Turkey's ex-CHP leader Özgür Özel launches new opposition party

Former CHP chairman Özgür Özel was removed by a court in May 2024. In a speech to parliament in July 2026 he announced the creation of a new political party, saying “We are establishing our new party by taking the first step together with the deputies chosen by our nation.”

Analysts expect around 80 of the CHP’s 135 deputies to join the new formation, which could immediately become the largest opposition bloc in the 600‑seat Grand National Assembly. A recent poll gave the prospective party 35.2 % support, ahead of the AKP (31.4 %) and the CHP (12.2 %).

Under the 2820 Party Law the new party cannot receive state (Treasury) aid because it did not participate in the last election and therefore has no vote share; it must obtain at least 3 % of the vote in its first election to qualify for public funding. Internal dissent within the CHP has triggered mass resignations – about 387 000 members left the party within an hour of Özel’s announcement – and party officials have warned that the split could benefit President Erdoğan’s AKP.