With his career in the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) uncertain, party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is reportedly seeking to convince supporters of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) to join his party. Media reports said Kılıçdaroğlu held a secret meeting with dissidents within DEVA, led by former Justice and Development Party (AK Party) member Ali Babacan. A party member who resigned from DEVA and 13 other leading party branches in Istanbul confirmed the meeting, while Babacan said he was “saddened” with the development.
DEVA was a member of the six-party Nation’s Alliance led by the CHP, which challenged incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his AK Party during May’s general elections. The alliance was in tatters after Kılıçdaroğlu’s crushing defeat to Erdoğan, while the CHP leader found himself in an intra-party battle for his seat. The CHP will hold elections next month where Kılıçdaroğlu will face contenders for the leadership he has retained since 2010.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Babacan said he was worried upon hearing about Kılıçdaroğlu’s meeting, but said it was “not something extraordinary as such things happen before every election,” referring to the March 2024 municipal elections. “We were aware that some of our branch leaders were preparing to resign for a while,” he said. Babacan’s deputy Idris Şahin has earlier slammed Kılıçdaroğlu and said it was “a shame” to hold such a meeting.
Halis Kahriman, Esenyurt branch head of DEVA in Istanbul, who announced his resignation along with other party members on Wednesday, has said at a news conference that day that they decided to resign as the party leadership ignored their call to nominate their own candidates in last May’s legislative elections. Speaking to pro-CHP Cumhuriyet newspaper during an interview, Kahriman claimed some 20,000 members of DEVA would resign in November and together, they would join another party. However, he did not name the CHP or any other party.
