Former Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel is accelerating steps to officially announce his new party, which he decided to establish after being temporarily removed from office by a judicial decision.

Özel's team published the list of founding members, which includes 86 CHP deputies in parliament who announced their resignations to establish the new party after an appeals court in Ankara ruled on May 21 that the 38th ordinary congress of the party was "absolutely void," and the Court of Cassation postponed its final decision until the new judicial year starting in September.

It is expected that the number of deputies joining the new party after its official launch will reach about 95 out of 128 deputies, making it the main opposition party, while CHP will drop to fourth or fifth place among parliamentary parties.

Widespread Joining

Özel held a series of meetings since Tuesday, when he announced his split from CHP to prepare for establishing a new party, with the party's deputies in parliament and heads of branches in 74 out of 81 provinces. On Wednesday, he also held two meetings with former members of the Central Executive Board and the Central Committee who resigned from CHP.

Özel during a meeting with heads of CHP branches who joined him in founding his new party (from his X account)

After Özel announced that he responded to the desire of voters he met during his tours across Turkey to establish a new party, a wave of resignations hit CHP, which has about two million members, and continues due to widespread rejection of accepting the return of former party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to manage the party under a court ruling contrary to the will of the members.

In response to journalists' questions about the date of announcing the new party, Özel confirmed it would be "very, very soon," while sources from his team indicated that if all legal procedures go as planned, the official announcement of the party, its name, and logo will be made next Monday.

Özel noted that the elected branch heads in the provinces "managed the crisis period with high efficiency, and the new party will be present in every city, district, and village."

Parties in Turkey are formed by submitting a notification to the Ministry of Interior, and sometimes objections arise regarding the name or certain legal procedures during establishment.

Özel expects about one million CHP members to join his new party after the official announcement of its founding.

Kılıçdaroğlu avoids confrontation with Özel (from his X account)

In response to Özel's plan, Kılıçdaroğlu sought to avoid a clash with him, saying: "We will not oppose the opposition; our goal from now on is to reach power, and we will direct our criticism at the government. The party will not make any negative statements about Özel or the figures who will leave with him."

Commenting on developments, political analyst Murat Yetkin said Özel will deliver his first speech to the parliamentary group of his new party from the same hall that was allocated to CHP and from the same podium, but under his new party's name. He noted that the founding of the party "will not only affect the seating order in parliament and the distribution of committee seats but will also bring about a radical change in Ankara." He added that "from another perspective, this is a shock similar to the periods of party closures that Turkish politics hoped to overcome; back then, political balances were sought through judicial decisions, and this is what is happening now."

Journalist Arrest

On another front, Turkish authorities re-arrested German broadcaster Deutsche Welle's Ankara correspondent Ali Can Uludağ, who was released from prison in May after three months of detention over social media posts deemed insulting to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Ali Can Uludağ (dpa)

Uludağ announced on Tuesday evening via his X account that he was arrested again. His lawyer said the arrest this time was part of an investigation into a post in which he criticized the judicial system in Turkey.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said the post constituted the crimes of "inciting hatred and hostility" or "humiliating public opinion" and "disseminating misleading information."