Turkey's ousted main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel disclosed in an interview that preparations have started for the possible ​founding of a new political party.

In mid-June, IntelliNews reported how analysts were declaring the death of the CHP in the face of prosecutions and other disruptions mounted as part of an attack by the ruling Erdogan administration (see Death of Turkey’s opposition declared by analysts). Ozel has come under fire for becoming the “master of the loud-but-useless protest” (see article here).

In discussing the potential establishment of a new opposition party in an interview with Sozcu TV, Ozel added that any formal ‌step would wait until after ongoing legal proceedings.

In May, a Turkish court annulled the CHP 2023 congress that elected Ozel ​as party leader after considering allegations of irregularities. It reinstated Ozel’s predecessor as chairman Kemal ​Kilicdaroglu, who lost to President Recep ⁠Tayyip Erdogan in the 2023 presidential election.

Ozel also said in the interview that ​legal proceedings related to an appeal against the ruling that deposed him from the party leadership and a request to hold an extraordinary party congress could be concluded within a couple of weeks – but that if they were ​blocked, a new party could then be set up.

"A formal ​step could be taken towards the end of July or the beginning ‌of ⁠August," Ozel, who says the Erdogan government has weaponised the judiciary in its pursuit of the CHP, also said.

He also commented: "We are working on the name and logo [for the possible new party]. Let us call it the 'New Party' for now."

The CHP is Turkey’s oldest political party. It was founded by the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in 1923.

At least on paper, the CHP’s nominated candidate to challenge Turkey’s leader of 23 years Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next presidential election is Ekrem Imamoglu, the elected mayor of Istanbul, who since March last year has been held in jail on multiple charges of alleged corruption that place him at the head of a supposed organised crime gang, charges that critics say were trumped up by ruling officials.

On July 15, IntelliNews reported on Imamoglu’s protests that in the face of a mountain of allegations, he has been given barely three minutes per charge to defend himself in court.

Turkish prosecutors, meanwhile, continue to go after critics of Erdogan that they claim have crossed the line. At the start of this month, stand-up comedian Deniz Goktas, whose show depicting Erdogan as a “shy dictator” who has transformed into a dictator “at peace with his own identity” went viral, was detained as he returned from a trip abroad.