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Actor-turned-lawmaker Berhan Şimşek, who was the only contender against the incumbent chair in the race for the top job in April at the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), joined a growing list of party dissidents facing expulsion.
Şimşek disclosed on Tuesday that the party sent him a letter notifying him of his impending expulsion. “Here is the medal of honor given to me by administrators of the party I have been a member of for 45 years,” Şimşek wrote on his social media account. The letter includes an attachment with the link to a news article referring to an argument between Şimşek and Özel during the party’s 21st extraordinary convention on April 6, where Özel was reelected. Şimşek was seen in a heated argument during the convention with Özel, after claiming that the party’s committee overseeing the election turned down his nomination for chairpersonship on the grounds that he was “five minutes late” to the deadline for candidates.
Posting on social media after the April election, Şimşek has said the party unfairly blocked his bid to compete in the chairperson race. “I had 97 signatures (far ahead of the 66 signatures by CHP delegates for eligibility for candidacy), but they accelerated the process. In the previous election, candidates were allowed to present signatures four hours after the start of the process, but this time, they annulled my bid because of a five-minute delay,” he was quoted by Turkish media. “The CHP is not a company owned by certain people. It is up to the Turkish public to decide (on the fairness of the process),” he said back then.
Şimşek, a media-savvy figure, has been a longtime critic of the Özel administration and hit out at them when he announced his candidacy. He said the CHP deviated from its political path and could not tolerate any dissent. He stated in a series of social media posts that the Özel administration stained the party’s identity and “spirit of struggle” while engaging in “normalization” with the ruling party. This “normalization” has collapsed anyway, as Özel went as far as inciting riots against the government after the arrest of CHP mayors in a series of corruption probes.
Internal strife within CHP builds up ahead of a trial over vote-buying allegations in a 2023 intraparty vote. The Sabah newspaper reported on Monday that the party seeks to suppress dissident voices during a process that has seemingly pitted supporters of Özel against those of his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Any criticism of the Özel administration, its handling of the current legal process regarding the 2023 vote, or a simple defense of Kılıçdaroğlu paves the way for party members to be referred to the disciplinary board, the newspaper reported.
Özel rode a wave of popularity when incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defeated Kılıçdaroğlu in a general election in May 2023. Months later, the CHP veteran lost to Özel in a closely contested congressional election. Several former CHP delegates later filed a criminal complaint against a close circle of Özel, accusing them of bribing delegates to vote for Özel during the November 2023 vote. The new chair sought to shed CHP’s image as a social democrat party and tried to position it more as a centrist political movement while confusingly adhering to socialist slogans. The new direction the party took under Özel annoyed supporters of Kılıçdaroğlu, who represented a more conventional wing of Türkiye’s oldest party. Still, the CHP administration proved skillful in hiding internal tensions for a long time.
Özel referred some 400 dissidents to the disciplinary board in his first nine months in office and the purge escalated again in recent weeks. The party has quickly initiated expulsion proceedings against members who approve court rulings against the party, including those for mayors accused of corruption and other charges, those who speak publicly about details of cases against the CHP, and those critical of the handling of such cases by the Özel administration, according to the Sabah report.
Disciplinary actions have recently intensified, particularly targeting Gürsel Tekin and his supporters. Tekin, a former vice chair of the party under Kılıçdaroğlu, was appointed as the party’s Istanbul chair after a court verdict that annulled the chairpersonship of Özgür Çelik as Istanbul director of CHP over allegations of vote-buying in an intraparty election. CHP supporters confronted Tekin for accepting the tenure and accused him of betrayal, while Tekin said he took the seat as a representative of the party. Özel heavily censured Tekin and had him booed at a public rally, briefly after ordering his administration to launch disciplinary proceedings against him. Özgür Çelik, a CHP member who ironically shared the same name as the sacked Istanbul chair, also faced a similar fate when he expressed support for Tekin’s appointment.
Tolga Çobanoğlu, a former chief adviser and one of Tekin’s closest associates, is also facing precautionary expulsion proceedings. Earlier this month, Zeki Şen, Hasan Babacan, Müjdat Gürbüz and Erkan Narsapi, who were appointed to the Istanbul provincial administration alongside Tekin by court ruling, were also referred to the disciplinary board. Due to ongoing threats and pressure, Babacan and Gürbüz were forced to resign from the administration, according to the Sabah report.
Tekin’s expulsion is set to be discussed at the High Disciplinary Board (YDK) meeting on Sept. 26. At the same meeting, the expulsion of journalist Barış Yarkadaş, known for his opposition to the party leadership and his reporting on the “shady” 2023 election, where Özel is accused of buying votes, is also expected to be finalized.
Mustafa Yavuz, a CHP-affiliated journalist who filed a petition with party headquarters demanding the expulsion of Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan for making severe insults against Kılıçdaroğlu, has also been referred to the disciplinary committee.
Şahin Kurt, a CHP member from the Çankaya district who filed a lawsuit seeking the annulment of the party’s extraordinary congress held two days ago, has likewise been referred to the YDK with a precautionary suspension and a request for permanent expulsion, on the grounds of actions that allegedly violated party discipline.
