Turkish opposition leader moves to form new party after court ouster

Turkiye's opposition leader Ozgur Ozel has announced plans to form a new political party after being removed as leader of the Republican People's Party, or CHP, by court order. He made the announcement in a speech in parliament on Tuesday, setting out what he described as the start of a new political project. The move comes amid a wider legal and political confrontation between the opposition and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

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Ozel was ousted from the CHP in May, and the announcement follows an appeals court ruling two months ago that stripped him of the party chairmanship and reinstated former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. In his speech, Ozel said the new party would be launched with the support of deputies chosen by the public. He also said the project represented "the hope of a new beginning" in efforts to remove Turkiye's long-time leader.

The new party has not yet been named, but it is expected to draw both voters and parliamentarians away from the secular CHP. Ozel said it could become the main opposition force in parliament "by a wide margin". The CHP currently has 135 legislators in the 600-seat parliament, and some of them are expected to defect.

The prospect of a split has raised questions about how the opposition will organise itself in the months ahead. The announcement comes after months of legal pressure on the opposition, including the detention and imprisonment of hundreds of elected municipal officials and party members since late 2024. Many of the cases have involved allegations of corruption in CHP-run municipalities.

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Among those detained is Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, who is widely seen as the strongest potential challenger to Erdogan and has been imprisoned since March last year. He faces criminal cases that could lead to long prison sentences. The dispute has become significant because it could reshape Turkiye's opposition at a time of sustained legal pressure and institutional conflict.

Ozel and his supporters have described the court action against him and the wider crackdown on the CHP as politically motivated, while the government says the courts are independent and impartial. The outcome may affect the balance of power in parliament and the opposition's ability to present a unified challenge to Erdogan. What remains unclear is the new party's name, its leadership structure and how many lawmakers will leave the CHP to join it.

It is also not yet clear how quickly the party can be organised or whether it will gain enough support to alter the opposition landscape. The next developments to watch are any formal launch announcement, defections from the CHP and further court or legal moves involving opposition figures.

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