One of the most serious problems for the CHP before the May 14, 2023 elections was the IYI Party's open opposition to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy. Almost weekly statements by IYI Party officials dragged precious time that should have been used to gain momentum into the opposition's internal debates and led to a serious loss of energy.
Although the crisis seemed to have been overcome when Meral Akşener finally got up from the table and then sat down again, it was revealed that many IYI Party members did not vote for Kılıçdaroğlu in the election. In CHP circles, it was frequently mentioned that the IYI Party's attitude on that day was also effective in the loss of the election.
However, the problems between the CHP and the IYI Party did not end even after the elections. IYI Party leader Meral Akşener, who wanted Ekrem İmamoğlu or Mansur Yavaş as a candidate against Kılıçdaroğlu before the elections, refrained from supporting both names during the local election process.
After the 2023 elections, there have been several defections from the IYI Party to the CHP. MPs Ayşe Sibel Yanıkömeroğlu, Ümit Özlale, Aykut Kaya, Nimet Özdemir, Bilal Bilici, Ümit Dikbayır and Adnan Beker were among them. In addition, some people who had held executive positions in the IYI Party, such as Bahadır Erdem and İbrahim Özkan, also joined the CHP.
“With the start of the ”Terror Free Turkey Process", Özgür Özel's administration, although it does not support the participation of a CHP member in the delegation to İmralı, generally uses a softer and more positive language at the discourse level and gives warm messages to the Kurds.
Former Iyi Parti and new CHP figures contradict Özel
However, some former IYI Party members who joined the CHP have made statements contradicting Özel's stance. In this context, MP Ümit Dikbayır and İbrahim Özkan made statements that contradict the CHP's current policy. These statements were influenced by the process that started after a group of Bursaspor fans shouted obscenities at Leyla Zana. As the reactions grew, Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ supported the fans by drinking Uludağ Gazozu, which sponsors Bursaspor.
İbrahim Özkan, an advisor to Ekrem İmamoğlu who joined CHP from İYİ Party, shared a photo of Uludağ Gazozu and said, “I just realized that Uludağ lemonade is such a delicious drink.” Özkan made a second statement in response to the reactions, claiming that he did not approve of the swearing against Leyla Zana, but that he made this post in order to support the brand against the boycott calls against the brand.
Dikbayır: There is no political subject called Kurdish people in Turkey
Ümit Dikbayır made a controversial post on his X account. Dikbayır used the following expressions in his post:
“The question is: Is this really a Kurdish issue? We have to conduct this debate from the right place. Let's start by correcting the language. There is no separate political subject called ‘Kurdish people’ in Turkey. There are citizens of Kurdish origin in Turkey. Just as we have citizens of Georgian origin, Laz origin, Circassian origin, Albanian origin, Bosnian origin, our citizens of Kurdish origin are an integral part of this nation.”
A name close to Imamoğlu
Both Dikbayır's and Özkan's statements drew the reaction of Kurdish politicians in particular. So far, neither Özgür Özel nor Ekrem İmamoğlu has commented on these statements. Imamoğlu's name is particularly important because Özkan is very close to him and is his advisor. In addition, while the statements of İmamoğlu's father Hasan İmamoğlu targeting communism in the past brought up discussions about the family's countryist past, now his advisor's post drawing parallels with Ümit Özdağ drew attention.
Yes, there may be different tendencies within the CHP. However, these tendencies must define themselves within the boundaries of social democracy. If one takes part under the umbrella of the CHP and starts to act with the rhetoric of the Victory Party, this situation will cease to be polyphonic; it will first lead to chaos and then to a lack of identity.
The solution process may crystallize differences
At this point, the following question comes to mind: As the resolution process deepens, will the former IYI Party members who were later integrated into the CHP be able to act in line with the party's policies? Or will the CHP face the problem of “former IYI Party members” after the IYI Party problem it faced before the 2023 elections? We will see this in time. Özgür Özel's attitude will be decisive here. Because if the controversy grows, his leadership and authority may also come into question.