The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) announced on Monday that municipal assembly members elected in the 2024 local elections under a secret alliance with the Republican People’s Party (CHP) will be readmitted to the party. The move is expected to change the composition of several municipal assemblies, including Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), which is currently governed by CHP.
The controversial alliance was branded as the “urban consensus” by the DEM Party, which was back then formally known as the Green Left Party (YSP). The party never publicly admitted that they suggested candidates for municipal assemblies or for mayoral posts but had earlier announced that they would support other opposition candidates they had a “consensus” upon. Similarly, the CHP has not openly acknowledged the alliance, though it was an open secret that certain candidates had past, immediate links to the DEM Party.
The DEM Party said in a written statement that the municipal assembly members expressed their desire to return to the party after a recent meeting and the party administration agreed.
The party was an integral part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, which aims at the dissolution of the terrorist group PKK, with which the DEM Party is closely associated. It served as an intermediary between the PKK’s jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan and Parliament and remained in touch with the government more than ever, while the CHP, under Özgür Özel, escalated tensions with the government although it sought to “normalize” relations after the 2024 elections, including through a rare meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Özel. Özel was ousted as CHP chair in May due to a court verdict that also reinstated Özel’s predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, while relations with the DEM Party soured over time. The New Party (YP), founded by Özel in July, was divided over the terror-free Türkiye initiative, with some voting against a law seeking to speed up the process while the DEM Party endorsed it.
