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Ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesperson Omer Celik said on Monday that the party had no involvement in the escalating crisis within the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). He rejected allegations by CHP leaders that the government played a role in the court ruling that annulled the party’s 2023 congress.
“We are not involved in any part of this issue. The conflict is internal to the CHP,” Celik said.
His remarks came after a Turkish court ruled the CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress held on Nov. 4–5, 2023, was legally invalid under the principle of “absolute nullity.” The ruling paved the way for former chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s return and ordered the party to organize a new congress.
The decision followed lawsuits filed by CHP delegates and former Hatay mayor Lutfu Savas, who alleged vote-buying, political favoritism and procedural irregularities during the congress in which Ozgur Ozel defeated Kilicdaroglu to become party leader. Ankara prosecutors also launched an investigation into alleged vote-rigging claims in 2024. The CHP denied the allegations and submitted its defense to the court.
Following the ruling, Ozel and several CHP members alleged that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AK Party were behind the decision.
Responding to the accusations, Celik criticized Ozel’s remarks.
“Mr. Ozgur Ozel says that the situation we are facing is being orchestrated by the AK Party’s judicial branches. Of course, this is an extremely low-standard definition and a very poor political assessment,” he said.
Celik said the AK Party had no stake in developments inside the CHP.
“What happens on the island of the Republican People’s Party does not concern us at all. In the past, during the last presidential election and the period before that, we competed politically against Mr. Kemal Kilicdaroglu and his team. Later, we competed against Mr. Ozgur Ozel and his team. Therefore, there is no situation within the Republican People’s Party in which we are a party. Beyond that, this issue has no aspect that concerns us. The AK Party and the People’s Alliance are in control of their own agenda,” he said.
Celik also emphasized the resilience of Türkiye’s political system.
“Türkiye’s regime and political life have gone through many crises to have reached where they are today. As a result of this process, thanks to the great wisdom and foresight of our noble nation and the thousands of years of experience in our state tradition, no crisis cannot be overcome,” he said.
He added: “We will not allow even a single step by those who seek to turn their political inadequacies into political threats, blackmail and campaigns of ugly rhetoric directed at the Republic of Türkiye and our president.”
The statement comes as the court ruling triggered a dramatic standoff at the CHP headquarters in Ankara.
Riot police entered the headquarters compound at approximately 2:20 p.m. (11:20 a.m. GMT) on Sunday after breaking through the parking entrance gate. Multiple rounds of pepper spray were reportedly used inside the building.
The Ankara Governorate said it had instructed the Ankara Directorate of Security to implement measures in line with the court ruling and oversee the evacuation of the headquarters.
Celal Celik, lawyer for Kilicdaroglu, had submitted a petition requesting the formal handover of the party headquarters, arguing that despite attempts at dialogue, even CHP lawmakers had been denied access to the building.
The building was later evacuated following police intervention, and journalists were escorted out of the headquarters.
Before the intervention, Kilicdaroglu called on officials to implement the court ruling.
“I kindly request that all judicial officials attempting to carry out operations in accordance with the decision issued by the 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice, as well as all law enforcement personnel and public officials, comply with the requirements of the court decision,” Kilicdaroglu said, according to a post by his press advisor Atakan Sonmez on X.
Kilicdaroglu had also earlier warned against actions that contradicted the party’s organizational culture and discipline.
Following the evacuation, Ozel and the CHP administration left the headquarters.
According to reports, Ozel tore up the official notification handed to him before leaving his office. He later marched with a large group toward the Turkish parliament, saying the new center of political struggle would be parliament.
The sign on Ozel’s office at parliament was subsequently changed to read “Group Leader.”
Speaking to journalists on Monday, Ozel said a delegation from the DEM Party would visit them and added that he would spend the Eid al-Adha holiday in Manisa.
Meanwhile, members of the Kilicdaroglu camp began moving into the CHP headquarters after the building was vacated, while the party’s social media accounts were also transferred to the new administration.
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Kilicdaroglu, who was reinstated as CHP chairman by the court ruling, is expected to visit party headquarters on the second day of Eid al-Adha to exchange holiday greetings with party members and citizens and deliver a statement.
Both Kilicdaroglu and Ozel continue using the title “CHP Chairman” on their social media accounts.
The “absolute nullity” ruling, described as a first in Türkiye’s political history, invalidated not only the Ozel administration but also extraordinary congresses held after the 38th Party Congress, amendments to party bylaws, and revisions to the party program.
The decision effectively restored the legal status established after the CHP’s 37th Ordinary Congress, at which Kilicdaroglu had been elected chairman.
Later on Sunday, Sonmez said Kilicdaroglu was saddened by the events outside the CHP headquarters.
“Mr. Kilicdaroglu said he was saddened by what happened in front of the CHP headquarters,” Sonmez said.
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