DEM Party co-chairs visit Özel amid row over CHP’s Istanbul leadership

ISTANBUL

Leaders of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) visited the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) Istanbul headquarters on Sept. 11, signaling support amid ongoing leadership tensions.

DEM Party co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan met with CHP leader Özgür Özel, days after turmoil erupted at the CHP’s Istanbul office over the appointment of interim provincial chair Gürsel Tekin.

Tensions flared Sept. 8 when CHP officials and supporters protested Tekin’s arrival. He had been appointed following the suspension of CHP’s Istanbul leadership over alleged irregularities in its 2023 congress. Tekin entered the building under police escort amid boos from the crowd.

The CHP later announced that the provincial chairmanship had been moved from the building and that it would serve as Özel’s "work office."

Meanwhile, an Ankara court on Sept. 11 rejected the request to annul CHP's disputed Istanbul congress on procedural grounds. Despite reports that Tekin might be removed following the ruling, he said he remained in office.

"Our cause is the path of the Republican People's Party. We will overcome these issues as soon as possible and hand over our duties to our comrades," he wrote on X.

The CHP had planned an extraordinary provincial congress for Sept. 24, following an extraordinary convention set for Sept. 21 amid a legal battle challenging the legitimacy of Özel’s election as party chair. The Ankara court’s ruling also dismissed the lawsuit seeking to annul that convention on procedural grounds.