The office of Özgür Özel, who was ousted from his post as chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) last May, announced that they would seek an extraordinary congress in a reelection bid. They formally applied to a local court for an order to the new administration to hold the congress.
An Ankara court has ruled that Özel’s tenure was null and void in a case where his associates were accused of buying votes during a 2023 intraparty election. Özel won that election, ending the lengthy rule of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Kılıçdaroğlu was reinstated to the office after the May verdict. Since then, Özel and his supporters have been plotting a return to the administration of Türkiye’s oldest party.
Kılıçdaroğlu has signaled that his administration may soon hold a congress for a new election, but Özel, who is now reduced to the job of parliamentary group chair of the CHP, sought to speed up the process before the 2028 general elections, which may also be rescheduled to 2027.
Özel’s office said they collected signatures of 833 delegates for a petition for a new congress. The statement said the signatures were delivered to the Kılıçdaroğlu administration on June 17, in line with the legal deadline, but the administration failed to act upon the call. “In line with Article 75 of Turkish Civil Law, application by one member of the administrative board of the party is sufficient to hold a meeting, for formation of a delegation to organize the congress,” the statement said.
Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu are engaged in a well-publicized row over the future of the divided CHP. Kılıçdaroğlu earlier vowed to "cleanse" the CHP of corruption associated with Özel supporters in the party while Özel accused him of serving the interests of the government to disrupt what he calls CHP’s rise to power.
Özel has signaled earlier that he may establish a new party. Speaking to private broadcaster TV100 on Monday, Kılıçdaroğlu said he would respect Özel’s “fight” within the party. “But they have no right to run a parallel structure in the party,” he said, referring to Özel’s nationwide campaign to seek support while the Kılıçdaroğlu administration continues to expel provincial branch directors of the CHP loyal to Özel.
“We may have a debate among ourselves, but we cannot be divided. If they decided to split because I am purging the corrupt ones, this is a grave situation,” he said. “You cannot remain in the party, remain its parliamentary group chair while working to establish a new party,” he stated.
