HALKWEB- Özlem Bayrakçı Erkan, a CHP member who filed a lawsuit for the annulment of the CHP 38th Ordinary Istanbul Provincial Congress held on October 8, 2023, was expelled from the party by the CHP High Disciplinary Board (YDK).
Özlem Bayrakçı Erkan's dismissal was annulled by the Ankara Civil Court of First Instance as unlawful.
The Republican People's Party YDK procedure regarding the termination of my client Özlem Erkan's membership of the Republican People's Party has been annulled by the Ankara Civil Court of First Instance as unlawful.
Respectfully announced to the public. @ozlm_byrkc_erkn- Av. Cevahir Kilic (@cevahir8593) April 10, 2026
Announcing the decision on his social media account, Erkan's lawyer Cavahir Kılıç said, “The Republican People's Party YDK procedure regarding the termination of my client Özlem Erkan's membership of the Republican People's Party has been canceled by the Ankara Civil Court of First Instance as unlawful.”.
“You cannot take away a person's right to say ‘no’”
Özlem Bayrakçı Erkan shared a post after the decision.
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You cannot take away a person's right to say no; you cannot prevent them from seeking their rights as prescribed by law. As a matter of fact, today, just as you cannot take away my membership...Today, the whole public knows that what is essential for me is the legacy of Atatürk, which I am obliged to carry into the future... https://t.co/XCcggrmOtO
- 🕊Özlem Bayrakçı Erkan (@ozlm_byrkc_erkn) April 10, 2026
“You cannot take away a person's right to say no; you cannot prevent them from seeking their rights as prescribed by law. As a matter of fact, today, just as you cannot take away my membership...
Today, the whole public knows that what matters to me is the Republican People's Party, which is Atatürk's legacy and which I am responsible for carrying into the future. Today, I have not only fought for my membership; I have also protected the responsibility to pass this legacy on to the future and I have never allowed it to be taken away from me.”
Precedent will be set
The annulment of Özlem Bayrakçı Erkan's dismissal will set a precedent for the YDK decisions regarding the dismissal of 1689 people who were expelled from the CHP after the 38th Ordinary Assembly. In this case, the way was paved for the dismissed CHP members who applied to the judiciary to return to their party.
The CHP High Disciplinary Board, chaired by CHP Istanbul MP Turan Taşkın Özer, a former lawyer of Ekrem İmamoğlu, against whom a draft petition was prepared to lift his immunity, decided to expel Gürsel Tekin, Savaş Aras, Erkan Narsap, Zeki Şen, Levent Çelik and Barış Yarkadaş from the party, as well as 30 former district heads in Istanbul.