CHP deputy quits, triggering expected wave of defections to new party

ISTANBUL – A senior lawmaker from Turkey’s main opposition party has resigned, marking the first concrete step in a planned mass defection to a new political movement. Murat Bakan, a member of parliament for Izmir from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), announced his departure on Tuesday. His resignation follows a call from CHP leader Özgür Özel, who told the party’s parliamentary group that he and other lawmakers had taken the “first step” toward forming a new political formation. Bakan’s exit is widely seen as the beginning of a coordinated transition. The majority of the CHP parliamentary group is expected to follow him, joining the new party that Özel has signaled he will launch.