Turkey opposition crisis: 95 of 135 CHP lawmakers back Özel’s planned new party

An overwhelming majority of lawmakers from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) have publicly backed court-ousted leader Özgür Özel’s plan to establish a new political party, according to a review of lawmakers’ social media accounts by bianet. 

The review found that 95 of the CHP’s 135 members of parliament have declared support for Özel’s initiative. Twenty-one lawmakers voiced support for the current party leadership under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, while 18 have not publicly disclosed their position. 

This would make the new party the second-largest group in the parliament after the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The CHP, meanwhile, would have the seventh-largest group.

Özel announced yesterday that he would found a new party after legal challenges to his removal as CHP leader failed to conclude before the judicial recess that began on Jul 20. 

Leadership crisis at CHP 

The move follows a months-long leadership crisis triggered by a court ruling that invalidated the CHP’s Nov 2023 leadership congress over alleged irregularities. Özel had defeated Kılıçdaroğlu at that congress, ending the latter’s 14-year tenure as party leader.

In May, the court ruled that delegates had been improperly influenced through money and promises of party positions, removed Özel from office, and reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu as party leader. Police later entered CHP headquarters and removed party members who resisted the ruling. 

Özel’s faction appealed the decision to the Court of Cassation, the country’s highest appeals court, but the case was not taken up before the judicial recess. The group also sought an extraordinary party congress, arguing that enough delegates had signed a petition to convene one. Özel accused Kılıçdaroğlu’s administration of refusing to call the congress despite meeting the required threshold. 

Division began after 2023 election

The party’s internal conflict dates back to the aftermath of the May 2023 presidential election, in which Kılıçdaroğlu lost to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. İstanbul’s suspended mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, subsequently led calls for change within the CHP and backed Özel’s successful leadership bid.

Following the congress, members of the losing faction filed lawsuits alleging that Özel’s and İmamoğlu’s supporters secured delegate votes through financial incentives and party appointments.

İmamoğlu, whom Özel later declared the CHP’s presidential candidate, was detained in March last year as part of a corruption investigation and has remained in prison while facing several trials. Since then, authorities have expanded investigations to CHP-run municipalities, suspending dozens of mayors, including those of Antalya, Adana, and Bursa. 

Özel and İmamoğlu’s allies argue that the investigations are politically motivated and intended to weaken the opposition after the CHP handed President Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) its worst local election defeat in 2024. The government rejects the allegation, noting that some witnesses and complainants in the investigations are also CHP members. (VK)