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Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) High Disciplinary Board on Friday expelled Gursel Tekin, the court-appointed trustee of the party’s Istanbul provincial organization, along with five other members, citing “attitudes and behaviors incompatible with their duties, responsibilities, and membership in the party.”
The board’s meeting lasted about three hours. Following deliberations, members Savas Aras, Erkan Kasap, Zeki Sen, Levent Celik, and Baris Yarkadas were also expelled under the same provision.
“The objections filed by members Yusuf Gogerkaya, Berhan Simsek, Mustafa Yavuz, Zeynel Kizilkaya, Atakan Demirci, Koray Gobel, Omer Kutlu, and Cevher Sonmez against the Central Executive Board’s decision to refer them to our board with a request for definitive expulsion with precaution were rejected, and the precautionary measures were upheld,” the disciplinary body said in a statement.
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Hours before the decision, Tekin held a press conference at the CHP Istanbul provincial headquarters. He said the party leadership had asked him and several other members to submit explanations regarding the precautionary suspension of their membership.
“I would have expected, first and foremost, our chairman and executives to take action against the slanderers and informants who caused the arrest of hundreds of our friends today. In fact, 24 of them are CHP members,” Tekin said.
The Istanbul 45th Civil Court previously annulled CHP’s Oct. 8, 2023, Istanbul Congress, removing Ozgur Celik and his team, and appointed Tekin and four others as trustees.
Tekin entered the Istanbul office with police support after the ruling. The former CHP administration had closed the building, designating it instead as the office of party chair Ozgur Ozel.
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