The spokesperson for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan‘s AKP party, Ömer Çelik, has described the serious events that took place yesterday at the CHP headquarters in Ankara as an internal matter for the main opposition party, rejecting all accusations levelled against Erdoğan or the AKP of being involved in an internal crisis that threatens to split the CHP in two, and pointing out that it was members of the opposition party itself who decided to take the matter to court due to disagreements within the political party.
Çelik has recently commented on the ruling of “absolute nullity” issued unanimously on 21 May by the Ankara Regional Supreme Court regarding the election in November 2023 of Özgür Özel as the new leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) to replace Kılıçdaroğlu, as well as on the police intervention that took place yesterday at the party’s headquarters in Ankara, during which riot police forcibly removed Özel and his supporters from the building, to which they were refusing entry to Kılıçdaroğlu’s supporters. According to the AKP spokesperson, the debate among CHP members and the internal conflict within that party has turned into a “politics of lies”, in which some are attempting to deliberately manipulate the situation and implicate the AKP.
“In particular, Mr Özgür Özel, in an attempt to conceal his own weaknesses and political shortcomings, constantly uses disrespectful language towards our President (Erdoğan) and adopts an inappropriate political style. And, unfortunately, we have also seen some of those gathered there (at yesterday’s protests at the CHP headquarters) using extremely inappropriate language against the Presidency and against our President,” he stated, as quoted by the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet.
“Of course, we have a very respectful attitude towards political protest and political criticism. But when it comes to blackmail, threats, excessive language and insults, let me make this very clear: we will never tolerate political thuggery or political vandalism,” Çelik warned. “We have great respect for our citizens who support the Republican People’s Party, and who went there (yesterday) to exercise their right to demonstrate and their right to criticise. However, we will also hold accountable in court those who infiltrated their ranks and used that repugnant rhetoric, those who employed that threatening, blackmailing and insulting language against the Presidency, our party and our colleagues,” added the AKP representative.
“No political party is involved in the CHP’s internal disputes”
Çelik recalled that the current crisis within the Turkish opposition stems not from intervention by the AKP or Erdoğan, but from internal conflicts and power struggles within the CHP, which have intensified particularly following the electoral defeat in the 2023 presidential elections, as well as the subsequent judicial investigation into certain allegations of corruption and vote rigging within the party; for all these reasons, he emphasised that no political party — neither the AKP, nor the People’s Alliance (comprising the AKP, MHP and other parties), nor other opposition groups — has been involved in the process leading to the judicial decision.
“No political party — neither the AKP, nor the People’s Alliance, nor other opposition parties — has been involved in this matter in any way. The initial allegations (against the CHP) were made by individuals who had held positions as MPs, mayors and administrators within the Republican People’s Party itself, and who continue to play an active role in politics within the party. And instead of seriously considering and evaluating these allegations, the CHP leadership, led by Özgür Özel, chose a different path. And as a result of these allegations, the judiciary took action,” said Çelik.
“The evidence found by the courts and the decisions taken by the judiciary (reinstating Kılıçdaroğlu) have led to the current situation. Therefore, repeatedly attempting to portray us as if we were a party to this matter is a strategy that Özgür Özel’s administration and his team have employed from the outset to try to cover up their own problems,” noted the AKP spokesperson, who also sought to respond to Özel’s accusations regarding an alleged influence of the judiciary on political activity by recalling that, since the very founding of the AKP, it has always fought against concepts such as judicial tutelage and the involvement of judges in political life.
“Mr Özgür Özel says this constantly. He claims that ‘politics is being shaped by the judiciary’… The AKP’s political struggle and the resolve it has demonstrated during Turkey’s most significant democratic struggle have consisted precisely of opposing both judicial tutelage and the (political) activism of judges, just as we have opposed military tutelage. For that reason, we have always firmly defended the supremacy and inviolability of civil politics. Judicial activism, judicial oversight or the shaping of politics through judicial activity are not politics. They are anti-politics. And therefore, they are contrary to democracy. And we have fought against all of that”, he concluded.
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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.
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