Politics
Local power struggle exposes divisions in Türkiye’s New Party
A power struggle is intensifying within the New Party (YP), with rival factions reportedly seeking to consolidate control over local party organizations ahead of a nationwide congress process.
The YP formally announced its congress schedule last month, setting the stage for district and provincial contests that are expected to determine the party’s organizational structure ahead of future elections.
In several provinces, mayors, provincial party chairs, lawmakers and figures aligned with former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu are reportedly working separately to shape local organizations by backing their preferred candidates. The competition has raised concerns within the party that disputes over local leadership could deepen existing divisions before the organization has fully established itself across the country.
The latest example emerged in Biga, a district of Çanakkale province in western Türkiye.
Cemal Mantar, the founding chair of the YP’s Biga district organization, announced that he would not seek the position again just one month after helping establish the local branch.
Mantar stressed that he was not leaving the party or withdrawing from politics and rejected suggestions that his decision was the result of an internal crisis.
However, local party sources have alleged that Çanakkale Mayor Muharrem Erkek backed Barış Çetin as a candidate to replace Mantar, creating tensions within the district organization. According to the allegations, the dispute prompted Mantar to withdraw his candidacy despite having recently helped establish the party’s local organization.
The episode has fueled concerns that competition over local positions could become one of the first major tests of the YP’s internal cohesion.
The party has already faced a separate controversy in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.
Seydi Ahmet Keleş, a YP member in the province, allegedly attacked Gaziantep lawmaker Melih Meriç with a knife after Meriç declined to support his bid for the district chairmanship. The incident attracted widespread attention and became an early example of the tensions surrounding the party’s local organization.
Membership lists prepared for the congress process have also become a source of dispute. Some individuals reportedly claimed that they had completed the process of joining the party but later could not find their names on the official membership lists.
The allegations have raised concerns that disputes over membership could become intertwined with leadership contests, as the composition of party membership directly affects who is eligible to participate in local congresses and influence the selection of new leadership.
The competition appears to be particularly significant because the YP is still in the process of building its organizational network. Unlike an established political party with long-standing local structures, the new party is attempting to create provincial and district organizations while simultaneously defining its political identity and internal power balance.
The disputes are reportedly not limited to smaller districts. Competition over leadership positions in major cities has also become increasingly tense, according to reports, raising the possibility that some upcoming congresses could take place in a highly contentious atmosphere.
The developments come as the YP seeks to establish itself as a major force in Turkish opposition politics.
In late July, Özgür Özel launched the New Party after being ousted from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) following a court ruling that invalidated the party’s previous congress.
Özel had led the CHP to a historic victory in the 2024 local elections, winning control of several major municipalities, including Istanbul, Ankara and other major urban centers. After the split, he argued that the YP could build on that momentum and develop into a broader political movement.
“The New Party is the first party in Turkish political history to be founded as the main opposition,” Özel said shortly after its establishment. “It is not a splinter party formed by people leaving another party in search of something else. It is actually a party built around an understanding, and around resistance and struggle against the coup that was carried out.”
The launch followed months of turmoil within the CHP, where a leadership dispute between Özel and former party Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu escalated following a court ruling that invalidated the previous party congress.
The ruling, widely described in Turkish political circles as the “absolute nullity” decision, paved the way for Kılıçdaroğlu to return to the party leadership and further intensified the confrontation between the two camps.
Özel’s supporters have accused Kılıçdaroğlu of attempting to undermine the CHP’s prospects of winning the next presidential election under Özel’s leadership, with some of his allies going as far as branding the former chairman a “traitor.”
Kılıçdaroğlu, meanwhile, has continued to challenge Özel and his supporters, deepening the political rupture that eventually contributed to the establishment of the YP.
Özel has sought to present the new party not simply as a breakaway organization but as a political movement capable of attracting voters and members beyond the CHP’s traditional base.
He has said the YP reached 600,000 members shortly after its establishment and predicted that membership would rise to 1 million in a short period.
The party’s ability to translate that rapid growth into a functioning nationwide organization, however, is now facing an early test as local factions compete for influence.
An unprecedented meeting between Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sparked speculation about the opposition politician’s political future. In a statement on Thursday, Yavaş defended the meeting amid a barrage of rumors spreading on social media that he would defect to Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
“The only agenda of the meeting was Ankara,” Yavaş said in a statement the day after the meeting. The mayor, who represents the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said he requested the meeting with Erdoğan as part of the official welcoming protocol at the capital’s airport last month.
