Özel allies resign from key CHP body over convention demand

ANKARA

Lawmakers aligned with ousted main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel resigned from a key committee in an effort to force the reinstated administration to call an extraordinary congress.

In a coordinated move, 28 members of the CHP’s Party Assembly resigned shortly before a meeting chaired by restored leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, reducing the body to 29 members.

The Özel-aligned faction argued the resignations pushed the board below a two-thirds threshold required under party rules, saying this triggered an obligation to convene an extraordinary convention within 45 days. They further claimed both the Party Assembly and the central executive board had effectively “collapsed.”

“Not convening a convention after this would be a crime,” lawmaker Zeynel Emre said in remarks in parliament following the resignations.

The rival Kılıçdaroğlu-aligned leadership argues that an extraordinary vote is not possible until a controversial court ruling that annulled the party’s 2023 convention is finalized. That decision restored the Özel leadership and rendered the internal vote “absolutely null.”

Özel was later elected as the party’s parliamentary leader.

Tensions further intensified after nine MPs close to Özel were referred on June 10 to the party’s disciplinary committee with a request for expulsion. Among them were four members of the Party Assembly — Nurhayat Altaca Kayışoğlu, Umut Akdoğan, Özgür Karabat and Veli Ağbaba.

Emre called the referrals “an attempt to shift the balance in the Party Assembly.”

Other senior MPs facing expulsion are Ali Mahir Başarır, Gökhan Günaydın, Burhanettin Bulut, Turan Taşkın Özer and Ensar Aytekin, all of whom are also named in legal proceedings tied to the disputed 2023 convention.

The Party Assembly, originally composed of 60 members elected by the party leader and congress delegates, holds significant authority over strategies, budgets, candidate lists and coalition decisions.

Müslim Sarı, a spokesperson for the reinstated administration, said the disciplinary actions were part of a “purification policy” pledged by Kılıçdaroğlu upon returning to office. Meanwhile, the Özel faction has accused Kılıçdaroğlu of “collaborating with the [ruling] AKP judiciary.”