 He is the founder (in 2002) of the new Social Democratic People's Party.Karayalçın was educated at Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences and at the University of East Anglia where he graduated with a master's degree in Development Economics in 1977.He was elected leader of the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP) on 11 September 1993, succeeding Erdal İnönü and served as the deputy prime minister briefly in the 50th government of Turkey.