 chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of betrayal, as a looming court decision threatens to overturn the party’s leadership.){kind=link}
Jailed İstanbul mayor and opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu has accused former Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of betrayal, as a looming court decision threatens to overturn the party’s leadership.
The possible rift in the CHP raises fears that Turkey’s main opposition could lose its cohesion and the firm backing of its most popular figure, potentially clearing the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to sideline his strongest political rival.
Responding to Kılıçdaroğlu’s recent statements suggesting he might reassume leadership if the court voids the election of current CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, İmamoğlu said: “I feel a great sense of betrayal. I cannot tolerate these words. They have deeply hurt me, and I feel indescribably bad.”
İmamoğlu’s remarks, relayed through his lawyers to journalist İsmail Saymaz of Halk TV, came after Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that rejecting a court ruling would be legally meaningless and warned that his refusing to accept the chairmanship in the event of annulment could result in a state-appointed trustee. “Would it be better if a trustee were appointed?” Kılıçdaroğlu asked in an interview.
In a lengthy written response, İmamoğlu said Kılıçdaroğlu had disapproved of rallies and public demonstrations supporting him and others facing politically motivated prosecutions. “We are under siege,” İmamoğlu said. “Our mayors, our party’s presidential candidate, our honorable bureaucrats — many of us are being punished without trial. This is not the time to remain silent or skimp on words. My greatest accomplice in this struggle was Mr. Kemal [Kılıçdaroğlu]. That’s why his statements have devastated me.”
He described a past meeting with Kılıçdaroğlu in prison during which the former chairman allegedly affirmed the legitimacy of the intraparty vote in 2023 that unseated him and agreed to issue a public message in support of the party. İmamoğlu said he had personally facilitated efforts to bring Kılıçdaroğlu and Özel together but was “deeply disappointed” when Kılıçdaroğlu later stated he would wait for the court’s decision before engaging.
“I served this party for 16 years,” İmamoğlu said. “If I am in prison today, it is because I was a member of the CHP and stood beside Kemal in the fight for democracy. If this case results in the reversal of our congress, it will not stop there. It will be the start of a broader assault aimed at making sure the ruling party never loses an election again.”
The internal tension exploded into full view after 10 CHP lawmakers issued statements of support for Kılıçdaroğlu, rejecting criticism of the former chairman and accusing detractors of slander and disloyalty. “Silence is complicity in sedition,” several of them wrote in posts on X. The MPs include Mahir Polat, Sevda Erdan Kılıç, Rıfat Nalbantoğlu, Deniz Demir, Ali Öztunç, Gamze Akkuş İlgezdi, Hasan Öztürkmen, Orhan Sarıbal, Hasan Ufuk Çakır and Hüseyin Yıldız.
Many of the lawmakers praised Kılıçdaroğlu’s legacy and framed attacks on him as attacks on the CHP’s identity. Others suggested a coordinated effort to undermine the former leader, warning that party unity cannot be built by “denying the past” or “surrendering to political ambition.”
Meanwhile, Özel and his allies have continued to reject any leadership change imposed by the judiciary. “No one who was not elected at the congress can lead the CHP,” Özel said earlier this week. “We must not fall into the ruling party’s trap.”
The Ankara court will hold its next hearing in the case on June 30. The lawsuit seeks to annul the results of the November 2023 CHP congress on claims of vote buying. If the court rules in favor of annulment and the decision is upheld, Kılıçdaroğlu would be reinstated as chairman by default — an outcome that would likely deepen the crisis.
After current chairman Özel unseated Kılıçdaroğlu in the November 2023 congress, the CHP went on to secure a plurality of the national vote for the first time in 47 years during the March 2024 local elections. Since then, it has consistently ranked as the leading party in nationwide polls, outperforming Erdoğan’s ruling party in nearly all hypothetical general election scenarios.
Analysts say the court case, Kılıçdaroğlu’s choice to speak to pro-government media and his criticism of the CHP’s public defense of İmamoğlu suggest he may be aligning with President Erdoğan to reclaim the chairmanship and eliminate a rival who consistently polls ahead of Erdoğan in hypothetical presidential matchups. İmamoğlu’s imprisonment has attracted concern from observers who warn that Turkey is drifting into full authoritarianism, where the opposition is sidelined and elections risk becoming mere formalities.