Ozgur Ozel says he will form new Turkish opposition party
The ousted CHP leader says the planned party will challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a court removed him from his post.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Ozgur Ozel, the former leader of Turkiye’s main opposition party, said Tuesday that he plans to create a new political party after a court removed him from the Republican People’s Party leadership. The move could reshape the opposition bloc facing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose government has been accused by opponents of using the courts to weaken rivals.
Ozel announced the plan in a speech to parliament, two months after an appeals court stripped him of the CHP chairmanship and returned former party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu to the post. Ozel described the project as a new start in the effort to defeat Erdogan, who has led Turkiye for more than two decades as prime minister and president.
Ozel said the party’s name had not yet been disclosed. He said he was beginning the effort with lawmakers elected by voters and called it a march toward governing Turkiye.
New party could draw CHP defections
The CHP, a secularist party founded more than a century ago by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, holds 135 seats in Turkiye’s 600-member parliament. Many of those legislators are expected to leave the CHP for Ozel’s new party, according to reports by Reuters and The Associated Press.
Ozel said the new party would become the largest opposition force in parliament by a wide margin. The announcement follows months of turmoil inside the CHP and a wider legal pressure campaign that opposition figures say has targeted elected officials and party members.
Since late 2024, hundreds of municipal officials and party members have been jailed, according to Reuters and The Associated Press. Many investigations have focused on alleged corruption in CHP-run municipalities.
Among those imprisoned is Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who is widely viewed as one of Erdogan’s strongest potential challengers. Imamoglu has been held since March 2025 and faces criminal cases that could bring prison terms lasting decades, according to the reports.
Government denies political pressure
Ozel and other critics have called the court decision against him, and the wider legal pressure on the CHP, a politically driven “coup.” The Turkish government says the judiciary is independent and rejects accusations that courts act under political direction.
Erdogan has denied that his government interfered in the case that removed Ozel. He has described the dispute as an internal CHP matter.
The CHP scored major gains under Ozel in the 2024 municipal elections, when it won several cities and reinforced control over key municipalities, including Istanbul and Ankara. Those results were seen as a setback for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AK Party.
Some analysts say Ozel’s breakaway party could weaken the opposition by dividing voters and lawmakers. Murat Gezici, chairman of pollster Gezici, said the political balance would favor Erdogan and the AK Party in the short and medium term unless the new party can draw broad public support and become the central opposition force.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.