Yavaş, a former member of the AK Party’s ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has been touted as a potential presidential contender in the next election since he ended the lengthy reign of AK Party Mayor Melih Gökçek in the 2019 local elections. At one point, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu considered him as a potential running mate in the 2023 presidential election, which he lost to Erdoğan. For the opposition, Yavaş is a strong presidential contender with the potential to attract conservative and nationalist voters who overwhelmingly support Erdoğan and the AK Party.
His muted response to the storm brewing in the CHP after Kılıçdaroğlu retook the party leadership following a court verdict that nullified Özgür Özel’s chairpersonship in May prompted rumors that he would defect to the AK Party. In his statement on Thursday, Yavaş indicated that he maintained ties with both the CHP and Özel’s New Party (YP), which he was expected to join after its establishment in July. Yavaş underlined that both Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu were notified about his meeting with Erdoğan, something Özel confirmed in an interview on Wednesday. The mayor stated that he spoke with Erdoğan about pending investments in the Turkish capital and problems facing the city, saying that he needed to discuss projects with “the central administration” to secure approval and support.
“I would like to make it clear to those trying to draw political conclusions from this meeting and create scenarios suggesting that I will switch parties: There is no possibility that I would take a stance that would hurt, upset or disappoint the people who love me, trust me and have stood by me for years. If this stance is considered a source of discomfort by the headquarters of either party, I will not hesitate to do what is necessary. However, to date, neither party leader has conveyed to me any statement indicating that they are uncomfortable with my stance,” he said.
A businessperson told an Istanbul court that he paid TL 10 million ($210,000) in bribes and was forced to hand over two plots of land worth TL 50 million while trying to collect hundreds of millions of liras owed to his company by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) and its affiliates.
Serbülend Danış, owner of Danış Asfalt, made the allegations during a hearing in a corruption case involving jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and other defendants.
Danış said he had previously told prosecutors that he was pressured into making payments while seeking to collect about TL 500 million in receivables stemming from contracts with the municipality’s Road Maintenance and Infrastructure Coordination Department and affiliated companies.
During the hearing, Danış accused former Republican People’s Party (CHP) Party Assembly member Baki Aydöner and his brother, Bulut Aydöner, of taking two plots belonging to him under the pretext of helping him collect the outstanding payments.
“Baki and Bulut Aydöner forcibly took two of my plots and victimized me,” Danış told the court, rejecting claims that he had contacted them because he wanted to enter politics. He said he planned to file a compensation lawsuit against the defendants.
Adem Tuncay, a former IBB advertising management official who cooperated with prosecutors under Türkiye’s effective remorse provisions, also testified at the hearing. Tuncay alleged that CHP-linked individuals visited him in prison and questioned him about his family circumstances.
He also claimed that after his release, he was not reinstated to his position and that his wife, who had worked for the municipality for 13 years, was dismissed.
On Wednesday, a total of 414 defendants, including suspended Mayor Imamoğlu, appeared before a judge at the 78th hearing in a corruption case involving the IBB. Fifty of the defendants are being held in pretrial detention.
Separately, Gözdem Ongun, the wife of former IBB official Murat Ongun, defended financial transactions prosecutors have cited in the case. She denied wrongdoing and said transactions totaling about TL 6 million through her company, BYZAG, stemmed from sales of jewelry and prayer beads.
The corruption investigation into Imamoğlu, was completed with a 3,809-page indictment filed on Nov. 11, 2025.
Prosecutors allege that Imamoğlu, identified in the indictment as the leader of a criminal organization, committed offenses including establishing an organization to commit crimes, bribery, money laundering, fraud causing losses to public institutions and organizations, unlawfully recording, obtaining and disseminating personal data, concealing criminal evidence, obstructing communications, damaging public property, accepting bribes, publicly disseminating misleading information, extortion by a public official, laundering assets derived from crime, bid-rigging, intentionally polluting the environment and violations of Türkiye’s tax procedure, forestry and mining laws.
Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence ranging from 828 years and two months to 2,352 years for Imamoğlu over 142 alleged acts.
Eight countries, including Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, welcomed Britain’s decision to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to a joint statement.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Indonesia, and Jordan said they welcomed the joint statement by 12 countries on the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The ministers “reiterate their call for Israel to rescind all measures taken in connection with settlement activities and other measures aimed at altering the geographic and demographic character of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the statement said.
It came after Britain, France and Canada on Tuesday joined nine other European countries in issuing a joint statement saying they planned to introduce or support restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements.
The three Western allies revealed the trade curbs in response to Israel’s West Bank settlements policy and reports of increasing attacks by settlers there against Palestinians, with a U.K. minister accusing Israel of turning a blind eye to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians there.
