Turkish deposed opposition leader plans to create a new party to take on Erdogan

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The deposed leader of Turkey’s main opposition announced plans on Tuesday to create a new political party to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ozgur Ozel ‘s announcement came months after he was removed as leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, by a court order — a ruling critics say was a politically motivated effort to weaken the opposition. His ouster, and the reinstatement of the party’s former and unpopular leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, sparked outrage among many CHP supporters.

“We are establishing our new party by taking the first step together with the deputies chosen by our nation,” Ozel said in a speech to CHP lawmakers and other officials in parliament. “These are the determined steps of a march toward governing Turkey.”

The new political movement, which is expected to be called Yeni Parti, or New Party, will be formally launched later this week, according to reports.

Many of the CHP’s 135 legislators in the 600‑seat parliament were expected to defect and join the new party, which Ozel said would become the parliament’s main opposition “by a wide margin.”

An appeals court in May annulled a 2023 party congress vote that appointed Ozel as CHP chair. The court decision, which cited alleged irregularities, reinstated Kilicdaroglu.

Ozel, 51, had succeeded the 77‑year‑old Kilicdaroglu after 13 years of what many analysts described as ineffective opposition to Erdogan. Ozel framed the court case as a legal attack on the CHP.

Criminal investigations across the country — mostly alleging corruption in CHP‑run municipalities — have led to hundreds of elected officials and party members being detained, including Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, who is widely considered the strongest potential challenger to Erdogan. Imamoglu has been imprisoned since March last year and faces criminal cases that could result in decades-long sentences.

The government insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.

Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey for more than two decades, first as prime minister and later president, has rejected claims of a government intervention in the judiciary, describing the legal case that led to Ozel’s ouster as an internal dispute within the CHP.

Under Ozel’s leadership, the CHP delivered a significant blow to Erdogan’s ruling party in the 2024 municipal elections, gaining several cities and strengthening its hold on key municipalities it first won five years earlier, including Istanbul and Ankara.