Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel to launch new party after CHP ouster

Turkish opposition figure Ozgur Ozel has announced plans to establish a new political party following his removal as chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Ozel described the initiative as a necessary step to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration and become the primary opposition force. The announcement comes two months after an appeals court decision reinstated former CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and ordered Ozel’s ousting.

Ozel stated that the new party, which has not yet been named, aims to attract a significant portion of the CHP’s parliamentary contingent. He expects a wide margin of the party’s 135 legislators in the 600-seat parliament to defect and join the new formation. Ozel characterised the move as a march toward governing Turkiye, asserting that the new entity would become the main opposition group by a substantial margin.

The political shift occurs against a backdrop of intensified legal pressure on the opposition. Hundreds of elected municipal officials and party members have been detained since late 2024 amid criminal investigations alleging corruption in CHP-run municipalities. This includes Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, who has been imprisoned since March of the previous year and faces charges that could result in lengthy sentences.

Analysts have cautioned that the fragmentation of the opposition could inadvertently benefit the ruling AK Party. Murat Gezici, chairman of pollster Gezici, noted that while the new party might eventually become a central hub for opposition sentiment, the current political arithmetic favours Erdogan and his party in the short to medium term. Gezici emphasised that any shift in this dynamic would depend on the new party generating a strong societal response.

The CHP, founded more than a century ago by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, had seen renewed momentum under Ozel’s leadership, securing victories in key municipalities including Istanbul and Ankara during the 2024 local elections. While Ozel and critics have described the court ruling against him and the broader legal crackdown as politically motivated, the government maintains that Turkiye’s judiciary operates independently and impartially. President Erdogan has dismissed the legal proceedings as an internal party dispute rather than government intervention.