Turkey's CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu plans major leadership shake‑up and party purge

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, freshly re‑elected as chairman of Turkey's Republican People's Party (CHP) with an absolute majority, is reportedly preparing to overhaul the party's parliamentary group. According to a TV100 interview, he may dismiss the current group vice‑chairs and appoint new deputies, with suggested names including Iğdır MP Sevda Erdan Kılıç, Kars MP İnan Akgün Alp, and Ordu MP Mustafa Adıgüzel. Former party spokesperson Faik Öztrak is also floated as a potential new group leader.

Simultaneously, the party is said to be readying a list of ten members for expulsion. Names cited include Veli Ağbaba, Ali Mahir Başarır, Umut Akdoğan, Burhanettin Bulut, Gökan Zeybek, Taşkın Özer, Özgür Karabat, Adnan Beker, Cemal Enginyurt and Ümit Dikbayır. Kılıçdaroğlu has warned that he will cleanse the party of “pollution” and has clashed with party figure Özgür Özel over the ongoing power struggle.