Ousted Turkish opposition leader forms second-largest party

https://p.dw.com/p/5HhBqOzgur Ozel signed the founding papers of the Yeni Parti after leading an exodus out of the embattled CHPImage: Ozgur Ozel Press Office/AFPAdvertisementThe ousted leader of Turkey's opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), along with 90 other lawmakers, broke away under a new banner on Friday.

Ozgur Ozel founded the Yeni Parti, or "New Party," and has vowed to lead the fight against Turkey's longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "May it be beneficial to our country, our nation, our party, and all of us," Ozel said. New party becomes second-biggest in parliament With 91 lawmakers in total, the New Party becomes the second-largest party in Turkey's 600-seat parliament, after Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) which holds 277 seats.

Meanwhile, the CHP had until now been the second-largest with 135 seats, but Friday's exodus leaves the party with just 44 lawmakers — including some Ozel backers among them. That relegates it to fourth place, behind the pro-Kurdish opposition DEM party, which has 56 seats. "The new party we are about to establish will become the main opposition force in the Grand National Assembly by a wide margin," Ozel told lawmakers on Tuesday.

CHP mired by division, legal troubles Ozel's breakaway party was founded after deep divisions within the CHP. He had won the CHP's leadership election in 2023 and reversed the party's fortunes with major gains at municipal elections the following year.Turkey's Ozel launches new party to challenge ErdoganTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In 2025, Ozel gained an even higher profile when he became the face of mass protests to free Istanbul mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu, who faces a prison sentence in excess of 2,000 years on charges of corruption and terrorism.

He was widely seen as viable challenger to Erdogan's two-decade rule. However, in May of this year, a court annulled the election over allegations of vote buying. The court stripped Ozel of his title and appointed his unpopular rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, in his place.

Critics have described the legal challenges against Imamoglu, Ozel, the CHP and its supporters as politically motivated and undemocratic. The government denies these claims and maintains that the judiciary is independent. After the New Party filed formation papers with the Interior Ministry on Friday, defecting Ankara MP Murat Emir told reporters: "We are leaving an occupied party behind."

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