80 MPs Set to Defect: New Turkish Party Launching July 27
A new political party is being formed by dissidents from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), with a formal launch set for July 27 and claims that around 80 members of parliament will join the breakaway group.
Prominent CHP figure Özgür Özel has confirmed that preparations for the new party are underway, with its statutes and program currently being written and founding board members being finalized [1]. Özel has set a clear deadline of July 27 to submit the official founding documents [2]. Aides to Özel claim that approximately 80 members of parliament will join the new party when the transition begins, signaling a powerful and organized departure from existing structures [3].
The split follows a period of internal conflict within the CHP. After a lower court issued an "absolute nullity" ruling—a legal term meaning proceedings were fundamentally void from the start—concerning the party’s 38th ordinary congress, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu took over the CHP leadership [2]. His administration has refused to accept demands for an extraordinary party congress [2]. Özel has called on Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals to reverse what he described as a "historic mistake" regarding the ruling, criticizing the Court of Appeals for delaying the case file for 57 days before sending it to the Supreme Court [4].
The legal challenge that could overturn the CHP leadership has been stalled until September. The case file only reached the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) 60 days after the lower court’s decision, and because Turkey’s judicial summer break has now begun, the high court will not review the file until the new term starts in September [5]. Özel’s appeal against the "absolute nullity" ruling has been sent to the 3rd Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, with a final decision not expected until after the holiday break [6].