Özgür Özel Launches New Party With 91 Lawmakers After 90 CHP Deputies Quit
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 31
Özgür Özel Launches New Party With 91 Lawmakers After 90 CHP Deputies Quit
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 31
Summary
Ninety CHP deputies joined Özgür Özel in resigning last Friday and founding the New (Yeni) party, giving it 91 seats and making it Turkey’s new main opposition in parliament.
Forty-four lawmakers remain in the CHP after a court-backed leadership reversal restored 77-year-old Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, whose remarks implying jailed CHP mayors could be guilty helped trigger protests and the split.
May’s police raid on CHP headquarters in Ankara — using teargas to enforce the ruling and remove Özel loyalists — turned the internal power struggle into a national political rupture.
Özel is trying to convert that rupture into a broader social-democratic platform backing EU membership and minority rights, but the new party lacks CHP’s finances, organization and historic brand.
The break follows CHP’s 37.8% local-election win in March 2024 and a wider crackdown on opposition figures, including jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, sharpening the stakes before the 2028 presidential race.
With Istanbul's mayor jailed and the CHP fractured by court order, can Turkey's opposition survive to challenge Erdoğan in 2028?
How will the sudden creation of the unfunded New Party reshape Turkey's political landscape after police stormed the opposition headquarters?
Does the court-ordered reinstatement of Kılıçdaroğlu signal the ultimate weaponization of Turkey's judiciary to dismantle the opposition?
91 Lawmakers Break Away: The 2026 Birth of Yeni Parti and the Fragmentation of Turkey’s Opposition
Overview
In 2026, Turkish politics was shaken when a court annulled the CHP’s 2023 congress, reinstating Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as leader. This sparked economic turmoil and a dramatic police raid on party headquarters. In response, Özgür Özel and 90 lawmakers left the CHP on July 24 to form the Yeni Parti, instantly making it the main opposition in parliament and reducing the CHP to fourth place. The new party pledged support to jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for the 2028 presidency. Meanwhile, the government intensified crackdowns on opposition mayors, and Western allies remained silent, prioritizing Turkey’s strategic military role over democratic concerns.