Dmitry ZAKS
Sat, 4 November 2023
Former pharmacist Ozgur Ozel, left, replaces Kemal Kilicdaroglu, right, as Turkey's opposition leader (Adem ALTAN)
Turkey's main opposition party on Sunday dumped its embattled leader in favour of an untested former pharmacist following a disappointing election defeat to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The staunchly secular Republican People's Party (CHP) has been riven by divisions since Kemal Kilicdaroglu lost a bitterly fought May runoff against Turkey's dominant but divisive president.
At the party's annual congress, delegates voted to replace Kilicdaroglu with the relatively unknown Ozgur Ozel after squandering what many viewed as the opposition's best chance to end two decades of Erdogan's Islamic conservative rule.
The May election came in the throes of a dire cost-of-living crisis that analysts blame squarely on Erdogan's unorthodox economic beliefs.
Kilicdaroglu managed to pull together a multi-faceted alliance that included both right-wing nationalists and left-wing socialists and Kurds.
But the six-party bloc nearly fractured months before the election and then underperformed in the polls.
Erdogan managed to cement his control of parliament through support from Islamic and ultranationalist groups.
Kilicdaroglu then riled many within his own party by refusing to concede defeat and quit.
The 74-year-old lost his leadership post after two rounds of heated party congress voting to a candidate backed by Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
Ozel had spent a large part of his career working as a private pharmacist in the socially liberal Aegean resort city of Izmir.
He eventually became head of Turkey's pharmacy association and was elected to parliament in 2011.
The bespectacled 49-year-old German speaker won the final ballot by a 812-536 margin after promoting himself as the candidate for "change".
But the vote was far more focused on personalities than any particular policies.
Kilicdaroglu compared attempts to unseat him to a "stab in the back".
Ozel countered that he wanted to "write a new story and reshape Turkish politics".
- Focus on March polls -
The CHP congress came with much of the political attention turning to March municipal elections that Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) enter with a full head of steam.
Erdogan had long prided himself on never losing a national election and keeping his conservative alliance in control of both parliament and Turkey's main cities.
But his air of invincibility was punctured in landmark 2019 elections that saw the opposition win both Istanbul and Ankara for the first time during Erdogan's rule.
Erdogan has been focused on seizing back both cities since his re-election to a final five-year term.
Analysts believe Erdogan's chances are strongest in Istanbul -- the city where the Turkish leader grew up and where he launched his political career as mayor.
Current mayor Imamoglu became a darling of the opposition after winning a hugely controversial re-run election against Erdogan's ally in 2019.
But he has since lost some of his lustre and is currently facing the threat of being barred from politics by Turkish courts.
Imamoglu has been convicted of insulting a public official and could be forced to resign should the ruling be upheld.
He decided against challenging Kilicdaroglu and instead backed Ozel's candidacy.
zak/mca
Jailed for life, Erdogan foe still believes in release
Fulya OZERKAN
Fri, 3 November 2023
Osman Kavala, seen here in a 2017 photo, was a little-known patron of the arts until his detention (Handout)
Jailed for life without the possibility of parole, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's arch political rival Osman Kavala still believes that he will again walk free one day.
Kavala, 66, was a relatively unknown patron of culture and the arts until his detention upon arrival in Istanbul from Gaziantep in Turkey's southeast in October 2017.
Still reeling from the shock of a failed but bloody coup attempt the previous year, Erdogan branded the Paris-born philanthropist as a foreign-funded agent who was scheming to topple Turkey's Islamic conservative government.
Kavala was placed in pre-trial detention and then faced a series of alternating charges that, for most Western governments, came to symbolise Turkey's drift away from democratic norms.
He was ultimately jailed for life last year in connection with a wave of 2013 anti-government protests that posed the first serious challenge to Erdogan's increasingly dominant rule.
Turkey's top appeals court upheld the conviction in September, ignoring repeated orders from the European Court of Human Rights for Kavala's immediate release.
Kavala's fate now rests in the hands of Erdogan, who could potentially pardon him -- something the president has given no indication he might do.
But responding to AFP questions through his lawyer from his jail cell on the outskirts of Istanbul, Kavala sounded defiantly upbeat.
"I have no doubt that I will be released, since I have not engaged in any activity considered a crime under the law," he said in written comments.
"What I don't know is when this will happen."
- Watching TV, feeding sparrows -
The Council of Europe has launched infringement proceedings against Turkey over its treatment of Kavala, underscoring the diplomatic sensitivity of the case.
It also awarded its top human rights prize to Kavala last month, drawing condemnation from Ankara, which accused the continent's top rights body of pursuing a "political agenda".
Erdogan has displayed repeated irritation with the West's concern about Kavala's fate.
He threatened to expel the US and nearly a dozen other Western ambassadors who signed an open letter calling for Kavala's release in 2021.
Kavala receives regular updates about the ongoing diplomatic efforts from his lawyer, who visits him two or three times a week.
