New Party awaits top court ruling in name dispute

ANKARA

New Party chairman Özgür Özel (AA Photo)

Main opposition New Party has decided to hold off on changing its name pending a Constitutional Court decision, pushing back against a directive from the Supreme Court of Appeals.

The move comes after the Innovation Party challenged the name, arguing the nearly identical names risk confusing voters at the ballot box.

The New Party’s executive board discussed the issue on Sept. 15 under the leadership of Özgür Özel and decided to maintain its name while awaiting a possible Constitutional Court ruling, according to reports.

Party officials argued that the similarity between the names does not constitute “confusion” as defined under Türkiye’s Political Parties Law. They also pointed out that the parties use different abbreviations.

“We obtained the necessary expert opinions when establishing our party, and the application procedures with the Interior Ministry and the Court of Appeals were duly completed,” New Party spokesperson Zeynel Emre said after the board meeting.

“We do not believe there is even one person in the country who confuses the two parties. Therefore, we consider the debate over our name meaningless. We are keeping our name.”

The Innovation Party’s application was submitted by its deputy chair responsible for legal and electoral affairs, Oya Baksı Işık, to the Political Parties Registry Bureau of the appeals court’s chief prosecutor’s office.

The petition recalled that an application to establish a party under the name New Party had been rejected in 2024. It argued that the Turkish words “yeni,” meaning “new,” and “yenilik,” meaning “innovation,” could make it difficult for voters to distinguish between the parties.

The deadline for the New Party to comply with the notification is Sept. 18. The prosecutor’s office may apply to the Constitutional Court after the deadline if it deems such action necessary.

Özel resigned from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) on July 24, taking 90 lawmakers with him to establish the New Party. The move followed an Ankara court’s annulment of the CHP’s 2023 leadership election in May over alleged irregularities, removing Özel as chair and reinstating former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.