Turkey’s main opposition leader has accused the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of using the judiciary to target his party, his allies and his inner circle, saying the ultimate goal is to break his resistance to an expanding crackdown on opposition-run municipalities.
Özgür Özel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told the BirGün daily that the judicial operations targeting CHP municipalities and officials amount to an attack on the party itself.
“We see these attacks as attacks on the party as a whole,” Özel told BirGün in an interview conducted at his office in the Turkish Parliament.
The CHP won Turkey’s March 2024 local elections, defeating Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) nationwide for the first time in decades and taking control of many major cities and provincial municipalities.
Since October 2024, however, CHP-run municipalities have faced a series of investigations, detentions, arrests and removals from office that opposition figures describe as an attempt to reverse those gains through the courts.
The campaign intensified after the March 2025 jailing of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s main political rival and the CHP’s presidential candidate.
Özel told BirGün that the authorities had failed to make the allegations against İmamoğlu resonate with the public and were now trying to create new pressure points around the CHP leadership.
“They are trying to break me,” Özel claimed.
He accused prosecutors and pro-government figures of trying to pressure jailed CHP figures into making false statements against the party leadership under Turkey’s “effective remorse” law, a legal mechanism that can reduce sentences for suspects who cooperate with authorities.
Özel said jailed Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek, a CHP politician, had sent him messages through visiting lawmakers saying he had refused to give false testimony.
“They told me to slander people, but I did not,” Özel quoted Böcek as saying.
Özel also claimed that prosecutors tried to extract accusations against Ferdi Zeyrek, the CHP mayor of Manisa who died on June 9, 2025, before turning their attention to Veli Ağbaba, a senior CHP lawmaker and one of Özel’s closest allies.
He also referred to the detention of Demirhan Gözaçan, whom he described as his childhood friend and best man.
“They are attacking those closest to me,” Özel said.
Özel described the campaign as an effort to break the public resistance that followed the wave of legal actions around İmamoğlu’s arrest.
He claimed the indictment in the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality case was weakening every day and that pro-government media outlets had stopped giving it heavy coverage because the case was moving against their narrative.
Özel said an AKP politician had sent him a message claiming that Erdoğan and the ruling party were not behind the latest judicial pressure on the CHP.
According to Özel the message claimed the actions were driven by Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, who oversaw the crackdown on the CHP as İstanbul chief public prosecutor before becoming minister in February, and people around him, not by Erdoğan or the AKP.
“We are tired of the lie that ‘Erdoğan is good, but those around him are bad,’” Özel said.
He rejected the idea that prosecutors or ministers could act independently in Turkey’s political system.
“The person who appoints the minister is responsible for the good and bad things that minister does,” Özel said.
“In a place with such strict control by one leader, we do not expect independent actions,” he added.
The CHP leader also accused officials of leaking information from investigations to people by producing defamatory videos and posts targeting CHP figures.
He claimed information from justice ministry files was being shared with pro-government journalists and online networks.
“They are exposing all information about investigations through the ministry,” Özel said.
Özel called for a broader democratic mobilization against the pressure on the CHP, saying the issue was no longer about his personal political career.
“We are responsible for [enduring until] the ballot box and sending this government away,” Özel said.
He warned that if the government succeeds in removing or neutralizing the CHP leadership, Turkey’s opposition could face deeper pressure before the next election.
“If they also eliminate us, I am worried about what will happen next,” Özel said.
Özel said he appreciated the support he had received from other opposition leaders but expected a stronger mobilization, especially from parties represented in parliament.
“Everyone needs to react to protect the democratic system,” he said. “We thank them for the existing solidarity, but we expect more.”
The CHP has been under growing legal and political pressure since its 2024 local election victory, with Turkish media tallies saying 23 CHP mayors have been jailed at some point since the vote, 20 remain in jail and 25 have been removed from office.
The party has also lost several municipalities through defections to Erdoğan’s AKP, including mayors elected on the CHP ticket who later crossed over to the ruling party.