After the controversial court order for the reinstatement of the former chairman, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, as the party leader (chairman), Özgür Özel, the 8th chairman of the CHP (Republican People's Party), who had been trying to force the party to hold a congress, resigned from the party he called his "father's house" (baba ocağı) when his efforts failed. As of today, Özgür Özel has submitted the necessary applications to establish a new political party named the "New Party" (Yeni Parti). Due to possible legal barriers against the New Party, Özel and his team would also establish an alternative political party entitled "Change Party" (Değişim Partisi).
The logo of the New Party (Yeni Parti)
Today, July 24, 2026, former CHP chairman and young center-left political figure who led CHP to victory in the 2024 local elections, Özgür Özel, together with 90 other members of parliament from his former party, resigned from the CHP. Later in the day, Özgür Özel, following his resignation from the CHP, of which he had been a member for 34 years, signed the founding petition of the New Party, which he had been working on for some time. Thus, the New Party, which will have 91 seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as soon as it is established, became Türkiye's new main opposition party. CHP İzmir MP Yüksel Taşkın announced that the number of MPs who will switch to the new party has reached 94, meaning that the CHP's number of seats in parliament is expected to fall to 41.
Announcing the party's founding with the words "May it be beneficial to the homeland, the nation, to our party, and all of us" (Vatana, millete, partimize, hepimize hayırlı olsun), Özel presented a very calm and determined image. Following this news, it is stated that the number of CHP members has decreased from approximately 2 million to 1.8 million due to recent resignations. This number may fall to even 1 million in the coming days. This is because party members who believe that the party, under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's leadership, is not effectively opposing the AK Parti/AKP and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan may quickly resign through the E-Government (E-Devlet) system and consider registering with a new party.
The first logo drafts of the new party that surfaced on social media show a title written on a white background, and it is claimed that an evil eye amulet may also be included in the logo. However, the party's institutionalization and organization will take several more months, and in the best-case scenario, the party will be able to participate in elections from mid-2027 onwards. In such an environment, the possibility of President Erdoğan and the AK Parti holding snap elections should also be taken into account. Although there is no election atmosphere in the country at the moment, I believe the possibility of the government bringing the elections forward, fearing a possible major success for Özgür Özel and the New Party, should not be dismissed.
In conclusion, while these developments are not surprising given the extremely centralized and powerful structure of the regime in Türkiye, which has even begun to shape the opposition, I believe a new unification of the center-left is quite possible in the coming years. However, until then, it seems that a new interim period has begun in which the CHP will be a minor actor and the New Party a larger one within the center-left.
Prof. Dr. Ozan ÖRMECİ
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