Istanbul’s handsome ‘corn star’ is overrated. Say hello to Adana’s wayward watermelon man.
In this week’s recap:
Push for party vote deepens CHP crisis
Breakaway party prospects and Özel’s voter share
Justice minister faces EU sanctions
Domestic and diplomatic wraps
Turkey loses match, wins social media
Also from us this week:
Olesya Vartanyan on what’s next for Armenia-Turkey-Azerbaijan ties
Wouter Massink on how new EU laws could worsen Adana’s waste problem
Always creating and defining our current moment, Pres. Erdoğan put it best Friday when he said:
“The nation has dropped everything and is watching the CHP every day like an action movie. It’s not a political party, it’s more like a fight club.”
We’re surely watching and there are definitely competing factions, but if we’re going to use the Fight Club metaphor, I have to ask: Is reinstalled CHP chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu playing the part of a breakaway Brad Pitt or an interjecting Jared Leto?
Perhaps, the next vote will tell. When and how that comes about is the main subject of today’s issue, but to summarize: Supporters of ousted CHP chair Özgür Özel are calling for a party congress—to vote on the now-contested party leadership—as Kılıçdaroğlu purges CHP members, restructuring the party ranks while deferring calls for a party congress.
Failure to reach an agreement could force Özel to form a new political party or join an existing one (the details of which are covered below).
What happened: Both camps avoided last week’s “fight scenes” by declining to hold the regular parliamentary group meeting this week. Instead of battling for the podium, the Özel camp submitted a petition signed by 833 party delegates calling for an extraordinary congress.
The Kılıçdaroğlu camp, since taking over the party headquarters, has reiterated that a congress can only be held after the appeals process is completed on the court ruling that reinstalled Kılıçdaroğlu last month.
Pushing back on the Kılıçdaroğlu camp’s congress stance, CHP deputy group chair Murat Emir gave a press statement Wednesday to highlight the party bylaws requiring a congress within 45 days if a “simple majority of congress delegates” requests it—which is what happened yesterday.
As reported here last week, there are many gray areas in party congress rules so what comes next involves speculation, but party staffers interviewed by Turkey recap said they do not expect a compromise from the Kılıçdaroğlu camp anytime soon.
Purges: Meanwhile, Kılıçdaroğlu continues a top-down drive to “purify” the party ranks of alleged corruption. Removal procedures resumed Friday for CHP Mersin Mezitli Mayor Serkan Tuncer and Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan, who resigned in response.
Expulsions were then extended to 9 CHP MPs and approved by court authorities. Combined with yesterday’s resignation by CHP Istanbul MP Nimet Özdemir, the CHP seat count in parliament fell from 138 to 128 at the time of writing. Stüdyo recap reported more purges are expected, especially in provincial branches.
In a press event Wednesday evening, Özel called on existing and recently purged party members to join him in a pro-democracy vigil.
“An unelected administration is taking over,” Özel said, condemning recent decisions as “illegitimate and unlawful.”
He added, “We invite our party members to stand guard for democracy and to protect Atatürk’s legacy … We stand behind our elected provincial chairpersons.”
Analysis: Osman Sert, research director at PanoramaTR, a public polling and risk analysis firm based in Ankara, believes Kılıçdaroğlu’s approach since retaking office has made it “impossible” for supporters of Özel or jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu to remain in the same party.
“What is certain is this is not sustainable and, probably, in the coming couple of months, we will be seeing two separate political parties in the [main] opposition,” Sert told Turkey recap in a phone interview Wednesday.
He said the foundation of Turkish democracy is deteriorating “brick by brick” amid the ongoing judicial pressure on the nation’s main opposition party. Yet, Sert underlined that the electoral field remains competitive despite recent developments.
“The ballot still matters. The president and the government are still trying to tailor the elections, the opposition and the candidates,” Sert said. “If this was not so, he [Erdoğan] wouldn’t be doing such things.”
“This fight will continue till the bottom,” he continued. “Till the last moment that the Supreme Election Council declares who is the candidate and what time the elections are happening.”
Split the deference: Breakaway party prospects and Özel’s voter share
