Recently elected Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel answered questions from journalists in Ankara following his victory at the party congress early Sunday morning. Regarding comments that Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was in Istanbul while Özel was in Ankara with the insinuation of a growing rift between the two, the new CHP Chairman said, “Neither I nor Mr Ekrem will allow people to sow discord between us and divide the CHP.” Regarding a confrontational exchange he had with former CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s wife Selvi at Saturday’s party congress, Özel said, “There was no problem with Mrs Selvi or the chairman.” Özel described Kılıçdaroğlu’s second appearance at the podium as due to “a lapse from our party staff”.
Speaking to reporters including Medyascope correspondents Göksel Göksu and Cansu Timur, Özel talked about his relationship with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Reacting to statements alleging a rift between the newly elected CHP Chairman and Mayor İmamoğlu, Özel said: “Neither I nor Mr Ekrem will allow people to sow discord between us and divide the CHP. We are people focused on the same goal.”
“I’d like to hold a symbolic rally in Trabzon together with Mr Ekrem”
Regarding İmamoğlu’s upcoming reelection campaign in Spring 2024, Özel told reporters:
“Mr Ekrem will focus on the Istanbul campaign. Maybe I can ask for help from Mr Ekrem in campaigning in other parts of Turkey. For example, maybe we would like to hold a symbolic Trabzon rally together, but winning Istanbul remains the priority. Winning in İstanbul will mark the fourth time Mr Ekrem has defeated the AKP [Turkey’s ruling political party led by President Erdoğan]. The significance of this is very important both in CHP and in Turkish politics, I personally attach great importance to this. We may ask Mr. Ekrem for symbolic or much-needed contributions on the campaign trail, but we will mainly be there to help his reelection effort. This will require an enormous effort. The entire group, the entire Party Assembly, and all Republican People’s Party members will contribute to Ekrem’s campaign and to the campaigns of all our candidates. This is a very important election.”
The Istanbul Mayor visited newly elected CHP Chairman Özgür Özel yesterday (November 6). After the meeting, Özel gave the following answer to the question about how he expects his relations with İmamoğlu will continue:
“Mr. Ekrem visited me before leaving Ankara. The relationship between myself and Ekrem İmamoğlu will continue as it has been until this point. As a chairman and a mayor, we will continue the formalities of our roles, but we have told each other: ‘Let’s never lose the brotherly relationship between us.’ There is a direct brotherly relationship between the two of us and I expect this to continue.”
“Lapse from our party staff”
At Saturday’s CHP party congress, former party chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu took the stage following Özgür Özel’s victory speech, responding to the newly elected chairman. Özel made the following comments regarding Kılıçdaroğlu’s words:
“I supported the former chairman for many years. If I were him, I wouldn’t have gone up and spoken. I do not think this was beneficial for the former chairman. This clearly happened due to a lapse in focus from our staff. When we mention ‘staff’, we refer to those party officials responsible for the leader and the party as a whole. Those staff members there told Kılıçdaroğlu to go up and make a response. If I were him I wouldn’t have done it.”
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What did Özel talk about with Selvi Kılıçdaroğlu?
In an awkward moment from Saturday’s congress captured on camera, Özel left the stage after completing his speech and shook hands with former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his wife Selvi. Then, Selvi Kılıçdaroğlu appeared to scold Özel, saying “It is not nice for you to shout.” When asked about this interaction with Selvi Kılıçdaroğlu, Özel said the following:
“Gamze Akkuş İlgezdi [another CHP parliamentary member] said something else that I did not pay attention to. Then I talked to Mrs Selvi. We shook hands and I saw that she was going to say something. “Congratulations, but this wasn’t right,’ she said. I didn’t fully understand, so I said, ‘I’ll explain, madam.’ Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu stood up. I extended my left hand and we shook hands. I asked what the issue was. He said, ‘You said you were not there when the seats of parliament were given, but you were.’ I responded: ‘Sir, first of all, I was not part of the commission. Secondly, Oğuz Kaan [another parliamentary member] was there. I found out at 08:00 on Sunday morning.’ Mrs. Selvi said, “Okay then.” Then, I kissed Mrs. Selvi’s hand.”
“There is no problem between myself and Mrs. Selvi or with the chairman”
Özel underlined that there was no problem between him and Kılıçdaroğlu, saying, “When he first came, he asked if all was well with Didem [Özel’s wife] and me. Mrs. Selvi has treated us very warmly. There is no problem between myself and Mrs. Selvi or with the chairman.”
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
