CHP’s Özel launches signature drive for extraordinary convention

ANKARA

The faction of Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) aligned with Özgür Özel has started a signature campaign among delegates to convene an extraordinary convention following a court ruling that nullified the party’s 2023 vote, the ousted leader said on June 1.

Özel said the first signatures had already been collected and more than 550 delegate signatures would be needed to trigger an extraordinary vote.

“The party that brought the ballot box to Türkiye will not surrender to a trustee,” Özel told reporters in parliament, referring to reinstated chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

The initiative comes after a court decision annulled the CHP’s 38th ordinary convention, creating uncertainty over the party’s leadership and prompting a power struggle between supporters of Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu.

Özel argued that the party was being targeted because of its electoral gains, pointing to the CHP’s gains in the 2024 local elections and growing public support for the party. He accused the government of using judicial mechanisms to “weaken CHP-run municipalities and halt the party’s rise toward power.”

Under CHP bylaws, an extraordinary convention can be convened within 45 days if backed by a simple majority of delegates.

The dispute has exposed divisions within the party over how to respond to the court ruling. Speaking at party headquarters on May 30, Kılıçdaroğlu argued that a convention should not be held until what he described as a process of “reckoning and purification” is completed.

Media reports quoted sources close to him as saying that neither an ordinary nor an extraordinary convention can be organized until the court ruling becomes final following appeals.

Zeynel Emre, party spokesperson at the last Central Executive Board meeting under Özel’s administration, rejected that interpretation, saying the party faces an urgent deadline that could affect its ability to participate in future elections.

“If it is said that there is an injunction or another obstacle, it only takes two petitions to the Court of Appeals. The appeal can be waived, the decision becomes final and the injunction is lifted,” he said on May 31.

Özel, who was reelected as the party’s parliamentary leader after the court ruling, is expected to chair a group meeting on June 2. The decision has generated a fresh dispute within the party, with questions raised over who holds legitimate authority following the court ruling.

Meanwhile, 221 former CHP lawmakers issued a statement criticizing Kılıçdaroğlu’s return to the party leadership through what they described as a judicially imposed process and argued that holding an extraordinary convention within 45 days would be the “most effective response to attempts to shape politics through the courts.”