The 38th Ordinary Congress of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was not so ordinary, as an investigation and testimonies of witnesses laid bare.
The party, which is embattled with allegations of corruption in its municipalities, found itself in more legal trouble when prosecutors launched a probe last month into allegations that Chairperson Özgür Özel “bought” supporters to oust his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in an intraparty election held at the congress in November 2023.
The investigation stems from the legal complaints of CHP delegates who told investigators that they were offered bribes ranging from cash and houses to prominent jobs in municipalities the party runs. Kılıçdaroğlu, who has insisted since then that he had been “backstabbed,” maintains his open-ended claims that the said election had been “shady.” Some delegates who voted in the CHP intraparty election on Nov. 4-6, 2023, were paid sums ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, Erhan Çakır, a former CHP member, told the media recently. It was the CHP’s Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, who paid them to force at least 150 delegates to switch sides against Kılıçdaroğlu, Çakır alleged.
On Monday, three people, including the CHP’s former Hatay mayor, Lütfü Savaş, who was expelled from his party last year, appealed to a court of first instance to revoke the CHP’s decision to convene an extraordinary party congress on April 6 due to ongoing investigations into the CHP-run Istanbul municipality.
Özel announced the congress last week amid a probe launched by an Ankara prosecutor into the party’s latest congress. Savaş is also included in the 2023 CHP intra-party vote investigation that put Özel in power. Savaş and other politicians, including congress delegates Levent Çelik and Hatip Karaaslan, argued the current CHP administration was “unauthorized” and its congress call went against the CHP’s charter, legislation and general principles of law. Özel said the CHP would hold the congress to prevent the appointment of a trustee to the party after Imamoğlu was detained on an array of charges, including aiding the PKK terrorist group.
On Monday, Serda Tandoğan Kuru, a delegate from Bursa province, testified at the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the capital Ankara, stating that CHP officials tried to persuade him to vote for Özel in the election in exchange for cash.
Kuru was the branch director of the CHP in Bursa’s Mustafakemalpaşa district when he joined as a delegate at the election. He said Özel, accompanied by his close aides Veli Ağbaba and Ensar Aytekin, as well as Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) Council member Nadir Ataman, visited the Bursa provincial headquarters of the CHP for a meeting with congress delegates. Kuru said that before the meeting began, Ağbaba asked if there was a place to smoke, and they went to a designated smoking area. There, Ağbaba allegedly told him, “Tandoğan, if Özgür Özel is elected party leader and you support him, we’ll announce your candidacy for mayor the next day.” After the meeting, Kuru claimed Ağbaba addressed attendees, saying: “We’ll nominate district chairs who resign as mayoral candidates. This requires money; mayoral campaigns are expensive, but candidates won’t pay. We’ll cover all costs; it’ll be an easy election. We won’t bring in outsiders like Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. All we ask is your support for Özgür Özel.”
Kuru said 44 Bursa delegates attended, and after the speech, district chairs from Yenişehir, Karacabey, Harmancık, Gürsu and Kestel expressed interest in running for mayor. He quoted them as saying: “If Özgür Özel wins and you back him, we’ll reward your support with mayoral nominations.”
Özel, who was present, reportedly echoed the promise before the meeting ended. Days later, Kuru and 43 other delegates traveled to Ankara for the CHP congress. He alleged that Bursa delegates were split between two hotels and that CHP Bursa Chair Nihat Yeşiltaş met some delegates at another hotel for undisclosed discussions. Kuru also claimed iPhones were distributed to delegates supporting Özel.
He said he voted for Kılıçdaroğlu and was surprised when the race went to a second round. While returning to the convention hall, he encountered the former Bursa chair of the CHP, Şadi Özdemir, who offered him a ride. During the trip, Kuru said an unknown caller offered him money to sway 12 delegates for Özel: “Name your price – TL 300,000 or TL 500,000? Give us your bank account number and we’ll send it,” he was allegedly told.
Özdemir then allegedly urged him: “Whoever called is right. You’ll be a mayoral candidate and this requires money. If you are worried about your bank transfer record, we will use cryptocurrency to make the payment. Support Özel and get paid,” Özdemir told him.
Kuru claimed Özdemir was later rewarded with a mayoral nomination in the Nilüfer district.
He also alleged that Yeşiltaş’s son, Ozan Hasret Yeşiltaş, was hired at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s cultural agency a day before the convention in exchange for the former’s voting for Özel.
Kemal Ölmez and Nazım Demir, delegates from the Hakkari province, also testified on Monday and told investigators that delegates were offered cash and phones to switch votes to Özel. Ölmez said he rejected a TL 600,000 ($20,000) offer, while Demir cited hiring a local official’s son in the Izmir municipality run by CHP as an alleged incentive.
On Tuesday, prosecutors in Istanbul revealed that another investigation was underway for CHP’s intraparty election for its Istanbul chair, Özgür Çelik. Inan Güney, CHP’s mayor for Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, was summoned to testify over allegations of irregularities and fraud in that election in October 2023.
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