Political news in Turkey is marked by a change at the head of the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the party leader, was replaced by Ozgur Ozel during the ordinary party congress held in Ankara in November 2023.
This change in leadership comes after the CHP’s electoral defeat against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last May. Kemal Kilicdaroglu lost a hotly contested second round and this created divisions within the party.
At the congress, delegates voted to replace Kemal Kilicdaroglu with Ozgur Ozel, a former pharmacist who is still relatively unknown in the Turkish political landscape. This choice can be seen as an attempt at renewal for the opposition, which seeks to end the two decades of Islamo-conservative rule of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The May elections took place against a backdrop of an economic and social crisis, attributed in part to President Erdogan’s unorthodox economic policies. Kemal Kilicdaroglu had succeeded in bringing together a diverse alliance, bringing together nationalists, socialists and Kurds, but this coalition had encountered difficulties and had failed to obtain convincing results in the polls.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, consolidated his control over parliament thanks to the support of Islamic and ultranationalist groups.
The change in leadership within the CHP has sparked mixed reactions within the party. Kemal Kilicdaroglu refused to admit defeat and resign, creating internal tensions. Ozgur Ozel, for his part, was elected by highlighting his desire for change and reshaping Turkish politics.
Ozgur Ozel, 49, spent much of his career as a pharmacist in Izmir, a city that is considered a stronghold of opposition to Erdogan. He was then elected to Parliament in 2011 and served as President of the Pharmacists Association of Turkey.
This change at the head of the CHP raises many expectations and questions about the opposition’s ability to confront the power in place. The new leader will have to find a way to bring together the different factions of the opposition and propose solutions to the economic and social problems facing the country.
Turkish politics is in turmoil and it remains to be seen how the new leader of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, will be able to assert himself and offer a credible alternative to President Erdogan. The coming months will be decisive for the Turkish opposition, which will try to rebuild itself and recover from this electoral defeat.