The Chief Prosecutor of Ankara has approved an indictment that alleges irregularities in the selection of a new chairman for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The indictment focuses on a party congress that took place in November 2023 and resulted in the selection of a chairman, current CHP leader Özgür Özel.
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| Turkey: Indictment alleges fraud in opposition party leadership selection |
Özgür Özel replaced longtime CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, following the latter’s loss to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in presidential elections in May 2023.
The indictment approved by the Ankara Chief Prosecutor lists Kılıçdaroğlu as the ‘aggrieved party’ and 12 defendants as ‘suspects’. Among the 12 defendants are currently imprisoned Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, along with other party names such as the CHP’s Istanbul head Özgür Çelik, İzmir Mayor Cemil Tugay, and Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district mayor Rıza Akpolat, who was imprisoned on corruption charges in January.
The indictment threatens to impose up to three-year prison sentences on each of the 12 suspects.
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| Turkey: Indictment alleges fraud in opposition party leadership selection |
The 12 defendants are charged with having ‘rigged’ the election at the party congress that resulted in Özgür Özel replacing longtime CHP chairman Kılıçdaroğlu, in apparent violation of Turkey’s ‘Law on political parties’ numbered 2820. The indictment alleges that the votes of some delegates were bought off to the detriment of Kılıçdaroğlu, allegedly resulting in the election of Özel as party chair.
Former Hatay mayor Lütfü Savaş, who fell out with the CHP leadership following his election loss in March 2024, was listed as the plaintiff on the bill of indictment.
Indictment follows reelection of Özel and rumors of possible trustee appointment
İmamoğlu’s arrest in March led to Turkey’s largest protests in over a decade, and led to fears within opposition circles that Erdoğan’s government would attempt to remove Özel as chairman and install a government-appointed trustee in a bid to defang Turkey’s largest opposition party.
On April 6th, the CHP held a party congress in which Özel was reelected as chairman, seeking to emphasize the leader’s legitimacy and avert a possible takeover of the party.
While the legal basis for such a takeover of the CHP by Turkey’s ruling government would have been unclear, the move would have rendered the party essentially a puppet opposition incapable of contending in upcoming polls. Kılıçdaroğlu’s name had been floated as a possible trustee pick in the event Özel was removed. Such a change would likely render the CHP uncompetitive in future contests, namely in Turkey’s next presidential elections in 2028.
Kılıçdaroğlu, who led the CHP from 2010 to 2023, became well-known throughout his tenure for his failure to seriously contest Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in general elections, a reputation cemented by his presidential loss in 2023.
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Party management responds
On Tuesday, Özel responded to the issuance of the indictment, saying “We will not allow Atatürk’s party to be run by a trustee, nor will it be subjected to games of the judiciary.” Turkey’s founding father and first president Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the CHP in 1923.
The CHP’s Istanbul head Özgür Çelik and imprisoned Beşiktaş district mayor Rıza Akpolat, both of whose names were included in the list of suspects, described the accusations as ‘baseless’.
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
