Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is embroiled in a deepening leadership crisis after a court annulled its 2023 primary election results. Two top figures are now offering competing solutions to resolve the power vacuum.

Ousted leader Ozgur Ozel has vowed to remain in the party and called for a direct vote by the CHP's 2 million members to elect a new chair. Speaking in Izmir, Ozel dismissed speculation he might form a rival party and urged Kilicdaroglu not to lead a party he was not democratically elected to head.

Interim leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, however, insists that a party congress with delegate voting is the only legal path forward. He criticized Ozel's supporters for occupying CHP headquarters, calling the move an inappropriate response to the court decision. Kilicdaroglu, a veteran politician who narrowly lost the 2023 presidential runoff to Erdogan, said any leadership vote must follow party rules.

The court ruling is the latest in a series of legal setbacks for the CHP, which supporters allege are part of a coordinated government plot to hobble the opposition. The Erdogan administration denies these claims. The crisis comes amid ongoing legal actions against several CHP mayors, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was detained in March 2025 on corruption charges.

Analysts suggest the infighting could benefit President Erdogan by potentially triggering early elections, which would allow him to circumvent term limits and run again. Seren Selvin Korkmaz of the Istanbul Political Research Institute noted that early elections could be advantageous for Erdogan if the CHP remains divided and exhausted.

Both Ozel and Kilicdaroglu have ruled out expulsions from the party, but the rift remains deep. The CHP's internal turmoil is seen as a critical test for Turkey's opposition ahead of any potential snap polls.

Source: www.dw.com