to any other party, nor did he establish a new party,” Ogan’s web site says. “He declared that he would remain loyal to his party and its struggle.” 

But within the essential 2017 referendum vote on altering Türkiye’s parliamentary system to a presidential mannequin, Ogan went in opposition to the MHP determination to again a NO vote like Aksener and different Bahceli opponents. 

Since 2017, Ogan has not been affiliated with any occasion and within the upcoming election, he’ll run as an impartial regardless that the Ozdag-led ATA Alliance nominated him as their presidential candidate.

During a press briefing, Turkish journalists requested Ogan which candidate he would help if the presidential election goes to the run-off between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu in case no candidate obtained greater than 50 p.c vote within the first spherical. 

“We will look at their national stances and competence. We will look at the situation of affiliation with terrorism and seeking help from terrorism. We will decide with common sense. Common sense shows us that we may not be able to promise heaven, but it’s time to close the gates of hell,” Ogan stated. 

Ogan’s background

The nationalist politician graduated from Marmara University with a Business Administration diploma in 1989. He accomplished his grasp’s diploma in Financial Law/Banking from the identical college in 1992. Later, in 2009, he accomplished his doctorate on the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in Russia.

Between 1992 and 2000, he labored as a lecturer at Azerbaijan’s Turkic World Studies Foundation, in keeping with his web site. In the identical interval, he additionally led the Azerbaijan workplace of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), a state establishment. 

In the 2000s, he labored for the Eurasian Strategic Research Center (ASAM), main the think-tank’s Russia-Ukraine part. In 2004, he based his analysis centre, TURKSAM (Türkiye Strategic Analyses Centre), which continues to operate.  

After changing into an MHP deputy in 2011, he was a member of the Türkiye-Albania and Türkiye-Nigeria Parliamentary Friendship Groups. During his time period, Ogan additionally functioned because the Secretary General of the Türkiye-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Source: TRT World