Politics is not only a struggle for power; it is also is a moral regime. The identity of a party is not determined by its election manifestos, but by the reflexes it displays in moments of crisis, the choices it makes in moments of silence, the answers it gives to the question “who to protect and who to sacrifice”. This is exactly what the Republican People's Party is facing today: The collapse of moral reflexes.
If true, the remarks attributed to Kayseri Provincial Chairman Ümit Özer, which target Alevi citizens, would be a simple and unprecedented incident in the history of the CHP. “scandal” but as a clear moment of rupture with the founding values. Because the issue here is not just a hurtful expression, but the infiltration of the sectarian mind into politics. Sectarianism is not just a form of prejudice in modern politics; it is a technique of power that corrupts the state-society relationship, hierarchizes citizenship, and makes the public sphere manageable by fragmenting it.
The Republican People's Party is the bearer of a political mind historically founded against this technique. For the CHP, secularism is not a defense of a lifestyle; it is the will to keep sectarian wars away from these lands. Alevis are the bearers of this will. “voter group” but their historical interlocutor. Therefore, those who criminalize Alevis, who criminalize them “enemy” Any discourse that pushes Alevis into this category is an attack not only on Alevis, but also on the CHP's raison d'être.
There is another critical point here: The historical context in which these words were allegedly uttered. At a time when allegations of massacres, expulsions and sectarian violence against Alawites in Syria are shaking the world public opinion; if such words are attributed to a provincial chairman of the main opposition party in Turkey, this is no longer just a “domestic policy error” is not. It is a political blindness that ignores regional sectarian fault lines. Political blindness always goes hand in hand with ethical collapse.
At this point, the attitude of the headquarters will determine the future of the CHP. Because there is a basic rule of political science:
Impunity spreads faster than ideology.
“We have started an investigation”, “we are following the process”, “we will listen to the parties” In a matter of this scale, statements such as these are not justice, but a distraction. Sectarian language is not investigated; it is eliminated.
It should therefore be clearly and unequivocally stated here:
Kayseri Provincial Chairman Ümit Özer should be immediately dismissed and expelled from the Republican People's Party.
This is not a show of political toughness; it is institutional self-defense. The CHP cannot survive by harboring a language that denies itself. Otherwise “change” what is taking place under the name of the "ideological vacuum" is not just a change of cadres; it is an ideological vacuum.
But the problem is not singular. It is a manifestation of a deeper structural problem that has long been accumulating within the CHP: the collapse of ethical standards.
In the same period, the fact that systematic insults against a general chairman - Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu - and his family, who had kept this party afloat for years, were protected by the troll networks within the party is another face of this collapse. Here, it is no longer “criticism of the leader” but political lynching. And lynch culture is always a precursor to organizational decay.
The academic literature is clear:
Parties are solved not by differences of opinion, but by the erasure of moral boundaries.
Attacks targeting the family are normalized, and those who commit them “youth energy” or “social media tensions” is neither democratic nor progressive. This is a direct internal party rehearsal for authoritarianism.
CHP cannot grow with trolls.
CHP cannot be an alternative to power with sectarianism.
CHP cannot give hope to society with its lynch culture.
Therefore, the demands for the Headquarters are no longer political, but existential:
Immediate dismissal and expulsion of Kayseri Provincial Chairman Ümit Özer,
Implementing a zero tolerance regime for anyone using sectarian, divisive and antagonizing language,
Dismantling all internal party structures that spread, protect or remain silent about the insults against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his family,
Ensuring a decisive break with those who do not internalize the CHP culture and turn this party into a field for clique wars and social media lynchings.
And it must be made clear that what happens otherwise is not a threat, but a sociological consequence.
If the necessary action is not taken, the CHP's historical bond with the Alevi community will be effectively severed. This rupture will not manifest itself in individual resentments, but in mass Alevi resignations, organizational withdrawals, and a silent but deep distancing. And this is not only an organizational crisis; it is a crisis of representation.
More importantly: There will be a response at the ballot box.
The literature on political behavior makes this clear:
Voters whose identity, dignity and memory are denied suspend their loyalty.
In the first election, Alevi voters will give the necessary answer at the ballot box. This will not be an outburst of anger, but a rational, legitimate and democratic attitude. Because politics, where respect ends, is tamed with votes.
The bottom line is this:
This article is a “warning” It is not.
This article is a “reproach” It is not.
This article is an intellectual, moral and historical last call to the Republican People's Party.
Either the Headquarters takes a clear stand today, or it will bear all the consequences - politically, morally and historically - of tomorrow's rupture.
Because sometimes it is not the pressure of power that destroys a party; it is its denial of the rot within itself.