Deposed Turkish opposition leader forms ‘New Party’ to challenge Erdogan

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The deposed leader of Turkey’s main opposition party on Friday formed a new political party to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, months after he was removed from his post by a court order that his supporters slammed as a political move to weaken the opposition.

Ozgur Ozel and 90 other legislators formally resigned from the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and then registered the new political party — named the “New Party” — with the Interior Ministry.

“May it be auspicious for our homeland, our nation, and our party,” Ozel said in a video posted on X, showing him signing a document formalizing his resignation from the CHP, Turkey’s oldest political party.

In May, a court of appeal annulled a 2023 party congress vote that appointed Ozel as CHP chair. The court decision, which cited alleged irregularities, reinstated the unpopular Kemal Kilicdaroglu as leader. Ozel’s ouster sparked outrage among many CHP supporters.

Ozel, 51, had succeeded the 77‑year‑old Kilicdaroglu after 13 years of what many analysts described as ineffective opposition to Erdogan.

Ozel’s supporters view his ouster as part of a wider crackdown on the opposition.

In the past two years, hundreds of elected mayors and other officials from CHP-run municipalities have been detained as part of criminal investigations, mostly into alleged corruption.

They include Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, who is widely considered the strongest potential challenger to Erdogan. Imamoglu, who represents the CHP, has been imprisoned since March last year and faces criminal cases that could result in decades-long sentences. It was not known clear if Imamoglu would also join the New Party.

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

Under Ozel’s leadership, the CHP had delivered a significant blow to Erdogan’s party in the 2024 municipal elections.

With a total of 91 legislators in the 600-seat parliament, the New Party is expected to replace the CHP as the main opposition. Erdogan’s ruling Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has 277 seats, while the CHP has been reduced to 44 seats after the defections.

Ozel decided to establish a new party after Kilicdaroglu rejected repeated demands to call a fresh leadership election after the earlier one was annulled.