CHP divided over timing of new convention amid leader crisis

ANKARA

Republican People's Party (CHP) ousted leader Ozgur Ozel stands atop of a bus as he waves to supporters during a rally, days after a court dismissed him from office, in Izmir on May 26, 2026. (AFP)

A leadership dispute within the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is intensifying as ousted chairman Özgür Özel insists there is no legal barrier to holding a new convention despite objections from reinstated leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

In remarks to private broadcaster Sözcü TV on May 27, Özel rejected Kılıçdaroğlu’s argument that a court injunction prevented the CHP from convening an extraordinary convention, saying the party could legally organize a congress within 45 days if there was political will to do so.

“There is no legal impediment to the congress,” Özel said. “An ordinary or extraordinary convention is a new founding process. Therefore, the precautionary measure does not prevent the convention from being held.”

The dispute follows a court decision that annulled the CHP’s 2023 convention and reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu as party chairman, removing Özel from the post he had won in the leadership contest.

The ruling has triggered uncertainty over the future direction of the CHP and intensified tensions within the party.

Speaking to reporters earlier on May 27 outside his residence in Ankara, Kılıçdaroğlu said legal experts had advised that the convention could not proceed while the injunction remained in force.

“If it were up to me, I would do it tomorrow,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, adding that the party would wait for appeals against the injunction to be finalized before launching the congress process.

He also announced plans to convene the CHP’s Party Council on June 1, to determine a new Central Executive Committee and continue operations under the reinstated administration.

Özel accused figures aligned with Kılıçdaroğlu of escalating tensions at CHP headquarters ahead of planned negotiations over a possible convention date.

According to Özel, the two sides had agreed to appoint representatives to negotiate at noon the following day, but individuals linked to Kılıçdaroğlu arrived at party headquarters early in the morning accompanied by what he described as “mafia-like groups.”

“Is it a conciliatory approach to storm the party at 7 a.m. with a group that is both mafia-like and [President] Erdoğan supporters, when negotiations were scheduled for noon?” Özel said.

Kılıçdaroğlu denied sending the individuals to the building early in the morning. He declined to say whether he would seek the chairmanship again in a future congress.