Deniz Baykal Sex Tape

Who? Turkish politician.

Real? Yes.

Deniz Baykal

From 1992 to 2010, Deniz Baykal was leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Turkey, the main secularist political party tracing its legacy back to Ataturk. Since 2003, the rival Islamist AK party has held power in Turkey.

In early May 2010, a Deniz Baykal sex tape appeared on YouTube showing him in a liaison with female CHP politician Nesrin Baytok. The scandal forced Baykal to resign his party leadership role.

Nesrin Baytok

Different sources identify the sex tape location as a hotel room or a private house. The footage was apparently shot with a hidden spy camera placed in a closet or wardrobe at knee level.

Within a few days there were several versions of the Deniz Baykal + Nesrin Baytok sex tape on YouTube. A three-minute version showing the pair dressing, presumably after sex, had the most page views. A nine-minute version showed the pair entering the room and getting undressed, then getting dressed and leaving, with the sexual activity in the middle presumably edited out. There were also several shorter excerpts, news reports, etc, posted to YouTube. There’s no actual nudity or sexual activity visible in any YouTube version.

Deniz Baykal Nesrin Baytok sex tape

It’s not clear who placed the hidden camera and uploaded the sex tape. Deniz Baykal had political opponents in both the ruling AK party and his own CHP. The Telegraph explained:

Mr Baykal had been due to face a vote on his leadership at a convention to pick the party’s leader before the country faces a general election next year. He had led a long rearguard struggle to stop the AK party chipping away at the country’s secular restrictions on religion.

Before that Turkey is due to hold a referendum this summer for broad-reaching constitutional reforms that dilute the power of the army and the judiciary.

Analyst said the resignation could rejuvenate opposition to Mr Erdogan. “A common complaint in Turkey has been that the ruling AK party’s main strength has been the absence of a credible opposition,” said Timothy Ash, an RBS economist. “The hope (amongst moderate secularists at least) now is that with Baykal’s departure, the party will see a younger, more energised and reformist leadership emerge which will capture the electorate’s imagination and give the ruling AK party a real run for its money.”

Baykal clearly blamed the ruling AK party for the sex tape: “This is not a sex tape, this is a conspiracy … Those who were behind this conspiracy did it for political aims. … The target of this conspiracy is not just one person, but the struggle of the CHP … to uphold the republic, democracy and the rule of law.”