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Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, former chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), may finally make good on his titular election campaign promise in 2023. Sources close to the 76-year-old politician told Turkish media this week that he was ready to take over the party if a hearing next week may render the chairpersonship of incumbent leader Özgür Özel null and void.
The ominous silence of Kılıçdaroğlu in the face of the ongoing crisis in Türkiye’s oldest party angered some supporters of the party, including Ali Mahir Başarır, deputy parliamentary group chair of the CHP. As he commented on the appointment of a court-mandated name to the party’s Istanbul branch after a lawsuit on vote-buying, Başarır told pro-CHP Sözcü TV that he was disappointed that Kılıçdaroğlu did not react to the case.
The CHP had defied the court order for the removal of Özgür Çelik as head of the party’s Istanbul branch following accusations by former CHP members that he was involved in fraud to win the 2023 intraparty election for Istanbul. When Gürsel Tekin, former vice chair of Kılıçdaroğlu, was appointed as a trustee after Çelik’s suspension, CHP supporters attempted to occupy the party’s offices, prompting clashes with riot police earlier this week. The CHP claims the court order is politically motivated, but was also quick to expel Tekin from the party.
The next, and probably final, hearing in a similar case will be held in Ankara on Sept. 15. A court will decide whether Özgür Özel and his associates conspired to buy votes of delegates in the November 2023 election he was elected to helm the party.
Kılıçdaroğlu has earlier signaled that he may accept the role of a trustee if Özel was suspended from duty in the hearing triggered by complaints of former CHP delegates who claimed they were offered everything from cash to jobs to vote for Özel. Gürsel Tekin had the same reasoning as Kılıçdaroğlu, who reportedly said he would not allow someone outside the CHP to rule the party as trustee.
Başarır’s remarks on Tuesday evening and multiple media reports point out that Kılıçdaroğlu apparently made his position clear in the ongoing turmoil within the CHP. “I expected that Kılıçdaroğlu would at least post a tweet opposing trustees for Istanbul,” a tearful Başarır said in a televised interview. “This was what I came to expect from him, but in the past three days, he did not even utter a word,” he lamented.
Barış Terkoğlu, a journalist with close ties to the CHP, said in an online broadcast on Tuesday that Kılıçdaroğlu was intent on running the CHP as trustee and may even cancel a Sept. 21 convention of the party planned by the Özel administration. The extraordinary convention was called by Özel as a precaution to losing his seat after the possible court verdict and would bring him to power in CHP again, even if the previous vote was annulled. Terkoğlu said Kılıçdaroğlu believed irregularities in the 2023 election he lost to Özel.
According to sources speaking to the Sabah newspaper, the party’s incumbent administration has taken every possible step to stall or complicate the legal process. First, an extraordinary congress was convened, and shortly after, without waiting for the court ruling, a new congress calendar was announced. Meanwhile, media outlets aligned with the party launched a systematic smear campaign against Kılıçdaroğlu and his close associates. Social media is awash with messages accusing Kılıçdaroğlu of betraying the party. The Sabah newspaper reported that there were also efforts to influence the court through public pressure and veiled threats of unrest. Özgür Özel has openly threatened recently that they would “bring life to a standstill” in an interview with the Financial Times if the court rules for annulment.
Following recent developments in Istanbul, party leadership has reportedly begun to assess the implications of a potential ruling of “absolute nullity” in the case. According to political insiders, in the event of such a decision, the leadership does not intend to hand over the party headquarters to Kılıçdaroğlu. Some reports even suggest that, if necessary, they would resist as they did in Istanbul.
There are also claims that the party may immediately move to expel Kılıçdaroğlu if the court rules the 2023 election results invalid. After Tekin’s appointment in Istanbul, Özel has said that whoever from CHP agrees to serve as trustee would be expelled from the party.
Rumors that the court could issue an interim ruling before Sept. 15 have further heightened tensions within the party. As a precaution, several Central Executive Board members, MPs, youth branch members and other party officials are expected to remain at party headquarters until that date. CHP members in Ankara have also reportedly been advised not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary.
Meanwhile, Özel is expected to hold a rally in Ankara’s Anadolu Square on Sunday, one day before the hearing. The rally, scheduled for 7 p.m., is expected to focus on themes of “resistance” and “struggle.”
