The court-appointed leadership of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) recruited hundreds of paid attendees through casting agencies for a Jul 25 membership ceremony in İstanbul, according to an undercover report by BirGün newspaper.
Party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has faced criticism following the revelation, which prompted denials and conflicting explanations from party officials, and legal action against journalists.
BirGün reported that the recruits were paid 950 liras (~20 US dollars) each to attend the event, where Kılıçdaroğlu welcomed new members to the party. Ebru Çelik, a reporter for the newspaper, joined the event undercover after registering with one of the agencies.
According to the report, participants gathered at a shopping mall in the Şişli district before being transported by shuttle buses to the venue in Sarıyer. Many reportedly believed they had been hired as extras for a film or commercial rather than for a political event. The newspaper said attendees were instructed to applaud, chant slogans in support of Kılıçdaroğlu, and wave CHP and Turkish flags during the ceremony.
Kılıçdaroğlu returned to the CHP leadership in May after a court annulled the party’s 2023 leadership congress, ruling that the election in which he lost the chairpersonship after 14 years had been tainted by irregularities where delegates were promised money and party positions.
Following the ruling, former CHP chair Özgür Özel left the party founded the New (Yeni) Party. Ninety-one of the CHP’s 135 deputies joined this party, making it the largest opposition group in parliament and ending the CHP’s 24-year status as the main opposition party.
Turkey’s main opposition party officially splits as Özel declares New Party
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Conflicting statements from CHP
The CHP leadership initially denied the allegations that attendees had been hired.
The party’s İstanbul provincial chair Gürsel Tekin later acknowledged that paid attendees had been present but claimed they had been recruited as part of a plot targeting the current party leadership. During a press conference yesterday, Tekin played an audio recording in which a party member insulted reporter Çelik. She responded to this on social media, saying that she will initiate legal proceedings against the insults.
The Press Workers (Basın-İş) union condemned Tekin’s remarks, saying targeting journalists and media outlets was unacceptable and threatened press freedom.
Tekin also filed a criminal complaint against Çelik, the newspaper’s web editors, and Sözcü TV journalists, alleging defamation, spreading misleading information, and insult. He argued that the reports were false and claimed CHP had never worked with casting agencies for its events.
BirGün released multiple videos supporting its reporting.
The owner of one of the casting agencies later acknowledged during a TV100 broadcast recruiting people for the ceremony but said it had done so on its own initiative and that the CHP administration had neither requested nor financed the operation. (VK)
Source: BIANET
