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Republican People's Party leader Ozgur Ozel outlines strategy after star activist's arrest sparks mass protests
Turkey's largest opposition party is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy of grassroots rallies and political alliances to defeat President Recep Tayyip Erdogan following the arrest of its activist and presumptive presidential candidate.
The arrest last month of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who polls show defeated Erdogan in the election, sparked a market panic and Turkey's biggest street protests in a decade. It was also a major setback to opposition hopes of unseating Erdogan, who has led the country for 22 years.
Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the Republican People's Party, or CHP, told the Financial Times that he had "no plans" to replace İmamoğlu, but acknowledged that he needed to maintain momentum without him after the initial outburst of popular discontent.
That includes organizing regular demonstrations and a signature drive to translate the anger over İmamoğlu’s arrest into a cause that resonates broadly with voters. Ozel also suggested he was open to forming an opposition coalition of the kind that failed to defeat Erdogan’s AK Party and its partners in 2023.
"With the elections approaching, we are not closed to alliances with other parties. To defeat Erdogan, we need the support of all democrats ," Özel said in an interview, noting that İmamoğlu remained the CHP's candidate for the next presidential election, currently scheduled for 2028.
But Ozel added that if a ban imposed by the government makes İmamoğlu's candidacy impossible.
"We will determine the most suitable candidate and we will run a campaign based around İmamoğlu's campaign for freedom ," he said.
Sitting in his office at the CHP headquarters in Ankara, Ozel, 50, exudes the same energy and determination that made him such a galvanizing figure in the protests following İmamoğlu's arrest.
İmamoğlu was arrested on March 21, just hours after the CHP nominated him as its presidential candidate, on corruption charges that he denies. In the following days, Özel channeled the anger of tens of thousands of protesters into giant demonstrations, where he condemned İmamoğlu’s arrest as a politically motivated “coup.”
Shocked by the public outcry and an investor panic that forced the central bank to burn over $30 billion in reserves to prop up the currency, authorities arrested about 2,000 people.
Officials said İmamoğlu's arrest showed that no one is above the law, while Erdogan called the protests a "dead end" and that Turkey would never surrender to street terror.
" We have crossed the threshold where [Erdoğan] can intimidate those who stand against him ," Ozel said.
Ozel's public role has highlighted the former pharmacist's political promise and his organizational ability to keep the CHP energized. "Crisis management and resistance are our job," he said.
Born in 1974 to two teacher parents in western Turkey, a traditional CHP stronghold, Ozel entered politics as a member of parliament in 2011 after training as a pharmacist — training he has used to treat his famous voice, the result of throat surgery last year. “Since I am a pharmacist, I use all kinds of treatments,” he said.
Ozel outlined his three-part strategy from a spacious office lined with portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the nation and the CHP party, while his white cat, named "Victory," looked on.
The first part involves a symbolic national effort to collect 30 million signatures, more than Erdogan received in the 2023 presidential election, calling for İmamoğlu’s release and early elections. According to party officials, more than 10 million people have signed so far.
The second step involves holding a rally every Wednesday in Istanbul and periodic demonstrations across the country. The first was on Sunday in Samsun, where Ataturk launched Turkey's war of independence in 1919.
" There are very few examples in the world of how to push back an authoritarian populist leader with peaceful demonstrations and civil protests. This will be one ," Ozel said.
The third and most challenging part of the strategy is to translate İmamoğlu's issue into a cause that resonates broadly with voters, especially young people, and thus maintain pressure on the government.
The recent protests have spanned the gamut of Turkish society, from left-wing students and right-wing nationalists to young Muslim women wearing headscarves and old-age pensioners. But according to a poll conducted last month during a demonstration in Ankara, 94 percent of protesters were under the age of 35, but only half said they supported the CHP.
Ozel said he had increased youth quotas in the CHP and that half of his shadow cabinet were women, compared to Erdogan's cabinet, which has only one female minister.
He added that the party's membership had grown by 800,000 people to 2 million since he replaced former party chief Kemal Kılıçdaroglu, who led the six-party coalition's unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2023.
" Our goal is to strengthen the party by opening its doors to all democrats ," he stressed.
This includes potential supporters who usually have diametrically opposed interests, such as Kurds, many of them represented by the DEM party, or nationalist parties such as the IYI party.
" There is no salvation alone ," said Ozel.
Polls since İmamoğlu's arrest suggest that the CHP has moved several percentage points ahead of Erdogan's AKP, with the support of around a third of voters.
The CHP under Ozel also had more success in last year's local elections, winning the popular vote and securing landslide victories for the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara.
However, analysts say the opposition has a tough road ahead against a president who has a record as a ruthless political operator.
“ Whatever you can imagine, Erdogan can do… There are no limits ,” Özel said. “FinancialTimes”
Europe and the US are also confronting Turkey for its strategic importance and military strength, and have so far turned a blind eye to perceived democratic abuses.
"Unfortunately, the current global context – Trump, Putin, the war in Syria – has turned Erdogan into someone with whom other leaders want to bargain ," Ozel said.
Despite the odds, Ozil appeared unfazed by the dangers. “The best defense is what we are doing now – resisting.”/ Adapted from “Pamphlet” by the Financial Times
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