Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) convened an extraordinary congress on April 6, 2025, solidifying the leadership of Chairperson Özgür Özel and further restructuring the party’s internal power dynamics. The congress came shortly after the judicial proceedings targeting Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, a development that drew widespread political attention and renewed debate over opposition unity.
“All the recent developments, the corruption case of Imamoğlu, the calls for the streets afterward, boycotts and demonstrations have been processes aiming to construct Özgür Özel’s leadership within the CHP,” political scientist and columnist Oğuzhan Bilgin told Daily Sabah.
“Since Özel won the CHP chairpersonship thanks to Imamoğlu, he had become a ‘trustee chair’ instead of a leader, staying in Imamoğlu’s shadow. Özel did not have the chance to establish a stranglehold on cliques such as the Kılıçdaroğlu clique or Mansur Yavaş clique.”
After former Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu lost the general elections against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Imamoğlu started a process to challenge Kılıçdaroğlu’s electoral loss. In the next congress following the elections and amid calls for change within the CHP, championed by Imamoğlu, Özel was elected chairperson.
“In general, Özel’s leadership was open to questioning among the CHP base, as well as its organizations,” Bilgin underlined.
“Taking advantage of Imamoğlu’s arrest, Özel has attempted to build his leadership with the winds he took from the street and polarizing rhetoric in the CHP – and he was successful to a great extent.”
Similarly, a researcher at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), Muhammed Hüseyin Mercan, said: “Özel, with this congress, tried to lift the suspicions about him and consolidate his position within the party. If we look at the number of delegates participating in the congress, we can say that he gained significant legitimacy.”
He said: “As the Imamoğlu case proceeds, the CHP, at some point, will stop defending him vocally. I believe that Özel, through acting like he supports Imamoğlu, is pursuing a strategy to absorb potential reactions that could come from the CHP base while getting rid of his main rival within the party. The fact that he left a seat at the congress for Imamoğlu and wrote ‘presidential candidate’ on it was an indicator of this strategy.”
Sunday’s congress reinforced Özel’s position, with most seats on the party assembly and the High Disciplinary Board going to candidates aligned with his bloc. The reshuffle was interpreted as a clear indicator that Özel has consolidated control over the party’s key decision-making bodies. Özel was the sole candidate for CHP chairpersonship.
The timing of the congress – just after Imamoğlu was handed a prison sentence and a political ban – added weight to the event. While the CHP leadership avoided overt internal contestation, the judicial developments intensified discussions about the party’s direction, alliance strategies and institutional resilience ahead of the 2028 general elections.
Bilgin said that Özel entering the extraordinary congress elections as the sole candidate while others could not announce their candidacy due to “peer pressure” was a clear indication of Özel’s strategy to highlight himself. “Those who try to open a debate within the party are labeled traitors.”
Just days before the congress, Kılıçdaroğlu wrote on social media that he would not be a candidate despite a circle within the CHP insisting and gathering signatures for his candidature because “I do not want our party to get stuck in intraparty rows and divert attention to other areas other than our fight.”
Question of presidential candidate
The ruling against Imamoğlu has also cast significant uncertainty over the CHP’s presidential strategy for 2028. As one of the party’s most prominent and nationally recognized figures, Imamoğlu was widely expected to be a leading contender for the presidency. However, the court’s decision, if upheld, could bar him from running for public office. The party now faces the challenge of either defending Imamoğlu’s candidacy amid legal obstacles or beginning the search for an alternative figure who can unite the opposition and maintain national appeal.
“Considering that Imamoğlu is arrested and Kılıçdaroğlu cannot be a candidate once again, Özel’s presidential candidacy will be seriously debated in the upcoming period – and Özel will want this,” Bilgin added.
He said that although there are not many obstacles to his candidacy, this does not mean Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş will renounce his candidacy. Mansur, a prominent figure from the CHP with a nationalist background, has not rejected his potential candidacy for the presidential elections so far.
“Yavaş most likely will not be announced as a candidate by the CHP since in the CHP’s party genetics, its party tradition and organizations, it is difficult to announce a nationalist figure. Yavaş, who is aware of this, will stay in the CHP until the last moment until he sees a definite rejection of this possibility,” Bilgin said.
He elaborated that Yavaş, after publicly being rejected as a candidate by the CHP, might take the nationalist circle from the party with him to leave the CHP and become a candidate of a coalition of nationalist parties such as the Good Party (IP) or Victory Party (ZP).
“I believe that from now on, Özel’s presidential candidacy is a strong possibility,” Bilgin continued.
Mercan, on the other hand, also said that a Yavaş candidacy from the CHP is unlikely. “In the current conditions, if a radical rupture does not take place within the CHP, Özel’s candidacy for presidency is highly likely.”
Since assuming the chairpersonship, Özel has emphasized generational change, local governance performance and internal reform. His leadership was further legitimized by the CHP’s gains in the 2024 local elections when the party retained control of major cities and expanded into new provinces. These successes strengthened Özel’s narrative that the CHP could present a viable alternative at the national level through effective municipal administration and broader coalition-building.
The April 6 congress also marked a continuation of Özel’s effort to distance the party from intra-organizational deadlock and past electoral disappointments. His focus has been on modernizing the party’s internal rules, increasing the role of younger cadres and improving coordination between the central party and local branches. However, tensions remain with factions loyal to former leaders and those advocating for a more traditional ideological line.
Another important point of the congress was that Özel labeled the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as a “junta,” stirring harsh debate and reactions. Bilgin said that the move aimed to consolidate his base within the CHP.
“If you have problems selling the CHP your leadership, you try to control the sentiment and rivalry within the party through anti-Erdoğan, anti-AK Party, anti-conservative, anti-nationalist rhetoric. Thus, you hide the internal struggle and gather everyone behind yourself,” Bilgin highlighted.
On the junta statements, Mercan said: “This will probably not have big political reflections as the CHP base is used to such statements, thus we should not expect any positive or negative outcomes on the voter basis through these words. It is an effort to place the party as the main opposition against the ruling party.
“Özel, to consolidate his sociological base and especially the youth, has started to produce new rhetoric and harshen it. Yet this has brought together contradictions,” Mercan said. Describing the junta statement as “unfortunate,” he added that these words do not fit into a rational framework, looking at the CHP’s own historical background. “These are efforts to try to hold together the CHP base and hinder it from scattering.”
In the wake of the congress, attention is turning to how the CHP will position itself in the coming years, both within Parliament and in opposition politics more broadly. With key mayors like Imamoğlu facing legal pressures and the broader opposition landscape still fragmented, Özel’s challenge will be maintaining cohesion within the CHP while broadening its national appeal.
The April congress may not have resolved all ideological or strategic tensions within the party, but it has made clear that Özel is now firmly in command. The focus now shifts to how he will use this strengthened mandate to shape the party’s long-term trajectory.