The ousted general secretary of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, stated on 11 June that the formation of a splinter party from the CHP alongside his supporters is not currently on the table, describing that possibility as an “apocalyptic scenario” that would only be considered as a worst-case scenario or a last resort if the issue is not solved; all this whilst internal tensions and power struggles are mounting within the main opposition party.
Özel, who currently holds the post of chairman of the parliamentary group of the CHP, pointed out that his main objective is not to leave the party or found a new one, but to regain control of the CHP. “But we have an apocalyptic scenario. The court case is ongoing, they are not going to hold a congress and early elections are approaching. What are we going to do? We will nominate the right candidate and hand the list over to another party. But this is an apocalyptic scenario,” he insisted during a televised interview with Halk TV, reported by Turkish news agencies, in which he accused the current CHP leadership of being out of touch with the party’s voters.
“Some are opening the gates of hell so that this apocalypse occurs as soon as possible, so that the flames of hell consume us quickly. What does it mean to select nine party members (to be expelled) and intimidate the rest? What does it mean to call mayors and say things like: ‘We cannot protect those who support Özgür Özel; we have received assurances that the AKP will not touch the rest’, mixing bizarre threats with false hopes? This is unacceptable. This is not politics,” he said, denouncing pressure within the political party.
“They are making things impossible, taking precautionary measures and driving the issue to a dead end,” he said, referring to the reinstated leadership under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. “They are attempting to expel nine of our comrades from the party in an irregular manner. If they succeed, the party will lose, but in reality, Turkey will lose. The electoral strategy of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is to leave the party that can defeat them without candidates, without institutions and without leaders,” said Özel, who accuses Erdoğan‘s party of being behind the extremely serious crisis in the main opposition party.
Kılıçdaroğlu: “Özel is not seeking unity, but to create another party”
Speculation that Özel might push for the formation of another political party has been the subject of growing rumours since 21 May, when a high court in Ankara ordered that the former CHP secretary-general, Kılıçdaroğlu, be reinstated as leader of the main opposition party due to alleged irregularities at the November 2023 congress, at which Özel was elected as his successor. Many of Özel’s supporters have in fact gone so far as to propose this idea to him following the ruling that removed him from the CHP presidency.
During yesterday’s meeting of the Party Council, 29 council members aligned with Özel (out of a total of 57 members) tabled their resignations in an attempt to paralyse the body’s functioning and force the convening of an extraordinary congress of the CHP, though ultimately without success. Kılıçdaroğlu criticised their stance, stating that “their aim is not unity, but to form a different party”.
The meeting in fact went ahead as planned despite the absence of almost half of its members. According to reports in the Turkish media, during the meeting it was agreed to hold a party congress but – in line with Kılıçdaroğlu’s approach – without a specific date and not before a final court ruling has been issued, pending the appeal lodged by Özel’s faction before the Supreme Court.
Kılıçdaroğlu is considering not standing as a candidate
According to sources present at the meeting cited by the press, several members argued that “a congress should be held immediately”, to which Kılıçdaroğlu replied: “That is also our intention”. When Gürsel Erol – MP for the province of Elazığ – asked Kılıçdaroğlu to publicly announce that he would not stand as a candidate, he replied: “I have already announced that I would steer the process to a safe harbour and then step aside. If necessary, I will announce that too.”
Following yesterday’s meeting, the CHP spokesperson (appointed by Kılıçdaroğlu), Müslim Sarı, criticised the resignations of members of the Özel-aligned faction from the Party Assembly. “Legally, it is impossible for the Party Council to cease functioning, to be deemed dissolved, or for a party congress to be convened as a result of these resignations. Given that we assumed our duties with the authorisation of the Ankara court (which issued the ruling of 21 May), the resignations must also be assessed by the competent court.”
The spokesperson maintained that the number of remaining members on the Party Council is irrelevant and added: “It is quite clear that the provision in our statutes that applies when the number falls below 40 cannot be applied in this case,” he concluded, completely dismissing the strategy of Özel and his supporters to force an emergency congress of the CHP.
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
