The ousted leader of Türkiye’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) broke away under a new banner on Friday along with 90 other lawmakers.
Ozgur Özel founded the Yeni Party, or “New Party,” and has vowed to lead the fight against Turkey’s longtime President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“May it be beneficial for our country, our nation, our party and all of us,” Özel said.
The new party became the second largest party in Parliament.
With a total of 91 MPs, the new party has become the second largest party in Turkey’s 600-seat parliament, behind Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has 277 seats.
Meanwhile, the CHP was until now the second-largest with 135 seats, but after Friday’s exodus the party has only 44 lawmakers left – including some Özel supporters.
This puts it in fourth place behind the pro-Kurdish opposition DEM party, which has 56 seats.
“The new party we are going to establish will become the main opposition force in the Grand National Assembly by a large margin,” Özel told lawmakers on Tuesday.
CHP beset by divisions and legal troubles
Özel’s breakaway party was founded after deep divisions within the CHP.
He won the CHP leadership election in 2023 and turned around the party’s fortunes with a big lead in municipal elections the following year.
In 2025, Özel gained even more prominence when he became the face of mass protests to free Istanbul mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu, who is facing more than 2,000 years in prison on corruption and terrorism charges. He was widely seen as a viable challenger to Erdogan’s two-decade rule.
However, in May this year a court annulled the election over allegations of vote buying. The court stripped Özel of his title and replaced him with his unpopular rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
Critics have described the legal challenges against Imamoglu, Özel, the CHP, and its supporters as politically motivated and undemocratic.
The government denies these claims and says the judiciary is independent.
After the new party filed formation papers with the Interior Ministry on Friday, Murat Emir, a defecting lawmaker from Ankara, told reporters: “We are leaving behind an occupation party.”
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah
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