Aydın Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu has filed a criminal complaint against Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Özgür Özel for alleged defamation, following her resignation from the party and decision to join the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Çerçioğlu, who was a longtime member of the CHP and has served as mayor of Aydın since 2009, left the party on Aug 14 alongside three district mayors from Aydın. Their switch to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP on the same day drew strong backlash from CHP supporters, with many accusing her of betrayal.
In response to Çerçioğlu's move, the CHP held a large rally in Aydın yesterday. Speaking at the event, party leader Özel delivered harsh criticism of Çerçioğlu, accusing her of yielding under pressure from legal investigations.
Özel displayed three folders, which he claimed contained 13 separate indictments prepared against Çerçioğlu. He said he had asked her before her departure from the party whether "you have anything you can't account for
“Do you have anything you can’t account for?” According to Özel, Çerçioğlu replied, “No, but [the government] can’t be trusted.”
“We are the CHP,” Özel said. “We don’t retreat in the face of files or slander. We stand firm behind our mayors like a rock. But she didn’t show the same courage and commitment. She didn’t even feel ashamed of her colleagues who are currently in prison.”
Özel also claimed other party members had been subjected to blackmail but had resisted pressure without compromising.
Earlier, CHP Aydın MP Bülent Tezcan made similar remarks, saying that the party was prepared to support her but that she had stopped answering calls from party officials.
“What was she supposed to say? ‘I committed corruption, I was afraid of being held accountable, so I joined the AKP’?” he said.
Crackdown on CHP
Since the 2024 local elections, in which the CHP scored significant victories against the ruling party, corruption-related investigations have intensified. Nearly 20 CHP mayors, including the now-suspended İstanbul mayor and CHP's presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, have been removed from office amid ongoing probes.
The CHP alleges that Çerçioğlu joined the AKP to avoid a similar fate. During the ceremony where she was formally welcomed into the ruling party, however, she dismissed such claims.
“I have never feared the judiciary or being prosecuted,” she said. “I do not consider the problems I experienced within the CHP to be ethically acceptable, but I am ready to explain them one by one if necessary.”
Just four days after switching parties, Çerçioğlu announced a 23 percent salary increase for all municipal employees. (VK)
