Turkey's ousted opposition leader leaves CHP to found new party
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A court ruling in late May removed Özgür Özel as leader of the CHP and reinstated former chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
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Özel previously said preparations were underway to establish a new party if legal efforts to reverse the ruling failed
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More than 80 of the CHP’s 135 deputies reportedly support Özel and are expected to join the new party, which could make it the second-largest after Erdoğan's AKP
Özgür Özel, the ousted leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), bid farewell to the party today and outlined plans to establish a new political movement.
Speaking at his final CHP parliamentary group meeting, Özel said preparations for the new party’s formation were continuing.
"Today, we stand on the threshold of a sorrowful farewell whose time has come and that we have been forced to make. However, I also want to share with our nation that we carry within us the unwavering hope of a new beginning," he said.
"Our party is now under the captivity and occupation of a system confined by annulment rulings," Özel remarked, referring to a court ruling that removed him from office in May due to alleged irregularities in the 2023 leadership congress where he was elected.
Police storm CHP headquarters after leadership ouster
'Ousted because of refusing to collaborate'
Özel also claimed in his speech that he could remain the party leader if he collaborated with the ruling bloc.
He said he had received “immoral offers” had been told he could remain party leader "until the age of 80" if he stopped supporting Ekrem İmamoğlu, the imprisoned and suspended mayor of İstanbul, whom the CHP had declared its presidential candidate under his leadership.
Özel had previously said formal steps could be taken in late July if legal efforts to regain control of the CHP failed.
New party could become 'main opposition'
Özel’s decision will effectively split the CHP, the republic’s founding party. A list circulating in political circles identified 83 lawmakers, including Özel, who were reportedly preparing to leave the CHP and join the new party. The CHP holds 135 seats in parliament. The lawmakers have not collectively confirmed the report.
Özel did not name the deputies expected to join him but said all MPs who had not explicitly announced their support for the current leadership “will be together with us.”
If the reports are accurate, Özel’s new party could become the main opposition party, a designation granted under Turkish law to the opposition party with the largest parliamentary representation.
Under the current seat distribution, no opposition party has more than 80 MPs. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds 277 seats.
Background
The plans for a new party follow a leadership crisis triggered by a court ruling that declared the CHP’s Nov 2023 congress legally invalid over alleged irregularities. Özel had won the congress, ending Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s 14-year tenure as party leader.
The court removed Özel from office in May and reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu. Police later entered the CHP headquarters and removed party members who resisted the ruling.
Özel’s faction appealed the ruling to the Court of Cassation, the country's top appeals court, and separately requested an extraordinary party congress. Özel said the new party would be formally established if those legal proceedings failed to produce a result before the judicial recess beginning on Jul 20.
He also accused Kılıçdaroğlu’s administration of refusing to convene an extraordinary congress despite a petition signed by a sufficient number of delegates.
CHP's appeals against leadership removal rejected as Kılıçdaroğlu set to take office
The CHP’s internal split emerged after Kılıçdaroğlu lost the May 2023 presidential election to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. İstanbul's now-suspended Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu subsequently led a campaign for change within the party and backed Özel’s leadership bid.
Members of the losing faction filed lawsuits following the congress, alleging that Özel and İmamoğlu’s supporters secured delegate votes through money and party positions.
İmamoğlu, whom Özel declared the CHP’s presidential candidate, was detained in March last year as part of a corruption investigation. He has since remained in prison while facing several trials. After this, the crackdown expanded to other municipalites controlled by the CHP, with more than 30 mayors suspended, including those of major cities like Antalya, Adana and Bursa.
The Özel-İmamoğlu bloc claims investigations targeting CHP-led municipalities are politically motivated and intended to weaken the opposition, especially after the 2024 local election, where the opposition inflicted an unprecedented loss on Erdoğan's AKP. The ruling bloc denies the allegation, noting that some witnesses and complainants in the cases are also CHP members.
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