CHP Chair Özgür Özel escalated his rhetoric, urging people to take to the streets in response to what he described as a diminishing role for Parliament.
Addressing crowds at public rallies and budget debates in Parliament, Özel emphasized the historic weight of legislative authority. “The right to control the budget is humanity’s greatest democratic achievement. Parliament is not born of the budget — the budget is born of Parliament,” he said.
Arguing that the legislature’s influence is being eroded, he added:: “If Parliament has lost its meaning, then Parliament belongs in the square,” a call to popular mobilization.
Özel sharply criticized what he described as political manipulation of the judiciary. He accused the ruling AKP of targeting independent judges, referencing controversial reassignments: “The judge in the ‘fool’ case against Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was sent to Samsun. The judge who voted to acquit İmamoğlu was also reassigned. History will remember both the AK Toros clique that inflicted this injustice and the honorable people who stood against it.”
During budget debates, Özel claimed that AKP members have been sending him documents about Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek. “You want me to say it out loud, but is it me who appointed Gürlek?” he said. “Go and talk to the one who did. We're not here to handle your internal power struggles.”
Özel condemned Gürlek’s remarks describing İmamoğlu as the head of a criminal organization, citing a violation of the presumption of innocence.
Speaking at a rally in Istanbul’s Çatalca district, he accused those who drafted the indictment of now moving to shape the composition of the court.
KEEPING THE MAIN TEAM
The main opposition CHP has announced a new Central Executive Board (MYK), reducing the number of members from 23 to 18 following its recent party congress. Özel retained most of the key figures from his previous board.
“This is loyalty — you don’t break up a championship team,” a board member told Turkey in Depth.
Instead of focusing solely on alliances with other parties, the new team includes figures from DEVA and the Gelecek Party, signaling Özel’s aim to build voter‑based alliances rather than party‑to‑party pacts. Among the seven new MYK members are parliamentarian Evrim Rızvanoğlu, who defected from DEVA to CHP; Serkan Özcan, a former Gelecek Party member and advisor to Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu; and economist Güldem Atabay, newly elected to the Party Assembly.
In addition to Özcan, other figures associated with İmamoğlu’s circle, such as Gökhan Zeybek and Özgür Karabat, also retained their posts.
The reshuffle marks the first major structural change under the newly re‑elected party chair Özel. The MYK, often regarded as the party’s executive “A‑team,” was reorganized after the party’s shadow cabinet was linked to the newly formed Presidential Candidate Office, prompting questions about whether it is creating a dual structure in party administration.
The changes follow the CHP’s 39th Ordinary Congress, where Özel emphasized internal reform and broader opposition unity ahead of upcoming national elections.
