Deposed Turkish Opposition Leader Announces Plans for New Party
Ozel says the splinter party will seek to unite most CHP lawmakers and strengthen the opposition after a court annulled his leadership.
- On Tuesday, opposition leader Ozgur Ozel announced his resignation from the Republican People's Party to establish a new political movement after a court order stripped him of his chairmanship.
- An appeals court ruling in May 2026 annulled the 2023 party congress vote, citing irregularities, and reinstated former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, effectively stripping Ozel of his leadership role.
- Addressing more than 80 lawmakers, Ozel described the ruling as a politically motivated "coup" amid a two-year legal crackdown, expecting many of the 135 CHP legislators to defect.
- Criminal investigations alleging corruption in CHP-run municipalities have led to hundreds of detentions, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, imprisoned since March last year.
- Analysts suggest this internal chaos could boost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's prospects for the 2028 election, while the government denies judicial interference and the new party Yeni Parti launches this week.
86 Articles
86 Articles
The main opposition party in Turkey, the CHP, has split in two. Party leader Ozgür Ozel, recently removed from office by a court, has the...
The deposed leader of the largest Turkish opposition party CHP, Özgür Özel, wants to form a new party. Many members of the faction should follow him. It remains unclear whether Özel can stand up against the Turkish judiciary.
The deposed head of the Kemalist CHP, Özgür Özel, announces the founding of a new party. It is not only a symbolic step for the party of the founder of the state Atatürk. Polls see Özel's party in the upswing. It does not even have a name.
"We will become the largest opposition party in the Grand National Assembly by a wide margin," he said in his speech, two months after the court ruling that led to his removal from the CHP leadership.
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