Ousted Turkiye opposition leader says no plans for new party

Protesters stand in front of a riot police water cannon vehicle during a rally called by ousted opposition leader Ozgur Ozel in Izmir on May 26, 2026. (AFP)

• The CHP, Turkiye’s oldest political party, has been badly shaken by a May 21 court ruling
• Court overturned a 2023 party primary which elected Ozgur Ozel as leader

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s ousted opposition leader Ozgur Ozel on Wednesday ruled out any plans to leave the crisis-hit CHP and form a new party, urging fellow members to stay put, Turkish media reported.
The CHP, Turkiye’s oldest political party, has been badly shaken by a May 21 court ruling that overturned a 2023 party primary which elected Ozel as leader, reinstating his defeated rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Three days later, riot police battered their way into the CHP’s Ankara headquarters, firing tear gas and beating party members before throwing them out, Ozel told AFP on Sunday evening.
Despite the crisis, Ozel moved to quickly scotch rumors he might leave the party to form a new political faction and urged his fellow party members to stay put.
“We have no intention of forming a new party,” he told journalists after attending prayers in Manisa near the western resort of Izmir, on the first day of the Eid Al-Fitr holiday, the BirGun newspaper reported.
“There are those who say ‘we should resign’, but no one should leave the party or resign. We will resolve this issue,” he said, repeating calls for a leadership primary “as soon as possible.”
“We hope Kilicdaroglu will not attempt to lead a party he was not democratically elected to head. I have a request for him: let the leader be determined by the decision of our two million members.”
Critics have denounced the court decision as the latest brazen attempt to remove President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rivals ahead of elections, which must be held by May 2028.
Pressure on the CHP has soared since its sweeping local election victory over Erdogan’s AKP in 2024, with more than a dozen of its mayors since arrested on charges ranging from graft to terror ties.
The March 2025 arrest and jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — the CHP’s presidential candidate and Erdogan’s most powerful political rival — sparked Turkiye’s worst street unrest in over a decade, with the party leading mass protests which thrust Ozel into the limelight.
Since then the party has risen in the polls, while at the same time facing a bewildering array of lawsuits largely seen as politically motivated.