The moves prompted a furious Israel to unveil immediate countermeasures targeting Britain.
Later Tuesday, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian leader Mark Carney warned in another joint declaration that the settlements “pose a direct and urgent threat” to a two-state solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry said Ankara welcomed and supported measures taken by the 12 countries targeting commercial ties with illegal settlements.
“Israel’s efforts to eliminate the two-state solution are intensifying by the day,” the ministry said, warning that illegal settlements have evolved into a “systematic policy of occupation” that threatens the existence of a Palestinian state.
The ministry also said violence by illegal Israeli settlers had reached the level of “ethnic cleansing.”
Ankara argued that an adequate international response to Israel’s occupation policies has become essential to achieving a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region.
Against this backdrop, Türkiye called on other responsible members of the international community to adopt similar measures against illegal settlements.
Türkiye reiterated that it would continue working toward the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with territorial integrity, based on the 1967 borders and with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and special envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack and U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa in Ankara, as diplomatic contacts between Türkiye and the United States intensify over regional developments.
Erdoğan met Barrack, Issa and the congressman’s wife at the Presidential Complex, according to Turkish officials.
Following the meeting, Barrack said he was “honored” to meet President Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex and hailed the strength of ties between the two NATO allies.
As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its independence and the two countries approach a century of diplomatic relations, Barrack said the Türkiye-U.S. alliance “has never been stronger.”
He said the two countries share deep ties as NATO allies, economic partners and longstanding friends, adding that the talks with Erdoğan reaffirmed their commitment to regional security, economic cooperation and the enduring bilateral partnership.
The talks came a day after Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Barrack and Issa in Ankara. The Foreign Ministry did not disclose details of their discussions, which took place as Ankara and Washington maintain close diplomatic engagement on regional issues, particularly developments in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
Türkiye is fighting on multiple fronts on social media, where disinformation and criminal activities threaten national security. The issue was under the spotlight again when a video of a man bragging about his lavish wedding surfaced, triggering a debate about the source of his income. The man was arrested on Tuesday after an investigation found that he was involved in money laundering. Commenting on the matter, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said social media cannot operate outside the law and cannot be left unchecked.
In a statement Wednesday, Gürlek stated that judicial authorities were investigating content “that attempts to cover up the source of illicit gains or content attempting to promote (a lifestyle) through illicit gains.”
“Our stance is clear: Virtual fame cannot be a front for hiding crimes and criminal gains,” Gürlek said.
Authorities have stepped up their crackdown on organized crime thriving on social media and messaging apps in the past few years. Investigations have particularly focused on gangs luring impressionable minors through social media with promises of quick cash in exchange for carrying out hits on rivals and extorting businesses. In July, security forces detained 216 suspects in a nationwide operation against social media accounts promoting organized crime gangs.
Elsewhere, the Communications Directorate of the Turkish Presidency is conducting a campaign titled “Stop Disinformation” to raise awareness about manipulative content and the dissemination of disinformation, particularly on sensitive issues. In the past two months, Türkiye blocked access to 2,034 social media accounts spreading terrorist propaganda, disinformation and provocative content.
The issue was also on the agenda of Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, who spoke at a panel in Ankara on the fight against illegal betting and gambling, particularly on online platforms.
Pointing out that digitalization, while providing significant opportunities in many areas of life, is also transforming forms of crime and addiction, Yılmaz noted that the proliferation of online platforms, easier access via mobile devices and the diversification of new payment methods have enabled illegal betting and gambling activities to expand more rapidly, reach wider audiences and take on a cross-border nature.
Yılmaz said the promise of easy money is targeting young people in particular, through vast exploitation mechanisms operating under the guise of games and entertainment. “A loss that begins in one person’s account can turn into serious consequences that erode trust within the family, working life, social relationships and hopes for the future,” he said.
Yılmaz explained that illegal betting and gambling networks intersect with unregistered financial structures and organized crime groups, posing a threat to public order and economic security as well. “The multifaceted threat we face requires coordinated action across security, law, finance, health, education, social policy and communications,” he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, with talks focusing on major transportation investments and other projects planned for the Turkish capital.
Yavaş said he briefed Erdoğan on ongoing and planned projects, particularly metro investments aimed at strengthening Ankara’s transportation infrastructure.
He also thanked Erdoğan for his support for investments in the capital and his commitment to hosting the NATO summit in Ankara.
The mayor said he shared assessments of projects currently being carried out by the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality as well as investments planned for the coming period.
Yavaş thanked Erdoğan for the meeting and his close interest in Ankara.
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