The state of play
Where the dispute stands
Türkiye's main opposition party has two men who each claim its leadership. In May 2026 an Ankara appeals court annulled the Republican People's Party (CHP) congress of November 2023 that had elected Özgür Özel, citing irregularities, and provisionally reinstated the former chairman, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Özel calls himself the elected leader; Kılıçdaroğlu holds the post by the court's order.
The ruling is not final. Özel's ousted leadership appealed to the Court of Cassation, Türkiye's highest court of appeals, which left a final decision until after the judicial recess ends on 1 September. In the meantime Özel kept a base in parliament, where about two-thirds of the CHP's deputies made him head of the party's parliamentary group. On 21 July he announced he will resign from the CHP and form a new party, with the founding petition expected on 24 July.
The dispute runs alongside a wider legal fight. The party's İstanbul mayor and official presidential candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu, has been jailed since March 2025 and is on trial on corruption charges he denies, part of a run of cases the CHP calls politically motivated and the government says reflect an independent judiciary. This tracker follows the leadership thread specifically, with the related İmamoğlu case noted where it touches it.
How we cover this
The CHP leadership dispute is a live legal and political fight, and TurkishPress covers it without taking a side. On this page, court rulings, filings, and dates are facts of record; motives, unconfirmed plans, and each camp's characterizations are marked as claims and attributed to who makes them.
The May annulment is not final while the appeal is pending, and anyone facing charges is presumed innocent. Both the government's reading, that the courts act independently, and the opposition's, that the judiciary is being used against it, are reported here as positions, neither adopted as ours.
The timeline
How it unfolded
- Fact of record
- Court ruling
- Attributed claim
- Expected
- After 1 September 2026 ExpectedThe Court of Cassation is expected to rule on the appeal against the annulment once the judicial recess ends. Until it does, Özel's removal is not final.
- 24 July 2026 ExpectedThe founding petition for the new party is expected at the Interior Ministry, timed to the anniversary of the 1923 Lausanne Treaty. Around 90 of the CHP's members of parliament are reported ready to join; the party is not yet named. Sözcü
- 21 July 2026 Özel announces he will resign from the CHP and form a new party, telling more than 80 lawmakers in a parliament speech that the farewell is "inevitable" but carries "the hope of a new beginning." He casts it as a new kind of opposition to Erdoğan rather than a surrender to pressure. Reuters, TRT Haber
- 21 July 2026 Reported · SözcüÖzel is reported to have applied to a civil court for a caretaker committee (çağrı heyeti) to run the CHP to a fresh congress in place of Kılıçdaroğlu, proposing former leader Murat Karayalçın to head it. No short-term result is expected.
- 21 July 2026 Parliament announces that Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş will receive Kılıçdaroğlu as part of consultations with party leaders on a framework law. TRT Haber
- 20 July 2026 Reported · SözcüTurkish outlets report that Özel's founding petition for a new party, working name "Yeni Parti," could reach the Interior Ministry within days, with dozens of deputies expected to join. The exact date and the number vary between reports and are not confirmed by Özel.
- 20 July 2026 Court rulingWith the annual judicial recess beginning, the Court of Cassation does not take up the appeal before the break; a final decision is left to after 1 September. Sözcü
- Around 20 July 2026 Motions to lift the parliamentary immunity of seven deputies, Özel among them, are referred to parliament's joint constitutional and justice committee. The governing AK Party says lifting them is not on the agenda. Sözcü
- 17 July 2026 The annulment file reaches the Court of Cassation, 56 days after the appeals-court ruling. Turkish outlets
- 30 June 2026 The Kılıçdaroğlu-led administration removes 26 CHP provincial chairs. TurkishPress
- Early June 2026 After the ruling, about two-thirds of the CHP's 138 deputies vote to make Özel head of the party's parliamentary group, giving the removed chairman a continuing base in parliament. Reuters
- 21 May 2026 Court rulingAn Ankara appeals court annuls the CHP's November 2023 congress on grounds of absolute nullity (mutlak butlan), removes Özel, and reinstates Kılıçdaroğlu pending final appeal. The Borsa İstanbul index falls 6 percent. AP, Reuters, AA
- 24 October 2025 Court rulingA lower court dismisses the consolidated lawsuits seeking to annul the 2023 congress, a decision the appeals court later overturns. TurkishPress
- November 2023 The CHP's 38th Ordinary Congress elects Özgür Özel chairman, ending Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's 13-year leadership. Rival delegates later allege vote-buying and irregularities.
The coverage
Every piece, in one place
The dispute
The CHP leadership case slips to autumn as Özel readies a new party Explainer · 20 July · Latest Court annuls CHP's 2023 congress, reinstates Kılıçdaroğlu News · 21 May CHP's Kılıçdaroğlu administration removes 26 provincial chairs News · 30 June Back by court order, Kılıçdaroğlu talks NATO, not the CHP split News · 3 JulyAnalysis
Bloomberg told half the story on the CHP. Here is the rest. Analysis · 7 June The party of Atatürk, appealing to capitals it once defied Analysis · 1 JulyRelated: the İmamoğlu case
İmamoğlu removed from İBB trial hearing after clash with judge News · 2 JulyAbout this tracker
How this page works
This is a running record, updated as the dispute develops. Each entry is written in our own words with its source named in the line; nothing here republishes wire copy. The timeline marks what is settled and what is not: solid points are facts of record, red points are court rulings, hollow points are claims attributed to who makes them, and dashed points are expected.
The scope is the leadership dispute itself, the fight over who chairs the CHP, rather than all CHP news. Related threads, above all the İmamoğlu case, appear only where they bear on it. Our approach to the topic is set out in "How we cover this" above.