ANKARA: Turkey’s main opposition CHP was thrown into fresh disarray Saturday as court-installed leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu made his first visit to party headquarters since a controversial ruling scrapped a 2023 party primary.
Ozgur Ozel, the CHP leader ousted by the May 21 decision, called for an urgent congress, telling thousands at an Ankara rally that the party “cannot be run by an appointed leader”.
Ozel has emerged as a leading opposition figure following last year’s jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The court ruling has plunged the CHP, Turkey’s oldest political party, into a crisis. Three days after the order, riot police forced their way into the party’s headquarters in Ankara, firing tear gas in dramatic scenes that underscored the deepening turmoil.
It marked the latest move against the CHP, which scored a major victory over Erdogan’s ruling AKP in the 2024 local elections and has since gained ground in the polls.
Kilicdaroglu visited that party headquarters on Saturday to mark the final day of Eid, with a photo shared by his team on social media showing him seated at his desk with a copy of the party’s bylaws placed prominently in front of him.
“I will bring a ballot box for party congress before you as soon as possible,” Kilicdaroglu said in an address, without providing a precise date.
“We will hold a clean, completely transparent party congress,” he said.
“Our party members will build our party’s safe harbour. We will all go to that safe harbour together”.
Hamish Kinnear, principal analyst at Global Risk Insight, said Kilicdaroglu “lacks majority support and will struggle to restore his legitimacy as leader” particularly after the storming of the CHP’s headquarters.
He also said convening a congress was likely to take time as the Kilicdaroglu camp “digs in their heels and erects bureaucratic obstacles”. “And of course, while all of this plays out, the CHP will be split between the Ozel and Kilicdaroglu camps, hampering effective opposition to the government,” he told AFP.
Just 10 kilometres (six miles) away, Ozel renewed his challenge to Kilicdaroglu to contest a party primary, saying he was willing to run “with whatever delegates he wants”.
With crowds chanting “Traitor Kemal!”, Ozel said the party congress must be held “immediately”, urging Kilicdaroglu to “hold a congress at once, with whichever delegates you wish. Give the party an elected leader without delay. The CHP does not accept appointments.”
He also demanded a primary election, saying that he would give up the party leadership if he received less than 85 percent support.
“We have a historic opportunity before us. The CHP can emerge from this chaos and turbulence stronger than ever,” he said.
Ozel who now operates from parliament as the party’s legislative group leader called the court decision a government manoeuvre to win the next election, due in 2028.
“The AKP knows it can no longer win a democratic election. It knows that the Turkish people do not want it anymore,” he said.
“The target is not the CHP, the real target is the people’s determination to bring about a change in government.”
While Ozel was addressing the crowd his voice could no longer be heard because of what he said a power outrage, and then a generator had come online.
He then kickstarted a march to modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s mausoleum “with those who love me, the party and their country”.
