Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is still a devout member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), but his successor Özgür Özel is apparently intent on undoing his legacy at Türkiye’s oldest party.
Months of congresses on the local level led to major reshuffles in the party’s branches. The reshuffles, however, are viewed as Özel’s attempt to purge internal dissent, especially by those loyal to Kılıçdaroğlu, who ruled the party for 13 years before losing an election to Özel in 2023.
In recent congresses, some 300 district chairs of the CHP and 20 provincial chairs, all elected during Kılıçdaroğlu’s tenure, lost their seats.
The party strives to maintain a picture of unity and refers to internal strife as mere democratic disagreements, but congresses accompanied by delegate elections point otherwise. Few congresses went without scuffles between different factions in the party. In some cases, the Özel administration sacked local representatives for not endorsing the candidates for district chairs that the administration had exclusively picked. A report by Sabah newspaper says voter turnout remained around 25% in the election of delegates and district chairs.
The report on Sabah says the administration dealt a blow to dissent with the congresses by replacing one chairperson in every three district offices, mostly those close to Kılıçdaroğlu.
Elsewhere, the Özel administration utilized disciplinary proceedings to muzzle dissent. In the past 10 months, more than 400 party members were referred to the disciplinary board, and within the past few months, more prominent figures of the party, including Gürsel Tekin, Barış Yarkadaş and Berhan Şimşek, faced disciplinary action for criticizing Özel’s policies. The party is tight-lipped in most disciplinary cases, but expelled members are known for their outspoken views, something that contradicts the CHP’s claim of embracing contrasting opinions among its members.
