Ozgur Ozel leaves Turkey's CHP and moves to form new party

Ozgur Ozel, who was ousted as leader of Turkey's main opposition CHP, resigned from the party on Friday with 90 other lawmakers and moved to found a new party. Turkish media broadcast and posted video showing Ozel at his desk beside a large Turkish flag as he signed resignation papers and founding documents for Yeni Parti, meaning New Party. Ozel said he hoped the move would benefit the country, the nation, the party and all involved. Officials said the paperwork to set up Yeni Parti would be presented at the interior ministry around noon. With 91 lawmakers, the new party would become the second largest party in Turkey's 600-seat parliament after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP, which has 277 seats. The CHP had held 135 seats, making it the second largest party, but the resignations would reduce it to 44 seats and leave it in fourth place behind the pro-Kurdish opposition DEM party, which has 56 seats. Ozel's move came two months after a court ruling removed him as CHP leader and restored his defeated predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The ruling sparked anger inside Turkey's oldest political party. Ozel appealed, but the source says procedural delays meant the paperwork did not reach the Supreme Court until just hours before its summer recess, prompting his decision to set up a new party. The Ankara court annulled the CHP's 2023 leadership election over vote-buying allegations. The source says the move was widely seen as a political manoeuvre to weaken Erdogan's opponents and raised concerns about democracy and the rule of law in Turkey. In his final speech to lawmakers at the CHP's weekly parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Ozel said Turkey was at a historic crossroads and said the new party would become the main opposition force in parliament. He said those joining it were taking on a difficult and risky burden for the country's sake. The source says the CHP's fortunes appeared to improve within months of Ozel's election as leader, including a large local election victory over the AKP. Since then, the party has faced growing judicial pressure, with hundreds of party officials arrested on graft allegations. Those arrested include Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, described in the source as widely seen as one of the only politicians capable of defeating Erdogan at the ballot box. The source says at least 27 CHP mayors are currently behind bars.