Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairperson Özgür Özel has denied any power struggle he may have with his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, dismissing speculations of internal strife in Türkiye’s main opposition party.
“Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu and I have no disagreements,” Özel said Tuesday after meeting with the CHP’s former leader for dinner on Sunday to discuss what he called ideas for the anticipated changes within the CHP’s charter.
The party is convening its charter congress on Wednesday, heeding demands from members to amend CHP bylaws after the party underperformed in last year’s general and presidential elections.
Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost the presidential race to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was unseated from CHP chairpersonship in a hurried intra-party election last November and replaced by Özel, who broke the CHP’s historic ceiling of 25% nationwide support in the March 31 local elections.
The party, however, has been plagued by a deepening rift between remaining Kılıçdaroğlu supporters forming a front against Özel and another faction emerging on behalf of the CHP’s popular mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoğlu, known for presidential ambitions of his own, who helped Özel take the reins from Kılıçdaroğlu last year.
Many members have quit the party in recent months, criticizing what they called the “imbalance” and “straying from core values” at the secularist party.
More recently, Kılıçdaroğlu reasserted his involvement with a declaration last month titled “I’m still here.” Rumors suggest he may challenge Özel in an intraparty election, although he also has friends in the CHP's party council that might support Imamoğlu in such a scenario.
Meanwhile, Özel’s administration is under fire for allegedly sidelining members loyal to Kılıçdaroğlu, with some facing disciplinary action from the party.
Özel on Tuesday insisted he and Kılıçdaroğlu only discussed “venues of risk” for the CHP at their dinner meeting, hosted by Ankara mayor Mansur Yavaş, encouraged by some members to assume a more active role in the bid for CHP leadership, if not the 2028 presidential race.
He claimed Kılıçdaroğlu was equally irked by infighting rumors.
“I am too bothered by the fact that the CHP is being portrayed as if there is a problem within the party as if there are disagreements with the former and current chairmen,” Özel said.
Wednesday’s congress is expected to be a decisive moment for the CHP as it seeks to ride its latest election success to increase its nationwide support.
Özel, who has been vocal about the need for reform, also said the party is preparing to introduce a three-term limit for lawmakers and preliminary elections for women and youths.
