The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) may never recover from the deep divide it has suffered, as indicated by developments on Tuesday. Rival events by the ousted administration and incumbent one made it clear that the two camps in Türkiye’s oldest party have definitely split their ways.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, reinstated by a court verdict to the seat he lost to Özgür Özel in 2023 during an allegedly shady election mired with vote-buying allegations, addressed supporters at the party’s headquarters. Özel, who claims he is still the legitimate chair of the party, rallied supporters at Parliament in the meantime, now under the title of the party’s “parliamentary group chair.” The de facto demotion, however, apparently played into the hands of Özel, who managed to convince 96 lawmakers of his party to attend the group meeting on Tuesday. Kılıçdaroğlu had only 18 lawmakers listening to his speech at the headquarters. Curiously, 23 lawmakers shunned attending any of the events that have been the highlights of the deepening rift between rival camps of the party. Chaotic scenes, on the other hand, unfolded outside Parliament as those supporting Kılıçdaroğlu confronted the Özel supporters.
Kılıçdaroğlu campaigns for “cleaning up the corruption in the CHP,” in reference to vote-buying allegations and arrests of several mayors accused of widespread corruption at municipalities. The Özel camp flatly denies any wrongdoing and claims the charges are politically motivated. On Wednesday, Kılıçdaroğlu convened the Central Administrative Board of the party for the first time since he took the helm last month. Media outlets report that the board would consider the expulsion of several figures close to Özel in its bid to “purge the corruption” in the party. Among them are Veli Ağbaba, Ali Mahir Başarır, Umut Akdoğan, Burhanettin Bulut, Gökan Zeybek, Turan Taşkın Özer, Özgür Karabat, Adnan Beker, Cemal Enginyurt and Ümit Dikbayır. Ağbaba’s name came up in various investigations where suspects claimed he acted as an intermediary in secret cash transfers between mayors and the party’s headquarters. Başarır is a close associate of Özel and was among those launching a campaign to oust Kılıçdaroğlu through an intra-party election in 2023.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) have long distanced themselves from the escalating feud within the CHP, but Erdoğan, for the first time in weeks, made a lengthy comment on the issue. Addressing his party’s parliamentary group meeting on Wednesday, Erdoğan repeated his earlier remarks about the fact that this was an internal matter for the CHP, strongly rebuking claims that the court case was orchestrated by the judiciary upon the government’s orders. He highlighted the fact that the case on vote-buying allegations stemmed from complaints of the CHP’s own delegates, referring to plaintiffs who include the former mayor of Hatay province for the CHP.
“It is their own doing. Pardon my expression, but it is the members of the CHP themselves who brought a party founded by Gazi Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) to this state where the chairmanship is bargained at tables of nightclubs,” he said, referring to allegations of bribery of delegates to vote for Özel during the 2023 vote. He noted that CHP members themselves admitted to the bribes, and it was members who accused each other after Kılıçdaroğlu was reinstated.
“The turmoil within the CHP, which has neither benefited society, public order, politics, nor the institutions of the state, does not concern us in the slightest. We will neither be dragged into this whirlpool nor allow anyone else to do so. Chasing seats or engaging in political calculations is not and never will be our concern. The true aspiration of our nation and its expectation of us is entirely different. We focus on our own work and duties; indeed, we are doing just that. However, because some irresponsible individuals have failed to control the ambitions of their party organizations, we are witnessing a crisis that is damaging peace in our country, casting a shadow over our Parliament, harming our democracy and our nation’s reputation, and threatening our future. What matters is that this issue is ultimately resolved within the framework of judicial decisions and democratic maturity,” he said.
