Ankara, Turkey. Rival leaders of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party announced plans to address party lawmakers at competing meetings on Tuesday, escalating a standoff that could deepen a crisis among President Tayyip Erdogan’s challengers. One leader was elected by the party, while the other was reinstated by court order after a ruling that critics described as politicised.
Court ruling deepens CHP dispute
A Turkish court last month annulled the CHP’s 2023 congress that elected Ozgur Ozel as chairman, citing irregularities. The court also reinstated former party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost to Erdogan in the 2023 presidential election.
The ruling affected financial markets and intensified tensions within the CHP, with critics saying the move was politicised.
Competing meetings announced in Ankara
Both Ozel and Kilicdaroglu had previously said they would address the CHP’s weekly parliamentary meeting. Lawmakers backing Ozel began gathering in the parliamentary hall several hours before the session, scheduled for 1030 GMT.
Kilicdaroglu later announced a separate meeting at party headquarters in Ankara. In a post on X, he called on party members and citizens to join the gathering and set its time for 1100 GMT.
Pressure on Erdogan’s challengers
The dispute within the opposition could improve Erdogan’s prospects of extending his more than two decades in power in Turkey, a NATO member. Elections are scheduled by 2028, though analysts say they could be held earlier if the government seeks to benefit from the CHP’s internal conflict.
Kilicdaroglu’s return and his recent criticism of the party have angered his detractors.
Ozel camp seeks to retain control
The parliamentary meeting could be among the last efforts by Ozel and his elected team to maintain control of the CHP, the party founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The secular and centrist CHP is polling at roughly the same level as Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted and conservative ruling AK Party.
Corruption cases add to party turmoil
Since 2024, the CHP has also faced a broad judicial crackdown in which hundreds of members and elected officials have been detained over corruption charges that the party denies.
Kilicdaroglu has said he would purge the party of corruption, referring to cases involving CHP-run municipalities. The ousted leadership denies the allegations and describes the process as a politically motivated and anti-democratic coup. The government rejects that accusation and says the courts are independent.
The CHP holds 138 seats in the 600-member assembly, and about two-thirds of its deputies voted after the court ruling to make Ozel head of its parliamentary group.
