Politics
Party’s not over yet for CHP’s Özel amid Turkish opposition’s divide
Özgür Özel is almost cocksure to get back his chair as the legal battle on the matter lingers. The former chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was forced to leave his office when a court ruled for the reinstatement of Özel’s predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, last month, in a case where the Özel administration is accused of buying votes in a 2023 intra-party election. He now mulls founding a new party, though he also remains determined to remain in CHP.
Özel was defiant on Tuesday as he held his first parliamentary group meeting at the party where he now serves as the said group’s chair. On Wednesday, he met a group of journalists and answered questions about his future and rumors of the establishment of a new party by his loyalists. “We are not committed to setting up a new party,” he told journalists, while underlining that it might be “worst-case scenario.”
“Nobody can stop the wind,” he said, referring to his call for a new election in the party, which he is confident of winning. “We are engaged in a great march to govern. We will not do this by leaving the party,” he said.
CHP trails ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in most opinion polls, but it has suffered successive election defeats in more than the past two decades, except for a strong comeback in 2024’s municipal elections. Özel advocates an early election, ahead of the 2028 presidential vote.
Özel’s camp within CHP took their case to the Supreme Court of Appeals, challenging the absolute nullification verdict by a lower court. The higher court is expected to tackle the case before the start of a judicial summer holiday beginning on July 20. The lower court has not referred the case to the Supreme Court so far. The Supreme Court may issue one of four rulings, according to legal pundits. It may uphold the absolute nullification verdict, it can overturn it, overturn the verdict partially in terms of ouster of the Özel administration while upholding the verdict on annulment of the 2023 election and finally, it can overturn the verdict in terms of interpretation of the case. The last verdict will likely require a retrial in the case. Supreme Board of Election (YSK) on Wednesday announced that it rejected an appeal by CHP, citing that the Board was not the appeals authority for the lawsuit.
Although it is unclear when the Supreme Court would respond to the appeal, several politicians were quick to urge the court to make up its mind soon. Among them was Devlet Bahçeli, chair of government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Bahçeli on Tuesday said the top court should issue the verdict as soon as possible, saying that it was a sensitive matter. Bahçeli reasoned that the matter was urgent as it had the potential to hurt the democracy and may lead to riots. Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) echoed the same concern and called the Supreme Court to end “this bizarre situation.”
Latest developments, however, show that it will be an uphill battle for Özel, who may even lose his immunity from prosecution as a lawmaker. Two suspects testified in a case regarding the vote-buying on Tuesday and statements by one of them indicate the corruption in the 2023 intra-party vote. Özkan Yalım, former mayor of the western city of Uşak for CHP who was recently arrested in a separate case of corruption, told investigators how he worked to sway the vote for Özel. His statements reported by the Sabah newspaper on Tuesday show Yalım was among the supporters of Özel who obtained written pledges from 115 delegates eligible for voting in the 2023 election to vote for Özel. Yalım admitted that the Özel camp also offered jobs at CHP-run municipalities for children of at least one delegate. He also told investigators that Özel asked him to pay cash to cover expenses of the congress where the intra-party election was held and he handed TL 1 million to a suspect who was arrested last month, to be delivered to Özel.
On Wednesday, the Sabah newspaper reported that the Özel camp would also attempt disobedience against the new administration. Özel reportedly told the party’s chairs at the branches in 81 provinces and their districts not to comply with orders, decisions by the Kılıçdaroğlu administration. Party sources told the newspaper that this means branch chairs would not evacuate the offices if they were asked to resign by Kılıçdaroğlu. Several chairs already sided with Özel. Özcan Dağıstanlı, the party’s chair for the northern province of Düzce, was quoted last week as saying that he would not “give a f…” if Kılıçdaroğlu ousts him. According to the Sabah report, Özel offered future candidacy for parliamentary seats to branch chairs in return for disobeying the orders of the Kılıçdaroğlu administration.
CHP’s internal affair
On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been less vocal about the state of the CHP since Kılıçdaroğlu’s return, elaborated more on the matter but insisted that it was the CHP’s internal affair. Özel stepped up anti-Erdoğan rhetoric after he lost his seat and claimed that the case against him was politically motivated. While his supporters openly branded Kılıçdaroğlu as a “traitor,” Özel took aim at the government instead.
