The CHP’s elected leadership has asked Ankara Civil Court of Peace to appoint a three-member convening committee that would take the party to an extraordinary congress.
The leadership of Özgür Özel, the elected chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), filed a petition with the Ankara Civil Court of Peace on Tuesday (14 July), seeking to convene an extraordinary party congress. In its application, the Özel leadership requested that a three-member convening committee be appointed to call the congress.
According to an information note released after the filing, the process dates back to June. A total of 833 congress delegates submitted a joint, notarised petition for an extraordinary congress, citing the need to “restore democratic legitimacy within the party and convene the congress, the party’s highest decision-making body.” The figure represents more than two-thirds of the congress’s full membership.
The signatures were gathered within the 15-day period stipulated by the CHP’s charter and delivered to the party headquarters on 17 June 2026. As no congress has been called since, the Özel camp argues that the delegates’ collective will has been left without effect.
“Not a matter for the leadership’s discretion”
The case rests on Article 75 of the Civil Code, which allows a civil court judge to authorise three members to convene a general assembly if the executive body fails to do so, upon application by any member. The petition asks that three congress delegates, whose names are to be disclosed at a later stage, be tasked with calling the extraordinary congress.
The information note also cited rulings by the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation, arguing that once a sufficient number of delegates demand a congress, the matter is not left to the leadership’s discretion and that this demand is legally binding on the party’s executive. The stated purpose of the case is to enable the 833 delegates to exercise the rights granted to them under the law and the party charter, to uphold democratic functioning within the party, and to secure the convening of the congress.
Emre: “Committee’s sole task will be to convene the congress“
CHP spokesperson Zeynel Emre outlined the limits of the committee’s powers in remarks on Monday (13 July). According to Emre, the three-member convening committee will be tasked solely with calling the congress and will not be able to authorise any spending or carry out any administrative action beyond salary payments.
