Turkey: Leadership dispute engulfs opposition CHP

Ozgur Ozel said he would not leave the center-left Republican People’s Party (CHP) and called for party members to vote for a new leader. Kemal Kilicdaroglu said the party should hold a conference where delegates choose a new leader and said there was no alternative to that approach. A Turkish court annulled the CHP’s 2023 leadership primary results that had elected Ozel, reinstating Kilicdaroglu. The dispute follows legal setbacks for the opposition CHP and its figures, which supporters allege reflect a coordinated government plot to weaken the opposition. The government denies the allegations. Ozel rejected speculation about forming a rival party and said no one should resign or leave the party.

"“We have no intention of setting up a rival party,” Ozel said, according to the BirGun newspaper. “There are those who say we should resign, but no one should leave the party or resign. We will resolve this issue.” Ozel urged the party leadership to be decided by a vote among its 2 million members, and he said he hoped Kilicdaroglu would not attempt to lead a party he was not democratically elected to head."

"Ozel dismissed speculation he could form a new party and said, “We have no intention of setting up a rival party.” He added that “There are those who say we should resign, but no one should leave the party or resign. We will resolve this issue.” He called for a vote among CHP’s 2 million members and said, “We hope Kilicdaroglu will not attempt to lead a party he was not democratically elected to head.”"

"A Turkish court annulled the results of the CHP's 2023 leadership primary vote that elected Ozel as leader. The ruling reinstated his defeated rival Kilicdaroglu. It represented the latest in a string of legal setbacks for the opposition CHP and its leading figures, which its supporters allege are part of a coordinated plot orchestrated by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to hobble the opposition. The government rejects such claims."

"Meanwhile, the CHP's interim leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said that the party should hold a conference where delegates pick a new leader, saying there was “no alternative” to this course of action. Ozel said he would not be leaving the CHP and called for party members to vote for a new leader. The leadership dispute centers on how the next CHP leader should be chosen after the court annulled the 2023 primary results."

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