Speaking at an event in Ankara, Erdoğan said the CHP must get accustomed to such “scenes of shame,” referring to the feud between Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu, “as long as they see politics as a way to make a career and money instead of a way to serve the public.
“They succumbed to a fight for a seat. They call people they once admired ‘traitor’ now,” he said. Without naming Özel, Erdoğan said they would “ignore those who got angry like a child whose candy was taken away and pick on us.”
“Nobody can overshadow the reputation of the politics, the quality of Turkish democracy,” he said. Erdoğan also stated that it was “of no use to anyone to marginalize politics,” referring to the threat of riots by the Özel camp. Özel himself hinted at “street rage” if the legal process against them concludes unfavorably. “May Allah not let this country be governed by those who cannot even come to terms with each other (at the same party),” Erdoğan said.
The number of mayors elected under the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) banner who have since joined Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has risen to 44.
The latest switches include the mayors of Çerkezköy, Çiğli, Elmalı, Şenkaya and Marmara, continuing a series of defections from the CHP since the 2024 local elections.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented party badges to the nine mayors during the party’s Expanded Provincial Chairs Meeting in Ankara on Tuesday and wished them success in their work.
The CHP won 420 municipalities across Türkiye in the 2024 elections. With 44 mayors having since resigned from the party and joined the AK Party, the figure represents roughly one in every 10 mayors elected on the CHP ticket, according to the figures.
The defections have fueled further debate within the opposition over the CHP’s candidate selection process and its handling of local administrations under Chair Özgür Özel.
CHP spokesperson Müslim Sarı criticized the party leadership over the latest developments, questioning how the mayors who later left the party had initially been selected as candidates.
“We asked the officials of the period before, and today we are asking again: Who nominated these people? Who recommended them? On the basis of what assessments did they become the CHP’s mayoral candidates? Aren’t you considering engaging in self-criticism?” Sarı said.
Several prominent municipal officials have been among those who switched to the AK Party over the past 2.5 years, including Aydın Metropolitan Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu, Afyonkarahisar Mayor Burcu Köksal, Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan, Beykoz Deputy Mayor Özlem Vural Gürzel and Tuzla Mayor Eren Ali Bingöl.
Çerçioğlu, mayor of Aydın province in western Türkiye, was the most high-profile name from the CHP to join the AK Party in recent years.
Çerçioğlu said she took the matter to CHP Chair Özgür Özel, and he listened to her concerns but did not respond. She claimed that she faced a barrage of insults on social media after speaking to Özel, and for months CHP headquarters did not respond to her.
She further said Özel himself openly defamed her, claiming she took bribes from a businessperson, noting that both the prosecutor’s office in Aydın and the Court of Accounts, which was inspecting municipalities, ruled for non-prosecution for her in that case.
The mayors who left the CHP cited a range of reasons for their decisions, including dissatisfaction with the party leadership, alleged pressure, a lack of attention to the demands of local administrations and concerns over the party’s institutional functioning.
Moreover, six municipal council members also from the CHP in Istanbul’s Ataşehir district joined the AK Party on Wednesday, a day after nine district mayors switched to the party.
Oğuz Sarul, Sinan Emrah Yıldırım, Fatih Evliyaoğlu, Abdullah Aslan, Cengiz Kayayurt and Mehmet Alver joined the AK Party during a local party meeting in Ataşehir, according to a statement from the AK Party’s Istanbul branch.
Sarul also serves as a member of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Council.
The switches changed the balance in the Ataşehir Municipal Council to 19 members for the CHP, 16 for the AK Party and two for the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
AK Party Istanbul Chair Abdullah Özdemir welcomed the six members, saying the party was open to people from different political backgrounds who wanted to contribute to local government.
Özdemir said the new members would contribute to a service-oriented period in local politics and that the party would continue working to address problems facing Istanbul residents.
Most recently, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş resigned from the CHP in an announcement last week, saying, “I am resigning my membership in the Republican People’s Party and will continue my political path as an independent.”
