Once the opposition’s only hope of beating incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the presidential candidate of a six-party alliance in 2023, fell far from leading the opposition. His fortunes vastly improved, though, as the former leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was reinstated to his post. Now, he aspires to restore the party to its heyday as the main opposition.
Turkish media outlets reported that the veteran politician will hit the road in October, seeking to reach out to the party’s dwindling supporters after the party split in July, when Kılıçdaroğlu’s successor, Özgür Özel, left to establish the New Party (YP).
Kılıçdaroğlu aims to restructure the CHP, whose leadership was taken over by Özel after a 2023 intraparty election, ahead of a planned congress. When Kılıçdaroğlu began his ambitious campaign to “cleanse” the CHP of corruption allegedly linked to Özel’s associates, including mayors arrested on bribery charges, he was branded a “traitor” by the Özel camp, which also claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu would not even go out for fear of being booed. Kılıçdaroğlu made a few field trips over the summer and managed to attract crowds, but it may take more than that to keep the CHP intact after the YP grabbed the coveted title of “main opposition” by transferring most of the CHP’s lawmakers.
Apart from a few instances, Kılıçdaroğlu has not faced a dire reaction, and in some cases, the events he attended drew large crowds. Encouraged by this, the party launched a timetable for a congress and started appointing new names to local branches.
In October, Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to visit Istanbul and the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır and Şırnak. Like Özel, he is expected to focus on economic issues during his revival campaign, a favorite subject of Özel in his efforts to bring the opposition to power.
In predominantly Kurdish Diyarbakır, Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to hold talks with locals on terror-free Türkiye, an initiative backed by the government to end the PKK’s campaign of terrorism, which has long exploited the Kurdish community under the guise of fighting for so-called Kurdish self-rule in the southeast.
After Özel’s departure, the CHP also lost several mayors to the YP, while Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş remained. Yavaş, a possible contender for a future presidential race, is an influential figure for a party that has been reduced to a pale shade of its former self in recent months.
Yavaş, however, may leave the party soon, according to unconfirmed reports. The mayor’s meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week triggered rumors and outrage among opposition supporters who believe he may collude with the opposition’s main rival. Yavaş denied the claims, while Özel said he had been notified of the unprecedented meeting beforehand.
Yet, Yavaş’s political future remains ambiguous. Media reports say Yavaş may leave the party by the end of September. A report by broadcaster A Haber says Yavaş will be invited to a meeting of CHP mayors at the end of this month and may skip the meeting. This, in turn, will likely prompt disciplinary proceedings against Yavaş, who has remained on good terms with both the YP and CHP after the split.
A Haber reported that some CHP lawmakers lobbied for Yavaş’s expulsion from the party due to his ambiguous loyalty and that Yavaş may resign before disciplinary action is launched.
