CHP's Tezcan slams 'civil coups' in parliament: 'If a court rules Erdoğan has no diploma...'

A prominent figure from Turkey's main opposition party has sharply criticized the current political climate, describing it as a new era of "civil coups" that allegedly weaponize the judiciary against political opponents. Bülent Tezcan, a lawmaker from the Republican People's Party (CHP), argued that these actions are designed not to support the current government but to preemptively neutralize future political threats.

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Unfortunately, in recent times, a new concept has begun to be added to Turkey's coup literature, and this is the process of civil coups. We call this the new era of coup-making, and we have been experiencing a new era of coup-making for the last year and a half.

Tezcan pointed to the recent annulment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's diploma, which he called an unlawful move initiated by a prosecutor and executed by an unqualified university board. He further condemned İmamoğlu's subsequent arrest just one day later, stating the intention was to eliminate a politician with the "potential to defeat Erdoğan."

"The intention was to eliminate a politician with the potential, the capacity to defeat Erdoğan, through this civil coup," Tezcan stated. He asserted that despite these efforts over the past year and a half, the opposition has mobilized public support through numerous rallies, rallying under the slogan "The nation protects its will."

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Their intention was to eliminate a politician with the potential, the capacity to defeat Erdoğan, through this civil coup, but it did not happen as they expected.

Undeterred, Tezcan claimed that those orchestrating these moves have now devised a new strategy, a "coup of nullity," aimed at crippling the CHP. He suggested the goal is to replace the party's democratically elected leader with an appointed one and bring the party under control. The politician referenced a court decision on May 21, 2026, which he alleged was a directive to nullify the party's leadership.

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The coup plotters, of course, did not relent; a new scheme was needed, and that is the coup of nullity. They needed to break the back of the Republican People's Party; they needed to eliminate the Republican People's Party's capacity to organize this resistance.