In a statement on social media, Yavaş said his decision to leave the CHP was not made out of anger or resentment but after careful consideration.
He noted that political and legal disputes that began on March 19 and later included debate over the possible annulment of CHP party congresses had brought Turkish politics to a difficult point.
Amid a war of words with Türkiye over the Aegean Sea, Greece conducted a military exercise that may further fuel tensions. The “Alexandros” exercise included scenarios such as landing troops on small islets, seizing uninhabited rocky outcrops and conducting nighttime operations.
Türkiye and Greece have occasionally taken steps that could translate into a greater conflict in the future, but they have generally favored maintaining good relations, especially amid a climate of rapprochement under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Mitsotakis, however, appears to be reversing his earlier, warmer rhetoric. He asserted Greece’s “inalienable right” to extend its territorial waters in the Aegean earlier this month, days after his country signed a historic defense deal with Türkiye’s longtime adversary, Israel. Experts say this newfound confidence could upset the relative calm.
The Alexandros exercise came against this backdrop. At least 70 fighter jets were mobilized, while special forces and ground units in different parts of Greece were also placed on alert as part of the scenario.
According to Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper, the “Alexandros” exercise tested the response speed, coordination and readiness levels of the Greek Armed Forces’ air, land and naval units. The exercise scenarios envisaged units being ready for deployment within just five minutes. The Greek Armed Forces also carried out nighttime operations to seize small islets during the exercise. Ground units in the Evros region near the Turkish border and on the islands were also placed on full alert. The aerial display during the Greek military exercise also drew attention. The stated aim of the exercise was to test the Greek Armed Forces’ ability to respond rapidly in the event of a sudden and coordinated crisis.
The exercise’s focus on small islets and rocky outcrops brought the long-running Aegean disputes between Ankara and Athens back into the spotlight.
Türkiye argues that the demilitarized status of some islands in the Eastern Aegean, as established by international treaties, is being violated. Greece rejects Türkiye’s assessment on the issue.
About two weeks before Greece’s latest exercise, a military deployment by Türkiye had also received extensive coverage in the Greek media. Türkiye had moved units belonging to the 51st Commando Brigade to the Söke district of Aydın province as part of the regular course of a planned deployment. The deployment was closely followed in Greece because Söke is located opposite the island of Samos. Greek media outlets claimed that the units constituted a commando force of around 2,000 personnel, while some reports described the development as a “Turkish wall in the Aegean.” However, Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said the transfer of the units to Söke was part of a deployment change that had been planned and approved in June.
In a related development, Angelos Syrigos, a lawmaker from Greece’s ruling New Democracy party, acknowledged that Greece had twice backed down in 2024 from seabed surveys related to a Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection project near Crete after Turkish warships arrived in the area, despite Greece not having sought permission from Türkiye. Syrigos discussed the incidents that took place in July and November 2024 during an appearance on ERT News. Regarding Greece’s response after Türkiye sent five warships to the area in July 2024 and then sent warships again in November, albeit with lower intensity, Syrigos said, “We backed down on both occasions. We did not continue the seabed surveys.”
When the host asked, “Did we back down?” Syrigos replied, “Yes,” and claimed that Athens believed at the time that the issue could be resolved through dialogue and in accordance with international law provisions concerning the laying of undersea cables. Syrigos said cable-laying activities had previously been carried out in the same broad maritime area without serious problems, leading Greece to believe that the current project could proceed in a similar manner. However, he said, the same conditions did not materialize this time.
Syrigos claimed that Türkiye would not be asked for permission for the cable work, but that a French research vessel could notify the Turkish side this time. He argued that notifying Türkiye would not amount to seeking its permission.
Media outlets reported on Wednesday that Ruhtan Başkaya, a member of the municipal assembly in the southwestern Turkish town of Fethiye for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was expelled from his party after he was caught with a minor in his hotel room in China.
Reports emerged on Tuesday that the assembly member from the town in the southwestern province of Muğla had been detained in China for the past two months after visiting the country. The Fethiye branch of the party confirmed the reports, saying that Başkaya was in China for a training program paid for out of his own pocket, while media reports claimed that he was there with a delegation from the Fethiye Municipality between July 3 and July 16.
