Former opposition CHP chairman Baykal transferred to Germany for treatment

The former chairman of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Deniz Baykal was taken to Germany in order to receive physiotherapy treatment.

Baykal, who was taken to the hospital on Oct. 16 over a blood clot in a major artery, has been receiving treatment at Ibni Sina Hospital in the capital Ankara for 51 days.

According to hospital sources, Baykal will be transferred to a German center to receive physiotherapy and rehabilitation treatment. He was conscious when he left the hospital, sources added.

The sources did not say which center he will be taken to.

Last month, Ankara University rector Erkan Ibis said Baykal could now move his hands and feet, and write.

Active in politics since late 1950s, Baykal has served as a lawmaker from his native Antalya province since 1973, with two interruptions between 1980 to 1987 and 1999 to 2002. He also led the CHP between 1992 and 2010, with a brief seven-month interruption in 1995 and a resignation after election fiasco in 1999 that lasted for 16 months before his return in 2000.

Baykal also served as deputy prime minister, foreign minister, energy and natural resources minister and finance minister in various cabinets CHP formed or joined as a coalition partner.