Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the former chairman of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has intensified tensions within the party by publicly defending his willingness to reclaim leadership through a court ruling while lashing out at current party officials for allegedly compromising the party’s integrity.
In an interview with TGRT Haber — a channel listed in a boycott call by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel for its pro-government stance — Kılıçdaroğlu said he could not allow the party to be handed over to a court-appointed trustee if an Ankara court annuls the results of the November 2023 congress that elected Özel.
“They are tampering with the DNA of the CHP. I cannot allow this,” Kılıçdaroğlu said. “Even if I say I don’t recognize the court’s decision, it has no legal consequence. If I do not accept [the chairmanship], a trustee will be appointed. Who will lead the party then?”
His remarks were met with sharp criticism from the current leadership.
“No one who was not elected at the congress can lead the CHP. The 81 provincial chairmen and mayors are also against this. We must not fall into the ruling party’s trap,” the Cumhuriyet daily quoted Özel, who unseated Kılıçdaroğlu in the November 2023 congress, as saying.
Özel dismissed Kılıçdaroğlu’s warnings about a trustee as misleading, stating that the regulations only allow for a committee tasked with organizing elections within 40 days — not a full interim leadership.
If the Ankara 3rd Civil Court of First Instance rules on June 30 to annul the 38th Ordinary Congress held in November 2023, Kılıçdaroğlu would be considered the party’s de jure chairman again because Özel’s election would be declared null and void.
Özel also accused his predecessor’s allies of attempting to discredit the congress process and destabilize the party at a time when it leads the country in municipal control and polling. “Accepting a position after nullification would be a historic mistake,” he said.
The internal dispute has been further inflamed by Kılıçdaroğlu’s choice to speak to TGRT Haber, a network often accused of targeting the opposition with pro-government bias. Kılıçdaroğlu praised the channel’s “objective journalism,” attracting criticism from party members who said his endorsement undermined the CHP’s principled stance against media outlets they claim serve the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
TGRT Ankara representative Fatih Atik, who conducted the interview, relayed Kılıçdaroğlu’s statements live on air. The former leader rejected accusations that he was acting out of revenge, saying, “The CHP needs to find peace within itself. This is not a time for division.”
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan weighed in on the CHP dispute from a distance, ridiculing the internal conflict and echoing a popular saying: “In Byzantium, the games never end; in the CHP, the fights never cease.” The president also cited recent allegations from the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office without offering specifics, claiming municipalities controlled by the CHP are “in a state of disaster.”
The Ankara court is scheduled to deliver a ruling on June 30 regarding the annulment of the 2023 congress. If it declares “absolute nullification,” Kılıçdaroğlu would be reinstated by default, at least until a new congress is held. Özel’s supporters say such a scenario would be politically untenable and vowed to resist what they view as an undemocratic power grab.
The ongoing power struggle has reopened longstanding divisions within the CHP and raised concerns among observers that the opposition may fracture at a time when its political momentum is at a high point following victories in the March 2024 local elections.