Turkey: Leadership dispute engulfs opposition CHP

Turkey's ousted opposition leader Ozgur Ozel on Wednesday said he would not be leaving the center-left Republican People's Party (CHP) and called for party members to vote for a new leader.

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. 

Why is there a leadership dispute in Turkey's main opposition party?

Last week, 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.

What Ozgur Ozel says about the future of the CHP

Attending a ceremony amid the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha in the western city of Izmir, Ozel dismissed speculation he could form a new 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.

"We hope Kilicdaroglu will not attempt to lead a party he was not democratically elected to head," Ozel said. 

Ozel was named party leader in 2023. He came to prominence partly as the CHP secured a string of local election wins in 2024, putting pressure on Erdogan and his longstanding Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. 

His profile was bolstered further in the widespread protests after the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, formerly the CHP's designated presidential candidate to challenge Erdogan, was detained in March 2025 and later charged with corruption and other offense. 

Following last week's court decision, Ozel's supporters barricaded themselves inside the CHP headquarters in protest. Police forcibly removed them on Sunday. 

How Kemal Kilicdaroglu sees the CHP conflict

Kilicdaroglu, 77, is a CHP veteran who's been at or near the party's zenith for years but who has not been able to defeat Erdogan in past elections — most notably his narrow defeat in 2023's presidential head-to-head runoff. 

He said the dispute should be resolved through a party congress.

Once the legal conditions to do so were met, a leadership vote "will be held, there is no alternative," he told reporters. 

He said it had to take place on a legal basis and follow party rules. 

Kilicdaroglu also dispelled talk of expulsions from the party, saying any such steps would have to follow established rules. 

He criticized Ozel's supporters for occupying the CHP headquarters, saying to close the building to the public and lawmakers was an inappropriate response to the court decision.

Turkish opposition vows to fight ousting of leader

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What the CHP turmoil means for Erdogan 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meanwhile attended Eid al-Adha ceremonies in Istanbul on Wednesday. 

In charge of Turkey since 2003 — first as prime minister, then as president once he redefined that role to carry most of the political clout in 2014 — Erdogan and his AK Party's dominance over the country's politics has been gradually eroding, culminating in his roughly 52-48% win over Kilicdaroglu in 2023.

The AFP news agency spoke to a string of Turkish political analysts on Wednesday, all of whom concurred that early elections were appearing ever more likely amid the upheaval within the CHP. 

"From Erdogan's perspective, early elections could be advantageous if the CHP is forced to enter the process divided, legally constrained and internally exhausted," Seren Selvin Korkmaz, co-founder of the Istanbul Political Research Institute, told AFP.

This scenario would also enable Erdogan to circumvent Turkey's rules on term limits. These limit him to two consecutive terms of up to five years. Erdogan is already in his third term, but the rules only came into effect starting with his second term. If snap elections are held before term limit is reached, the rule becomes void and the 72-year-old could run again.

Meanwhile, legal action has continued against several CHP figures.

In addition to the jailing of against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, more than a dozen other CHP mayors have been arrested and charged with various offenses. 

Erdogan and his supporters call this the result of rampant rule of law problems in the opposition's ranks, his detractors call it a bid to undermine and sideline his rivals in the courts.

Edited by: Rob Turner

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