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Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the reinstated chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), said on Wednesday that a CHP congress could only be held after the court injunction was lifted and the legal process completed. Responding to the statement, suspended chairman Ozgur Ozel said that the injunction was "no legal obstacle to calling a congress" and that the question was "one of intent, not law."
Both CHP officials signaled goodwill toward meeting each other for Eid, with Kilicdaroglu saying, "We are not enemies," and opening the door to a face-to-face meeting.
Speaking to reporters outside his home in Ankara on Eid al-Adha, Kilicdaroglu said: "We will hold a congress. There is no party without a congress. But it must be held on a legal foundation. There is an injunction. The congress will be held after the injunction is lifted. I asked my lawyer colleagues. They said as long as the injunction exists, you cannot."
He said he would convene the Party Assembly on June 1, form a new Central Executive Board (MYK), and at a May 30 public meeting would reveal "many details you do not yet know" about the nullity ruling and the path forward.
Kilicdaroglu rejected Ozel's proposal to hold a direct vote of 2 million members to select the leader, saying, "The way a congress is conducted is clear. The counterpart is the delegate. We will hold a congress and see what happens."
On relations with Ozel, Kilicdaroglu struck a conciliatory note. "There was no meeting with Ozgur Ozel, but it can happen. Why not? Exchanging holiday greetings can happen, too, of course. We are not enemies. We are two people serving in the same party. To split like this, to fight, to take the split to irreversible points, that is not right," he said.
Kilicdaroglu further said a face-to-face meeting was also possible and that Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli had called him to wish him a happy Eid, purely social, with no discussion of the political situation.
Kilicdaroglu dismissed reports of imminent expulsions from the party as "gossip."
"There are many baseless rumors. Removing someone from the party is not that easy. There are rules for expulsion. There is no such thing as 'I don't like you, I'll expel you from the party,'" he noted, saying evaluations would take place but strictly within the party charter.
On the police's entry into the party headquarters, Kilicdaroglu pointed out, "In the entire history of CHP, no member of parliament has ever had the party door closed to them. When a CHP MP goes to the general headquarters, how is the door closed to that MP? There needs to be a justification given: 'We did not let CHP MPs in for this reason.' Either you believe in democracy or you are on the side of authoritarian regimes. That place belongs to the people. It is not anyone's private property. I watched with a heavy heart. These things should not happen."
Ozel, in a separate interview with the pro-opposition Sozcu, directly rejected Kilicdaroglu's legal framing. "An extraordinary or ordinary congress is a new founding act. Therefore, the existence of an injunction is not an obstacle to holding a congress. The question is one of intent," he said.
Ozel said there were three or four legal pathways to holding a congress within 45 days and that "CHP is shaped not by court rulings but by CHP itself. By politics."
The current crisis traces back to CHP’s Nov. 4-5, 2023, congress, where Ozgur Ozel defeated Kemal Kilicdaroglu and became party chairman. In the months that followed, CHP delegates and former Hatay Mayor Lutfu Savas filed lawsuits seeking annulment of the congress over alleged irregularities.
In 2024, Ankara prosecutors launched an investigation into allegations linked to the congress process while civil proceedings continued.
In May 2026, the 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Appeal declared the opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) 38th ordinary congress, held on Nov. 4–5, 2023, absolutely null and void.
The ruling also struck down the Istanbul Provincial Congress of Oct. 8, 2023, which had served as a foundational step for the national gathering.
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