Gürsel Tekin, who was appointed to the CHP Istanbul Provincial Administration by the Istanbul 45th Civil Court of First Instance, made statements about the party's provincial congress process at a press conference held at the CHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency building in Sarıyer with call committee members Zeki Şen and Erkan Narsap. Tekin said that the call committee was appointed in line with the court decision and their only task was to renew the Istanbul Provincial Congress.
CHP congress crisis in Istanbul Gürsel Tekin: Why are you running away from the congress
Stating that there were serious findings regarding the will of the congress, Tekin reminded that the court had asked for information and documents of provincial executives due to its findings of problems with the will of the Istanbul Provincial Congress, but that these documents were not submitted to the court.
Gürsel Tekin shared the letter sent by the Istanbul 45th Court of First Instance to the CHP Headquarters for the Call Committee.
“If the headquarters management had given the delegation requested from them, we would not be here today. It is the headquarters management that created this situation.” pic.twitter.com/iLatjZu07s
- Halkweb (@Halkweb) February 2, 2026
Tekin stated that the court wrote to the electoral board this time, and when the electoral board informed that they no longer had the documents due to the expiration of the 5-year period, the court appointed a call committee.
Criticizing the characterization of the process as a “judicial coup”, Tekin stated that it could not be defined as a coup and that they themselves would have prevented such an attempt.
Stating that the court appointed the call committee with the principle of “impartiality”, Tekin stated that the responsibility for the failure to renew the congress lies not with the call committee, but with the Republican People's Party Headquarters.
Saying that no healthy contact was established with the headquarters during this period, Tekin reacted to the characterization of the call committee as a “trustee” and said, “This is not a trustee. This is a temporary board. What does a temporary board mean? ‘You will renew the crippled congress’, that's all.”.
‘70 APARTMENTS GIVEN TO DELEGATES’ CONTROVERSY
Emphasizing that judicial decisions should be implemented, Tekin said
“Our task in 45 days was to hold the congress from the day we arrived, to call for the congress. We don't know who will win or lose, this is not our job. We were going to hold an independent congress. Unfortunately this was not done, it was not allowed. And when it was not allowed, naturally we still haven't done our duty. So they wanted to close the lawlessness by holding elections for themselves. I wish it could be closed, I wish we could return to our work as soon as possible, but everyone knows that this is not the case. Because our friends know very well what they did in the congress. Don't people trust themselves? So what, you can do it three more times. Why are you running away from the congress? Don't any of these things bother you? A businessman comes out and says, ’We gave 70 apartments to the delegates’. Is this something to be accepted? Another businessman comes out and says, ‘I met with the delegates’. Since when have congresses and assemblies of the Republican People's Party been organized with the efforts of business people who are not CHP members? The files are very open. Everyone can go and see and read these files in court. If we are at fault, come and tell us, we will make our self-criticism and apologize. But despite everything, we will protect our party, our plane tree.”
Tekin, upon being reminded that Özgür Çelik ran as the sole candidate in the CHP's extraordinary congress and won the election, and that the Supreme Election Board (YSK) gave the mazbat to Özgür Çelik, said, “Only we (the call committee) would have held that congress and none of the problems experienced today would have happened. You ask the election board about that. Say, ‘The decision book is with the call committee, and the mazbata is with the thing (Özgür Çelik)'.”.
“To the question, ”Does this invalidate the election for you?“ Tekin replied, ”Not from my point of view, go and ask the judiciary about that.".
Tekin emphasized that some names within the party had been subjected to disciplinary processes and that no disciplinary action had been taken against some people who said they had confessed.
Stating that a large number of party members resigned in the last two years, Tekin added that they will work to reunite members who have severed ties with the party under the umbrella of CHP.