Kılıçdaroğlu adopts gov’t narrative, says CHP investigations are corruption probes, not political

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the court-reinstated leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has adopted the government’s narrative on criminal cases targeting the party, describing them as corruption investigations rather than politically motivated prosecutions.

He made the remarks in an interview with Cumhuriyet columnist Mustafa Balbay, who pressed him on growing legal pressure on the CHP, including the prosecution of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and a series of investigations into CHP-run municipalities.

The comments attracted attention because they closely mirror the position of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government, which denies using the courts to weaken the opposition and says the cases against CHP officials are legitimate corruption probes.

The interview came amid a deepening leadership crisis in the CHP after a court ruling returned Kılıçdaroğlu to party leadership last month and removed Özgür Özel, who had defeated him at the party’s 2023 congress.

Kılıçdaroğlu told Balbay he was open to criticism but objected to what he described as misinformation.

Asked why he viewed the cases as nonpolitical, he said, “They are corruption cases.”

Balbay pressed him on the case against İmamoğlu, for whom prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of up to 2,500 years, as well as the cancellation of his university diploma before his arrest in March 2025.

“I am also against trial in detention,” Kılıçdaroğlu replied, adding that he had not changed the position he expressed when he visited İmamoğlu’s family.

İmamoğlu and other defendants in the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality case deny the corruption allegations and say the prosecution is politically motivated.

His comments are likely to deepen anger among CHP members who argue that calling the cases “corruption investigations” gives political cover to a crackdown the party says is designed to undo the opposition’s gains in the March 2024 local elections.

Kılıçdaroğlu was returned to the CHP leadership after an Ankara appeals court on May 21 annulled the party’s 2023 congress, which Özel had won, and reinstated the former chairman and his team as an interim measure.

The ruling has deepened divisions within the CHP. Özel’s supporters have rejected the court decision and called for an extraordinary congress, while Kılıçdaroğlu’s side has begun preparations for an ordinary congress.

Balbay also asked whether Kılıçdaroğlu could have rejected the annulment ruling while preserving party unity, including by saying internal disputes should be settled at a congress rather than in court.

“When a court issues a ruling, you may criticize it in the strongest terms, but you must comply with it,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Kılıçdaroğlu led the CHP for 13 years before losing the party leadership to Özel. He was also the opposition’s joint presidential candidate in 2023, when he lost to President Erdoğan.

The CHP has faced growing legal and political pressure since its major gains in the March 2024 local elections. More than 20 CHP mayors and hundreds of municipal officials have been detained or arrested in investigations the party says are aimed at reversing the opposition’s electoral gains.

İmamoğlu, the elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city and President Erdoğan’s main political rival, remains in pretrial detention on charges of leading a criminal organization involved in bribery, fraud and bid rigging.

He denies the accusations and says the case is intended to remove him from the next presidential race.

The CHP says the prosecution of İmamoğlu and the removal of Özel’s leadership are part of the same effort to weaken the opposition before the next national election.

The government denies interfering in the judiciary and claims Turkish courts act independently.