Messages of unity and slogans accusing betrayals resonated on the streets and social media as the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) held rival meetings on Tuesday.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the former leader of the party reinstated to his post with a court ruling last month, was scheduled to chair his first parliamentary group meeting before he changed his mind at the last minute, as Özgür Özel, who was ousted after a trial on vote-buying allegations, vowed to address the same meeting.
Supporters of Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu confronted each other outside Parliament before the speeches and scuffles broke out among crowds accusing Özel of association with the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and those branding Kılıçdaroğlu a “traitor” for accepting the court ruling. Parliament’s administration restricted access for visitors to the parliamentary group meeting, fearing more scuffles inside the building.
The Özel camp is defiant of the court verdict that nullified his chairmanship, on the grounds that his associates bought votes in a 2023 intra-party election that ended the lengthy rule of Kılıçdaroğlu at the party. Özel relented to leaving the headquarters in May after hours of confrontation with police but called Kılıçdaroğlu to hold a new election, stating that he would be re-elected to his post. The Kılıçdaroğlu camp, meanwhile, insists that the party should “cleanse” itself of “corruption,” in reference to mayors and other officials detained, arrested or implicated in a wide array of corruption cases. Among those figures accused of corruption is Ekrem Imamoğlu, former mayor of Istanbul and future presidential candidate of the CHP who campaigned for Özel in the 2023 intra-party vote.
