A court in Ankara rejected on Friday the appeal lodged at the last minute by the current leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party, the CHP (Republican People’s Party), against the ruling issued on Thursday which annulled the congress held in November 2023 – at which the party’s current leader, Özgür Özel, was elected — and reinstated former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the party’s secretary-general.
With this ruling, the Ankara Regional Court of Appeal upheld its unanimous decision made less than 24 hours earlier and dismissed the appeal filed on behalf of Özel, leaving the party with the option of taking the case to the Supreme Court of Appeals. If that court also upholds the decision, the ruling will become final under Turkish law, bringing the dispute to an end and confirming the reinstatement of Kılıçdaroğlu as leader of the opposition in Turkey.
The controversial ruling issued yesterday, which has sent shockwaves through Turkish politics, concluded that the irregularities detected during the CHP congress held on 4 and 5 November 2023, at which Özgür Özel was elected as the new leader of the opposition, affected the delegates’ free will, thereby rendering the vote to elect the leadership of the Republican People’s Party legally invalid. The court ruling cites allegations that some delegates received offers of money, local government posts, jobs and other benefits in exchange for supporting Özel during the congress that brought an end to Kılıçdaroğlu’s 13-year leadership.
The CHP’s current leadership has rejected the ruling, and shortly after learning of it, Özel vowed yesterday “not to surrender” and to remain personally “day and night” at the party headquarters in Ankara, accusing the court of issuing a politically motivated verdict: “Our crime is having made the CHP the leading party after 47 years, defeating the AKP for the first time since its foundation. Erdoğan aims to leave the nation without candidates, without alternatives,” he said, accusing the high court of being part of “the judicial branches of the AKP”.
Özel refuses to speak with Kılıçdaroğlu, announces “resistance”
The leader of the opposition confirmed that the CHP will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK), and warned that the party has a “plan of resistance”, though without offering further details. He also confirmed that Kılıçdaroğlu had telephoned him after the court ruling was announced, though he had not returned the call. “What exactly were we going to discuss about?” Özel stated.
The court ruling has sparked criticism from various opposition political forces in Türkiye, including the İYİ Party and the pro-Kurdish Party for Equality and Democracy of the Peoples (DEM). For his part, the leader of the MHP, Devlet Bahçeli, an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has called on the warring factions within the CHP to act with sensibility to avoid damaging the main opposition party.
“At this moment, statements such as ‘we do not recognise the court ruling’ are pointless and unnecessary,” emphasised Bahçeli. “Reason must prevail within the CHP. Mr Kılıçdaroğlu must assume a historical responsibility to avoid harming this long-standing institution and causing chaos. He should declare that he is withdrawing his candidacy to meet with Özgür Özel and work out a common approach on the future of the CHP,” he said in comments reported by Turkish newspapers.
A ruling that exacerbates divisions and tensions within the CHP
The controversial ruling has highlighted more than ever the growing internal divisions within the main opposition party. Some CHP MPs in Turkish parliament who are critical of Özel have backed the court ruling and called for unity around Kılıçdaroğlu, whilst others aligned with Özel have closed ranks around the party’s current secretary-general, criticising what they describe as a judicial intervention in the party’s internal affairs.
Meanwhile, CHP party sources quoted by various media outlets have indicated that, following the ruling, Kılıçdaroğlu “is currently monitoring developments from outside the party headquarters, and intends to continue observing how events unfold from distance for some time”.
The section of the party aligned with Kılıçdaroğlu has reacted to the ruling by accusing the current leadership of bringing the CHP to this situation: “It was not us who took this party to court. The party needs to remain completely on the sidelines of this process. We issued a warning six months ago… We told them to remove the rotten apples within the party. However, the leadership did not do so. The current situation the party finds itself in is their responsibility”.
According to these same sources, the appeals that the current leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party plans to lodge with the Supreme Electoral Council and the Supreme Court will not succeed, and will just prolong the process, further deepening the crisis within the CHP. “We have already seen a similar case in the past with Meral Akşener during the MHP congress,” they point out, recalling the dispute that led to the former minister being expelled from the nationalist party and founding the İYİ Parti. Some CHP MPs close to Kılıçdaroğlu go further and add: “Mr Kemal (Kılıçdaroğlu) has already done his part; he has called Mr Özgür (Özel). Now, it is up to them to act responsibly.”
VOTE
EDITORIAL TEAM
🧿 About us
.
Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
…
📣 Your ADVERTISING on Hispanatolia
.
🤗 HELP US WITH A DONATION:
💗 Paypal
