The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) faces more scrutiny over a shady 2023 election while Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the new chair of the party, seeks to assemble a new administration. Meanwhile, a dispute between new and former leaders resurfaced on Tuesday over a parliamentary group meeting.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul announced that it had asked relevant authorities to share findings regarding the delegates who voted in the 2023 election that brought Özgür Özel to power in Türkiye’s oldest party. The election was the subject of an investigation over allegations of vote-buying in favor of Özel. Last month, a court looking into the matter ordered the reinstatement of Özel’s predecessor, Kılıçdaroğlu, ruling for absolute nullification of the Özel administration. The office said reports on delegates and their next of kin would be requested from the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) and cash flow in their bank accounts would also be investigated.
On Tuesday, two individuals were also summoned to testify in the case. They were identified as Özkan Yalım and Turgut Koç. Yalım, the former mayor of the western province of Uşak, was recently arrested on charges of corruption. Collaborating with authorities, Yalım has confessed to secretly funding the Özel administration and bribing delegates to vote for Özel in the 2023 election. Koç is a businessman who was arrested in a separate case regarding drugs and prostitution and allegedly has links to Veli Ağbaba, a CHP lawmaker for the Malatya constituency. Koç has already admitted that he paid cash to delegates to collect votes for Özel.
