Jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, has signaled that his political camp is prepared to form a new party if supporters of ousted opposition leader Özgür Özel are prevented from holding a congress to regain control of Turkey’s main opposition party.
İmamoğlu, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told İlke TV in an interview published Tuesday that the opposition was prepared to pursue a new political path if a congress demanded by party delegates was blocked.
“If the congress demanded by CHP members is forcibly blocked, we are politically, spiritually and physically ready for a path that, far from slowing the people’s march, will accelerate it,” İmamoğlu said. “Let it be known that we will not allow another election win to be handed to this government.”
The statement was the clearest indication from İmamoğlu that the faction led by Özel could leave the CHP or activate a new party established as a precaution against efforts to prevent it from contesting an election.
İmamoğlu has been held in a maximum-security prison outside İstanbul since March 2025 while standing trial on corruption charges that he denies.
The CHP says the case is part of an effort by Erdoğan’s government to remove its presidential candidate and weaken the party after it defeated Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the 2024 local elections.
The government denies interfering in court proceedings and says the judiciary operates independently.
An Ankara appeals court on May 21 annulled the CHP congress that elected Özel chairman in November 2023, citing alleged irregularities, and restored former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his previous administration to the party leadership.
The decision also invalidated later congresses at which Özel was re-elected.
The CHP has appealed the judgment, which has not become final, but Kılıçdaroğlu’s court-restored administration has taken control of party headquarters, while Özel retains the support of most CHP lawmakers, provincial organizations and congress delegates.
Özel’s supporters are expected to submit nearly 900 delegate signatures to party headquarters Wednesday to demand an extraordinary congress.
They say the number exceeds the threshold required under CHP rules and should compel the administration to hold a leadership election.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s administration has rejected a separate argument that the resignation of 28 members of the CHP’s 57-member Party Assembly automatically requires an extraordinary congress.
The administration has instead announced preparations for an ordinary congress process that could take several months.
İmamoğlu accused Kılıçdaroğlu of accepting a role imposed through the courts and described him as an internal hostile trustee, a reference to government-appointed administrators who have replaced elected opposition officials.
“The CHP is one,” İmamoğlu said. “It has been forcibly captured by those who seek help from Erdoğan rather than from CHP delegates.”
He said nearly 1,000 delegates had signed the congress request and predicted that they would elect Özel again if allowed to vote.
Özel also confirmed that preparations for a separate party were being kept as a backup plan, according to journalist Deniz Zeyrek, who recounted a conversation with him during a YouTube broadcast Tuesday.
“We have to do this as Plan B,” Özel was quoted as saying. “If a congress cannot be held by July 26, the government may not allow the CHP to enter the election. We have to be ready for that.”
Özel told Zeyrek that the plan was not intended to abandon the struggle for control of the CHP but to ensure that the opposition could participate if authorities attempted to keep the party out of an election.
Zeyrek said a building and an organizational structure had already been prepared and that the new party could be activated when needed.
CHP parliamentary group deputy chair Murat Emir said Monday that Özel’s faction would continue its fight within the CHP but would keep every available option under consideration.
The debate comes as surveys indicate that a party led by Özel, particularly one supported by Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, could attract a large part of the CHP electorate.
A survey commissioned by Işık University found that a new party formed by Özel and Yavaş would receive 37 percent of the vote, putting it ahead of the AKP.
The same survey put an Özel-led party without Yavaş at 33 percent and behind the AKP, while a CHP controlled by Kılıçdaroğlu received between 5 and 6 percent.
Segmenta Research conducted the online survey for the university between June 1 and 3 with 1,500 participants selected according to age, gender, education and geographic region.
The responses were weighted according to political preferences, but the published report did not specify a margin of error.
A separate AREA Research survey produced a lower estimate when respondents were asked to choose among all parties in a parliamentary election.
In that scenario the AKP garnered 30.8 percent, a party formed by Özel and his allies 19.8 percent and the Kılıçdaroğlu-led CHP 13.4 percent.
In a separate question about willingness to support an Özel-led party, 33.3 percent said they would vote for it, 50.3 percent said they would not and 16.4 percent were undecided.
AREA interviewed 2,008 people between June 5 and 9, according to results published Tuesday by Nefes columnist Aytunç Erkin.
The survey also found that 44.1 percent wanted Özel and his allies to remain in the CHP and continue their internal struggle, while 35.1 percent favored establishing a new party.
Nearly 56 percent said Kılıçdaroğlu should immediately call a congress, while 23.7 percent said he should first carry out his promise to purge the party of alleged wrongdoing.
The AREA survey found that 45.2 percent viewed the annulment of the CHP congress as a political operation by the government, compared with 31.8 percent who believed the congress had been canceled because of irregularities.
Sixty-six percent viewed the police operation to remove Özel’s supporters from CHP headquarters negatively, while 24.5 percent supported it.
The results also showed the importance of Yavaş to any new opposition formation.
Asked who should run against Erdoğan in a future presidential election, 34.7 percent named Yavaş, 21.2 percent chose İmamoğlu and 9.2 percent selected Özel.
The next presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2028, although Turkey can hold an early election if parliament approves one or Erdoğan calls a new vote.
For Özel’s faction, the immediate deadline is July 26, when it says the absence of a congress could create legal risks for the CHP’s participation in a future election.