He also watches news on TV, which is mostly controlled by Erdogan's allies and devotes little attention to the opposition.
To maintain his spirits, Kavala reads, writes, and takes occasional walks in the prison courtyard when the guards allow.
"I take a walk and leave bread crumbs for the sparrows," he said.
"In the afternoon, I read books and write a little. In the evenings, I watch movies" on state TV.
He tries not to think about when he might be released "in order to protect my mental health," he said.
- 'Vital for democracy' -
Kavala said it was important for the international community to keep up the fight for Erdogan's jailed rivals' release.
Erdogan unleashed sweeping purges in the wake of the coup attempt that saw tens of thousands of people either jailed or stripped of government jobs.
Turkish courts have also jailed dozens of top Kurdish politicians, lawyers, reporters and rights campaigners on "terrorism" and other loosely defined charges.
Kavala called on foreign politicians to "continue to remind the Turkish government that compliance with (European Court of Human Rights) ruling is necessary for the European legal system."
His case is also starting to make political waves in Turkey, despite the opposition's shrinking access to the media and the ruling party's dominance over most facets of public life.
Secular opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who pushed Erdogan to a runoff in a bitterly-contested May presidential election, visited Kavala in jail for the first time last month.
Kilicdaroglu had vowed to release all "political prisoners" if elected.
"I expect them to keep this issue, which is vital for democracy, on the agenda," Kavala said, referring to Turkish opposition and international support for his cause.
fo/zak/gv
Fulya OZERKAN
Fri, 3 November 2023
Osman Kavala, seen here in a 2017 photo, was a little-known patron of the arts until his detention (Handout)
Jailed for life without the possibility of parole, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's arch political rival Osman Kavala still believes that he will again walk free one day.
Kavala, 66, was a relatively unknown patron of culture and the arts until his detention upon arrival in Istanbul from Gaziantep in Turkey's southeast in October 2017.
Still reeling from the shock of a failed but bloody coup attempt the previous year, Erdogan branded the Paris-born philanthropist as a foreign-funded agent who was scheming to topple Turkey's Islamic conservative government.
Kavala was placed in pre-trial detention and then faced a series of alternating charges that, for most Western governments, came to symbolise Turkey's drift away from democratic norms.
He was ultimately jailed for life last year in connection with a wave of 2013 anti-government protests that posed the first serious challenge to Erdogan's increasingly dominant rule.
Turkey's top appeals court upheld the conviction in September, ignoring repeated orders from the European Court of Human Rights for Kavala's immediate release.
Kavala's fate now rests in the hands of Erdogan, who could potentially pardon him -- something the president has given no indication he might do.
But responding to AFP questions through his lawyer from his jail cell on the outskirts of Istanbul, Kavala sounded defiantly upbeat.
"I have no doubt that I will be released, since I have not engaged in any activity considered a crime under the law," he said in written comments.
"What I don't know is when this will happen."
- Watching TV, feeding sparrows -
The Council of Europe has launched infringement proceedings against Turkey over its treatment of Kavala, underscoring the diplomatic sensitivity of the case.
It also awarded its top human rights prize to Kavala last month, drawing condemnation from Ankara, which accused the continent's top rights body of pursuing a "political agenda".
Erdogan has displayed repeated irritation with the West's concern about Kavala's fate.
He threatened to expel the US and nearly a dozen other Western ambassadors who signed an open letter calling for Kavala's release in 2021.
Kavala receives regular updates about the ongoing diplomatic efforts from his lawyer, who visits him two or three times a week.
He also watches news on TV, which is mostly controlled by Erdogan's allies and devotes little attention to the opposition.
To maintain his spirits, Kavala reads, writes, and takes occasional walks in the prison courtyard when the guards allow.
"I take a walk and leave bread crumbs for the sparrows," he said.
"In the afternoon, I read books and write a little. In the evenings, I watch movies" on state TV.
He tries not to think about when he might be released "in order to protect my mental health," he said.
- 'Vital for democracy' -
Kavala said it was important for the international community to keep up the fight for Erdogan's jailed rivals' release.
Erdogan unleashed sweeping purges in the wake of the coup attempt that saw tens of thousands of people either jailed or stripped of government jobs.
Turkish courts have also jailed dozens of top Kurdish politicians, lawyers, reporters and rights campaigners on "terrorism" and other loosely defined charges.
Kavala called on foreign politicians to "continue to remind the Turkish government that compliance with (European Court of Human Rights) ruling is necessary for the European legal system."
His case is also starting to make political waves in Turkey, despite the opposition's shrinking access to the media and the ruling party's dominance over most facets of public life.
Secular opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who pushed Erdogan to a runoff in a bitterly-contested May presidential election, visited Kavala in jail for the first time last month.
Kilicdaroglu had vowed to release all "political prisoners" if elected.
"I expect them to keep this issue, which is vital for democracy, on the agenda," Kavala said, referring to Turkish opposition and international support for his cause.
fo/zak/gv
