CHP deputy slams party's interim management, warns of 'autocratic regime'

CHP Istanbul Deputy Özgür Karabat visited Tokat provincial and district heads removed from their posts by the party's interim management, expressing solidarity and accusing the leadership of illegal actions. Speaking before the party building, Karabat conveyed greetings from CHP Group Chair Özgür Özel and asserted that the removals violated party bylaws.

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If you make these choices without authorization, you will divide this party.

"Justice is what makes a party and a country whole," Karabat stated, questioning the authority of those who dismissed the provincial and district heads. He argued that the party's Central Executive Board (MYK) must be elected from the Party Assembly, which he claims is currently illegitimate due to resignations reducing membership below the required threshold. "If you make these choices without authorization, you will divide this party," he warned, accusing the interim management of making "unlawful decisions" simply because they suit them.

Karabat suggested the "crime" of the removed officials was making the CHP the leading party and supporting Özgür Özel. "Do you have a problem with those who made the party number one?" he asked, criticizing those who "are ashamed of the word 'number one party'" but now lead the party. He implied a larger political game was at play, stating, "What we are experiencing is not a coincidence. The issue is not just the chairmanship. The issue is establishing a new autocratic regime in Turkey."

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Do you have a problem with those who made the party number one?

He linked this internal party struggle to a broader national agenda, suggesting it was about "destroying the gains of the Republic, changing the Constitution, and establishing a 'beneficial monarchy' in Turkey," echoing a sentiment he attributed to the U.S. ambassador. "The issue is whether we will return to sultanate or continue with the Republic. We are the ones resisting this, and that's why we are being punished," Karabat declared. He also mentioned Turkey's international court sentence of $1.471 billion for selling cheap oil, noting that the provincial and district heads who should be explaining this are now being expelled.

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The issue is establishing a new autocratic regime in Turkey.

Tokat Merkez İlçe Başkanı Aytekin Ayan and İl Başkanı Çağdaş Kurtgöz also criticized the party leadership. Ayan called July 16 a "dark day" for Tokat and the CHP, stating, "A coup has been carried out against the Republican People's Party, our father's home, Atatürk's party." Kurtgöz declared, "I do not recognize, I do not accept the interim understanding appointed by the AKP to the Republican People's Party. The owner of the CHP is not the palace or a few people making decisions at a table; the owner of this party is its members." He asserted that his position was earned through hard work and elections, and "no one can disregard what the people brought at the table."

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A coup has been carried out against the Republican People's Party, our father's home, Atatürk's party.