(AA Photo)
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) marked the 103rd anniversary of its founding on Sept. 9, amid a deepening rift after the establishment of the New Party by lawmakers who broke away from the CHP.
CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu visited Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Türkiye and the CHP’s founding leader, together with party members as part of ceremonies marking the anniversary.
Atatürk founded the CHP on Sept. 9, 1923, and became its first chairman, a position he held for 15 years until his death in 1938.
The party held its first extraordinary congress following Atatürk’s death on Dec. 26, 1938, when İsmet İnönü was elected chairman. İnönü remained at the helm of the party for nearly 33 years.
Kılıçdaroğlu laid a wreath at Atatürk’s mausoleum and observed a moment of silence before signing the memorial book.
“Being worthy of your legacy means preserving the morality, justice and virtue embedded in the very fabric of the Republican People’s Party, while resolutely maintaining our determination to rid ourselves of all forms of degeneration and uphold an understanding of clean politics,” Kılıçdaroğlu wrote.
“With the strength we draw from the spirit of Sept. 9, we will continue our struggle to make our country a land of democracy, justice and hope,” he said.
Kılıçdaroğlu was accompanied by CHP lawmakers and mayors. Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, however, did not attend the anniversary receptions, amid tensions within the party.
The rift intensified after Kılıçdaroğlu, who had previously served as CHP chairman, was reinstated following a court ruling over alleged irregularities at the party’s 2023 convention. Kılıçdaroğlu had lost the leadership race at the convention to Özgür Özel.
As part of what Kılıçdaroğlu has described as a process of “purification,” tensions within the CHP have since escalated. Numerous party members, including nine lawmakers, were referred to the party’s High
Disciplinary Board with requests for definitive expulsion, while appointments were made to provincial and district party organizations across all 81 provinces.
Özel later resigned from the CHP chairmanship on July 24 and broke away from the party with 91 lawmakers to establish the New Party under his leadership.
The split reduced the CHP’s representation in parliament to 44 seats. As a result, the party lost its position as the main opposition force in the parliament and became the fifth-largest party in terms of parliamentary seats.
