Özel vows ‘new politics’ amid CHP’s leadership crisis
Ousted main opposition leader Özgür Özel said on June 29 that he was advancing what he called “a new politics” that could evolve into a new party or a transformed political movement, as the Republican People’s Party (CHP) remains locked in a leadership dispute.
“We are in our party, but we are in the midst of a new march, a new approach. We are in the midst of a new politics, a founding politics, a politics marching towards power,” Özel told supporters in the western city of İzmir’s Ödemiş district.
His remarks come as the CHP continues to grapple with a deep internal crisis between rival factions following a court decision last month that overturned Özel’s leadership and reinstated former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his team.
“Whether the party is new or we continue in the existing party, this new march of ours will be the new party of housewives, young people, retirees, workers,” Özel said, adding that his movement seeks to “leave behind despair” and economic inequality.
