 by a controversial court ruling last week, has said the party will activate a disciplinary mechanism to review allegations against some party figures, according to the pro-government TGRT Haber.){kind=link}
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, reinstated as chairman of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) by a controversial court ruling last week, has said the party will activate a disciplinary mechanism to review allegations against some party figures, according to the pro-government TGRT Haber.
TGRT Haber Ankara representative Fatih Atik said he visited Kılıçdaroğlu at his residence and asked in a brief interview whether disciplinary proceedings and expulsions were planned at the party.
According to Atik, Kılıçdaroğlu said a disciplinary mechanism would “definitely” be put into operation but that a commission would first examine allegations against party figures.
Atik said the commission will review allegations involving mayors, lawmakers and party officials, including claims of corruption, bribery, conduct deemed incompatible with party discipline and insults of the party chairman.
Possible expulsions would be considered after the commission completes its report, he said.
The reference to corruption and bribery allegations comes amid a series of investigations targeting CHP-run municipalities since the party’s strong showing in the March 2024 local elections, when it finished first nationwide for the first time since 1977 and won control of many of Turkey’s largest cities.
More than 20 CHP mayors and hundreds of municipal officials have since been detained or arrested in probes that prosecutors say involve corruption, bribery, bid-rigging and abuse of office.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s reported remarks came after the 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice annulled the CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress, where Özgür Özel defeated Kılıçdaroğlu in November 2023 and became party chairman.
The court removed Özel and the current party administration from their positions as an interim measure and ordered Kılıçdaroğlu and the party bodies elected under his leadership at the previous congress to return to office.
Following the ruling, the CHP’s official website was updated to list Kılıçdaroğlu as party chairman, while the names of Party Council (PM) and Central Executive Board (MYK) members were removed from the site.
Turkish media also reported that articles about a police intervention at party headquarters on Sunday and Özel’s march from the building to parliament were deleted from the website.
Atik claimed, without directly quoting Kılıçdaroğlu, that files concerning jailed CHP mayors, including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, could be reviewed as part of the process and that the party under Kılıçdaroğlu could seek to distance itself from figures facing allegations.
İmamoğlu, widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s strongest political rival, has been jailed since March 2025 on corruption charges he denies.
Atik further claimed that Kılıçdaroğlu could use powers under the Law on Political Parties to suspend the membership of some party figures without waiting for a disciplinary board process, possibly including Özel.
He said such a measure would not amount to expulsion but would prevent the person concerned from taking part in party activities. Kılıçdaroğlu was not quoted as directly naming Özel in relation to such a step.
Kılıçdaroğlu also addressed the standoff at CHP headquarters in his remarks to Atik, accusing those who resisted the court ruling of barring lawmakers from entering the building and damaging party property.
“This [attitude] shows what the intention is. … They broke everything, even the tables and chairs inside. These [actions] are not things befitting the CHP,” he said.
Kılıçdaroğlu said he would go to CHP headquarters on Saturday and address party members, adding that the party has the strength and historical experience to overcome “all these difficulties.”
“Those who fight and favor division have no place under this sacred roof,” he said. “Our march to power has begun. We will cleanse ourselves and win.”
Atik interpreted the remarks as a message that Kılıçdaroğlu would move against figures he sees as damaging the party, but Kılıçdaroğlu was not quoted as directly naming Özel or İmamoğlu in that part of the interview.
Atik also claimed that one of Kılıçdaroğlu’s first steps after returning to party headquarters could be to close the presidential campaign office established for İmamoğlu, describing it as a structure that had functioned almost like a parallel headquarters.
İmamoğlu had been declared the CHP’s presidential candidate in March 2025 on the day he was arrested.
Former party council set to return
Meanwhile, Kılıçdaroğlu’s lawyers have taken steps to reinstate the PM and High Disciplinary Board members who served before the CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress, the T24 news website reported.
His lawyers asked for the reinstated members to be formally notified, and the request was accepted. The move appears to clear the way for the former party bodies to resume their duties.
The PM, the party’s highest decision-making body after the congress, is expected to convene next week, while the High Disciplinary Board is anticipated to play a critical role in any disciplinary action against party figures facing allegations, according to Turkish media reports.
The court decision annulling the CHP congress has deepened turmoil in the party.
Nine CHP members were arrested on Monday in an investigation into alleged irregularities at the party’s 2023 congress. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the suspects were accused of violating the Law on Political Parties, taking bribes and laundering assets obtained through crime.
The appeals court ruling also rendered legally void the extraordinary congresses held after the 38th Ordinary Congress, amendments to the party bylaws and changes to the party program. The CHP appealed to the Supreme Election Council (YSK), arguing that the dispute over the party congress should be handled by election boards, but the council rejected the appeal, leaving the court ruling in force.
Özel and the CHP leadership have repeatedly accused Erdoğan’s government of using the courts to pressure the opposition and weaken the party ahead of the next presidential election, scheduled for 2028. The government denies interfering in the judiciary and says Turkish courts act independently.