Bahçeli says CHP’s ‘parallel leadership’ threatens stability

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) internal power struggle could deepen political polarization and undermine social stability.

“We find the attempts to take the issue to the streets very dangerous,” Bahçeli told daily Türkgün in an interview published on June 4, arguing that political actors should await the outcome of legal proceedings rather than seek to mobilize public pressure.

Bahçeli’s comments focused heavily on the ongoing leadership feud within the CHP, where a court-backed challenge to the Özgür Özel administration has fueled tensions with reinstated leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The MHP leader said that Özel had effectively established a “parallel headquarters” within the party by taking control of the CHP’s parliamentary group and acting as a de facto leader.

According to Bahçeli, this duality had evolved into a broader crisis of representation within the CHP. He accused Özel of attempting to strengthen his position by transforming internal party disputes into wider political opposition against the government.

“The increasingly fierce leadership struggle within the CHP has the potential to further deepen the existing polarization,” he said.

“Someone who refrains from taking a stance, who prefers to cover up allegations against his party rather than pursue them, cannot be a successor to [modern Türkiye and CHP founder] Atatürk’s legacy and a leader for Turkish youth,” Bahçeli said.