Özgür Özel, the apparatchik turned Turkey's chief opponent

Özgür Özel, the apparatchik turned Turkey's chief opponent

The leader of the Republican People's Party, the main opposition force in the country, relentlessly denounces the authoritarian drift of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. New anti-government protests are planned for Sunday.

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel talked to Ruşen Çakır about the possibilities of appointing trustees, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's statements and his party's road map.

CHP leader Özgür Özel has once again described AKP President Erdoğan as the ‘head of the junta’. Özel said, “There is a junta at the head of every coup. The headquarters of this junta is Beştepe, the palace. Of course, every coup has weapons. If it is a soldier, it is a tank, it is a rifle. The weapon of a civilian coup like today is the judiciary.” CHP Chairman Özgür Özel is making evaluations on the agenda at his party’s group meeting in the T…

Speaking at his party’s group meeting, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel announced the cost of the March 19 political coup and attacked Minister Mehmet Şimşek. Özel also touched on the TÜGVA instructor who had İmamoğlu’s diploma cancelled, which Cumhuriyet brought to the agenda, and said that they are examining one by one those who signed the diploma cancellation. The CHP leader also responded to Devlet Bahçeli from the podium.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli targeted the CHP and CHP leader Özgür Özel and said, “It should not be considered an exaggerated, incidental and superficial assessment to say that the CHP headquarters building was moved to Silivri unofficially, in absentia and illegally as a shanty house.”

AK Party spokesman Ömer Çelik harshly criticized CHP leader Özgür Müzel's remarks towards President Erdogan. Comparing the rhetoric of the Special to the far-right in Europe, Çelik argued that he lacked knowledge of political history and concepts. He declared the special a “brand of unqualified politics.”