On Wednesday, the Yeni Asır newspaper reported that Başkaya met a girl at an entertainment venue in the country and took her to his hotel room. The girl, apparently a minor, alerted police over an unspecified complaint, and police raided the hotel room, taking Başkaya into custody. The CHP’s Muğla branch announced on Tuesday that the matter had been referred to the disciplinary board and that Başkaya had been expelled from the party with immediate effect.
The CHP is no stranger to sex scandals. Özkan Yalım, the party’s mayor in the western province of Uşak, who was arrested last March on corruption charges, was expelled from the party in May. Yalım was detained in a hotel room with his mistress in Ankara during the corruption raid.
A subsequent investigation also found that the disgraced mayor had hired his other girlfriends as “ghost employees” of the municipality. The party’s late chair, Deniz Baykal, stepped down in 2010 after a video of him having an extramarital affair with his former secretary emerged.
Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) referred five district mayors to its disciplinary board Wednesday and called for their expulsion, as the party moves against members accused of supporting rival political movements.
CHP spokesman Müslim Sarı announced the decision following a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Board (MYK), chaired by party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
The mayors facing disciplinary proceedings are Mesut Kösedağı of Istanbul’s Kadıköy district, Alper Yeğin of Sancaktepe, Mustafa Oktay Aksu of Sarıyer, Cem Kotan of Antalya’s Konyaaltı district and Osman Tarık Özçelik of Alanya.
Sarı said working for another political party while remaining a CHP member constituted a clear disciplinary offense.
“No one can remain within the Republican People’s Party while trying to provide logistical support to another party or contributing to it,” he said.
Sarı also criticized CHP mayors who have left the party to join the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), saying there could be “no explanation” for such moves.
The spokesperson said the party would continue monitoring its members, adding that the latest disciplinary referrals would not be the last.
Sarı also confirmed that Kılıçdaroğlu would attend events marking the opening of the new legislative year in Parliament, including the General Assembly session and evening reception.
Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the Azerbaijan-hosted the “Unity’s Strength-2026” military exercise, involving forces from Türkiye and Uzbekistan, was continuing successfully, with designated targets hit during drills in Nakhchivan.
The ministry released footage of activities conducted as part of the exercise, highlighting what it described as “joint training, strong coordination and high readiness.”
“Unity’s Strength in the field,” the ministry noted in a social media post accompanying footage from the drills.
The exercise, which runs from Sept. 21 to Oct. 1, is aimed at improving the participating forces’ ability to counter hybrid threats and strengthening their capacity to plan and conduct joint military operations, according to the ministry.
Elements of the Turkish General Staff, Land Forces, Naval Forces and Air Forces Commands are participating in the exercise.
The drills are designed to enhance interoperability and coordination among the participating countries’ armed forces through joint training and operational scenarios.
The National Security Council (NSC), chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will meet on Wednesday.
Media outlets reported that the meeting would focus on the terror-free Türkiye initiative that involves the disarmament of the terrorist group PKK. Participants will also discuss U.S.-Iran tensions, the state of the Strait of Hormuz, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, maritime security in the Black Sea affected by the said conflict, developments in Gaza and Yemen, measures to protect the rights of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, and measures for economic security.
The council is comprised of ministers and other top officials and serves as a guide for policymakers, especially on security-related matters.
The council will also discuss the implications of the National Solidarity and Social Integration Coordination Board meeting held at the beginning of the week, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. The board is tasked with setting a road map and coordinating the terror-free Türkiye process.
Diplomatic efforts aimed at returning to negotiations amid tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the impact of intermittent clashes on the security of the Strait of Hormuz, will be assessed at the meeting. Mediation efforts aimed at securing peace in the Russia-Ukraine war will also be on the NSC’s agenda. The council will also discuss possible steps to ensure navigational safety in the Black Sea.
The latest developments regarding efforts to end cease-fire violations in Gaza and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region will also be discussed. The impact of the Houthis’ wave of attacks targeting Saudi Arabia on regional stability in Yemen will also be assessed. Joint military cooperation steps that could be taken with regional countries under the framework of the Mecca defense pact will also be on the agenda, media outlets reported.
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