According to KurdPress, Zelal Kalkan Delen, journalist and columnist for the Cumhuriyet newspaper, in an article titled “A deep and long operation!” addressed the developments within the Republican People’s Party, the return of Kemal Kilicdaroglu to the presidency of the party and the possible connection of these developments with the new process of resolving the Kurdish issue and the government’s plan to change the constitution.He claimed that what happened in the CHP was the result of a plan that paved the way for the implementation of the Erdogan government's plans.

Zelal Kalkan Delen writes in her note: "The incident dates back to the days after the elections of May 14 and 28, 2023; an election that resulted in the deep disappointment of the voters of the People's Alliance and the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdogan as president.

In those days, a CHP member whose name I had only heard of before and had never met, contacted me. He was Ali Özcan, a businessman and former Istanbul deputy in the parliament, who had previously served as the chairman of the SHP and CHP provincial organizations in Istanbul and a member of the CHP party council.

Özcan said in a telephone conversation that he followed my writings with interest and asked to meet. He came to the newspaper office on June 21, 2023 and expressed the same views during this meeting.At that time, I was strongly criticizing the CHP leadership for its tendency towards right-wing movements, its “solvent” policy, and the way it prepared the list of candidates for the parliamentary elections.

Plans and Facts

My second meeting with Ali Özcan took place 38 days after the local elections on March 31, 2024. He called me again and proposed a meal; but I suggested that we meet for coffee. Thus, on May 8, 2024, we met in a cafe in the Moda neighborhood of Istanbul.

After talking about his business activities, Özcan spoke about political developments that he claimed were going to happen in the future. At no point in the conversation did he emphasize that these materials were confidential or should not be published.

He said that a new order would be formed in the Middle East and that in the new period, Turkey and the entire region would witness very important developments.According to him, Kemal Kilicdaroglu's presence at the head of the CHP is of vital importance in view of these developments, and the group he is part of is working to achieve this goal.

Özcan also said that Kilicdaroglu could return to the CHP presidency for another year, after which the party congress would be held.

The picture he presented at that time seemed incredible, because the CHP's victory in the local elections across the country had created new hope for confronting the Justice and Development Party. At that time, the Bahçeli government had not yet shaken hands with the People's Equality and Democracy Party representatives at the opening ceremony of the parliament, nor had it addressed Abdullah Öcalan at its party faction meeting. There was still no talk of the beginning of a new process.

However, what Özcan had said about the future developments on May 8, 2024, gradually happened.The court ruling on Kılıçdaroğlu's return was issued on May 21, 2026; but Özcan had said two years earlier that they considered Kılıçdaroğlu's return to the CHP presidency necessary.

My main issue is the lack of principles in politics

One of the questions this incident raised for me was why they had contacted me. This contact could not have been simply because of interest in my writings, because I had been criticizing Kılıçdaroğlu, their supporter, from the beginning.

My criticisms of Ekrem İmamoğlu and Özgür Özel's management had probably also caught their attention; especially the criticisms I had made about the candidates nominated by this movement in the local elections. The number of journalists who took such a position in the media was very small.

My issue is the lack of principles in politics.For this reason, I criticize anyone who does not defend the achievements of the Republican Revolution without compromise, who tramples on secularism, who marginalizes full independence by supporting NATO, who defends privatization instead of a state economy, and who prefers the interests of capitalists to those of workers.

I am not one of those who would support today someone who was criticized for the same reasons yesterday and who would change direction like a fart. Apparently, I explained this to Ali Özcan very well in the meeting on May 8, 2024, because I did not see him again after that.

The return of Kılıçdaroğlu to the CHP presidency is part of a government plan

I know that the return of Kılıçdaroğlu to the CHP presidency was part of a plan. The main purpose of this move is to completely smooth the path of the Öcalan process and also to facilitate the government's work on constitutional reform.It is true that Ekrem İmamoğlu and Özgür Özel also supported this process. Even if the CHP had not sat at the commission table, this imperialist plan could not have gone this far.

However, it should be emphasized that Kılıçdaroğlu even criticized the decision of Özgür Özel's leadership not to meet Öcalan. Accordingly, it was calculated that if someone like Kılıçdaroğlu took over the CHP presidency, regardless of the reaction of the party body, there would be no obstacles left to continue the new process.

Kılıçdaroğlu's expansionist statements are in line with the neo-Ottoman programs of the Erdoğan government

Kılıçdaroğlu's expansionist statements immediately after returning to the CHP presidency are also in line with the neo-Ottoman programs of the AKP government and imperialist goals. Moreover, it is clear that creating a split and division in the CHP will make Erdogan's job easier."In this way, what has happened in the Republican People's Party is the result of an operation against Türkiye that is much deeper and longer than is imagined."