ANKARA (Medyascope) — In an exclusive interview with Medyascope, Özgür Özel—the democratically elected chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP)—claimed that a controversial court ruling was part of a broader campaign to dismantle the country’s most significant political challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
By Özgecan Özgenç • Medyascope
In this article
The crisis stems from a recent, bombshell judicial decision that invoked the legal doctrine of mutlak butlan (absolute nullity) to annul the CHP’s 2023 leadership elections. The ruling effectively reinstated a previous, unelected leadership team headed by former party chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
Critics and Mr Özel view the decision as a blatant intervention by a judiciary fiercely loyal to President Erdoğan.
Since the CHP won its first nationwide plurality in local elections in 2024—its first such victory since 1977—the secular party has emerged as a major threat to the long-standing dominance of President Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Speculation is now mounting that Mr Özel, a sitting member of parliament, could face prosecution and have his parliamentary immunity stripped if he attempts to form a breakaway political movement.
“This is blackmail, suggesting we trade our country for our freedom,” Mr Özel said. “I have never given into blackmail. If we had surrendered to it, perhaps this legal challenge would never have happened.”
‘They are asking for our heart as a pound of flesh’
The political circles in Ankara are closely watching whether a compromise can be brokered between the court-appointed interim management and the ousted elected faction. While the current administration has accused Özel of refusing to negotiate and attempting to fracture the party, the elected leader claims the terms of their proposed compromise are existential.
“I have said from day one that we are open to the idea, but only through a democratic leadership election,” Özel said. “We will not agree to an unelected interim process designed to drag things out. Millions of voters are furious about this, not just me.”
Using a stark metaphor to describe the current leadership’s demands, he added:
“You cannot have a compromise where the other side claims they only want a small fraction of the party—a mere pound of flesh—but that pound of flesh turns out to be your heart. Preventing the CHP from holding a democratic election is equivalent to tearing its heart out. The election is the organ that pumps life through the entire party.”
Özel maintained that his faction remains open to reconciliation, provided the party’s democratic processes are respected. “We tell them to protect the CHP and stop obstructing its path to power,” he said. “But they want to avoid a congress. How can we give away our heart? Let them hold the congress, and they can have the rest.”
Özel to reclaim the party
Speculation has mounted that forming a splinter party could leave Özel and his allies vulnerable to prosecution. However, Özel emphasized that his primary objective is not to cut and run but to retake the reins.
“Our plan isn’t to leave, but to take our party back by steering it toward an election run by elected officials,” he said.
He fiercely criticized the judiciary’s intervention, characterizing it as a politically motivated directive from the presidential palace.
“This is an unprecedented ruling in Turkish political and legal history,” Özel warned. “No one should expect a CHP managed by a decree by [Erdoğan’s] judiciary to show any real resistance, act as a genuine opposition, or change the current regime. That is why it is absolutely vital that an elected leader and an elected executive remain in charge.”
Defending his democratic mandate, Özel pointed to his successive victories within the party organization. He noted that after initially defeating former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, he secured the full backing of delegates in subsequent votes, running unopposed and passing unified candidate lists that remained uncompromised—a feat he noted even the party’s former legendary leader Bülent Ecevit could not secure.
“What is my crime? Winning the last election?” Özel asked, calling the court’s intervention completely nonsensical. “If a rival had run against me last time and won, why should they lose the leadership to a former chairman through a court decision? It makes no sense. That is why we are staying right here.”
The fate of the opposition
Analysts note that internal strife within the CHP serves the interests of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), as a divided opposition poses little threat to the government. However, the prospect of Özel’s faction breaking away to form a viable alternative has caused anxiety in government circles, prompting the threats of legal action.
“They are trying to swap our freedom for the future of Turkey, and I refuse to accept this,” Özel said. “In the past, they told me to be smart, stay quiet, keep my seat at the head of the party, and sell out Ekrem.”
Referring to Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, currently imprisoned Istanbul Mayor and CHP’s presidential candidate and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, who still serves at his post but also lives under threats of investigations.
“Leaving a friend behind is bad enough, but abandoning Ekrem İmamoğlu is not just abandoning a friend—it is selling out the future of Turkey. If they target Mansur Yavaş tomorrow, abandoning him would equally be a betrayal of the country’s future. If we isolate those who are capable of winning against the AK Party, we jeopardize the country’s future.”
‘Crises create their own leaders’
When asked about the risks of his high-profile political campaign, and who would lead the movement if his parliamentary immunity were stripped and he faced imprisonment, Özel remained defiant.
“When this crisis began on March 19 (İmamoğlu’s arrest), nobody expected this kind of fervor from me,” he said. “But harsh conditions and major crises always generate their own leaders and their own solutions. Someone will always step forward from among the millions of people who love this country and this party. I have no anxieties on that front.”
Ousted Turkish opposition leader Özgür Özel alleges ‘political extortion’ | By Özgecan Özgenç | Translated and edited by Medyascope English Newsroom
