Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Sinem Dedetaş, the elected mayor of Istanbul’s Üsküdar district, was released to house arrest on Oct. 29, offering the Yeni Party a rare reprieve as prosecutors press ahead with operations against opposition-run municipalities.
Muğla and Manisa mayors denied switching to the AKP as operations against CHP and Yeni Party municipalities continued and courts delivered a string of rulings.
The Constitutional Court ended discussions about the Yeni Party’s name, but headquarters-backed candidates keep winning in the districts and provinces despite the promises to end the old CHP habit of central control.
The ruling party has rapidly rolled out compensation for some victims of the stock market scandal that is rocking the government, and cut ties with one former minister, while the main opposition Yeni Party links two sitting ministers to the affair.
Can Atalay, stripped of his parliamentary seat and held in prison since 2022, began a hunger strike as parliament reconvened on Oct. 1, while the main opposition Yeni Party walked out when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the floor during the opening speech.
The global umbrella of social democratic parties, Socialist International, suspended the CHP under its court-appointed leadership and admitted Özgür Özel's Yeni Party as a full member.
The Constitutional Court will consider on Sept. 29 a request to annul the name of Yeni Party and remove it from the registry of political parties.
After defeating the AKP in the 2024 local elections, the opposition set its sights on the presidency but the split and rivalry between the CHP and the Yeni Party are now weakening it by the day.
Yeni Party Chair Özgür Özel defended his decision to shake hands with Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the CHP chair reinstated by court order, twice in a week, after facing criticism from his voters.
The CHP Party Assembly has launched disciplinary proceedings against former party officials who have aligned themselves with the breakaway Yeni Party.
Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s jailed mayor, announced his resignation from the CHP and his decision to support the Yeni Party three weeks after its founding.
Parliament breaks for recess, framework law tucked in its wake, Yeni Party supporters divided over the vote it made.