According to Kurdistan Press, Özgür Özel, the elected leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), gave his farewell speech to the party at the party's parliamentary faction meeting, which was held with the presence of 80 members of parliament.

He began his speech by saying: "Today, I stand behind this podium with the sadness of saying goodbye, the time for which has come. We are all at a historical crossroads.»

Referring to the process of leadership change in the Republican People's Party, Özel said that when the discussion of change in the party was raised, many believed that change was not possible with the existing structure and even considered it impossible to hold a real competition to elect the party leader.

He added: "At that congress, for the first time in the history of the party, the Secretary General was changed through an electoral competition. We were all children of this party and had not come from outside. We took the wheel of the existing mechanism out of its usual motion."

Stating that there were only four months left until the local elections after the congress, Özel said that the results of those elections showed that the change in the party had managed to regain the trust of the people: "After 47 years, as we had promised, the Republican People's Party became the largest party in the country and the Justice and Development Party tasted defeat for the first time.»

Erdogan begins process of eliminating opposition parent party

Ozel criticized the Turkish government and said that after the CHP's success in the local elections, pressure began on the party's municipalities: "Recep Tayyip Erdogan personally started the process of eliminating candidates, weakening the party's structure and eliminating its leadership. They arrested our presidential candidate, imprisoned mayors, council members and municipal directors, and started this process by appointing a guardian to the Esenyurt municipality."

He emphasized that despite his confidence in the independence of the judiciary, he considers what happened against his party members to be "fraud and character assassination," adding: "I am never someone who leaves my friends alone or distances myself from them to protect my position."

This is not a retreat

The CHP leader-elect, referring to the political and judicial pressures against the opposition, said: “We are leaving behind the attempt to engineer politics through the judiciary and the atmosphere of fear and silence and confronting its perpetrators.”

He emphasized: “This is not a separation or retreat, but a step to continue the path to power more powerfully. No political party is above the people and no position is more important than democracy.”

Announcing the formation of a new party structure in parliament

At the end of his speech, Özel announced the formation of a new party structure in parliament and said: “We will establish our new party with the representatives whom the people have voted for and entrusted their authority to. With this new structure, we will be by far the largest opposition faction in parliament."

He concluded by adding: "Today I bid farewell to the CHP faction podium, but we are not saying goodbye to the position of the largest opposition party in parliament. From today, we start the countdown to reaching the ruling party podium."