Türkiye
Özgür Özel is elected chair of YENİ Parti with every valid vote at its first congress, and says the party was founded to govern
- What happened
- Özgür Özel, the only candidate, was elected chair of YENİ Parti at its first congress in Ankara on Saturday with all 1,154 valid votes.
- Why it matters
- The vote formally puts Özel at the head of the party he set up after a court removed him as CHP leader, and he used it to claim a bid for power.
- What’s next
- On Sunday delegates elect a Party Assembly enlarged to 150 members and the disciplinary board, Cumhuriyet reports.
How this story developed
- 09:50First report
- +2
- 11:163rd source
- 12:17+2 outlets in 10 min
- 15:256th source
- 17:28+4 outlets in 10 min
- 09:50First reportCumhuriyet
- 11:072nd sourceDiken
- 11:07ConfirmedWas: Single source
- 11:163rd sourceHürriyet
- 12:17+2 outlets in 10 minSözcü and Medyascope
- 15:256th sourceDW Türkçe
- 17:28Latest+4 outlets in 10 minNTV, BBC Türkçe, Sabah and 1 more
Full story
Every valid vote
Özgür Özel was elected chair of YENİ Parti on the first day of the party’s first ordinary congress in Ankara on Saturday, Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Diken, NTV and BBC Türkçe reported. He was the only candidate. According to Hürriyet, 1,157 of the 1,202 delegates voted, and Özel received all 1,154 votes counted as valid.
Özel and his team founded YENİ Parti on 24 July 2026, after a court’s “absolute nullity” ruling removed him and his executive from the leadership of the CHP, Diken recalled. The congress, held under the slogan “Türkiye Yenileniyor” (Türkiye is renewing), continues on Sunday.
A bid for power
In his speech to the delegates Özel said the party had been born out of necessity and that the nation had decided it, Habertürk reported. He criticised the investigation into the funds and said the party had been the target of character assassination.
“We did not found this party to be an opposition party. We founded it to solve the nation’s problems. We founded YENİ Parti to be in power.”
Özgür Özel, YENİ Parti chair, Hürriyet(translated)
“We will root out favouritism in the public sector. YENİ Parti will put an end to the rot. We will defend the nation’s children, not ministers’ children.”
Özgür Özel, YENİ Parti chair, Habertürk(translated)
A founding declaration read at the congress stressed a democratic republic, a parliamentary system, social justice, production and merit, and said the party would base its preparations to govern on concrete targets, clear timetables and measurable results, Cumhuriyet reported.
What happens on Sunday
On the second day delegates vote for the Party Assembly and the High Disciplinary Board. Under a change to the party statute made by the founders’ board, the assembly grows from 80 to 150 members and will have three groups: a legislative group made up of the party’s 77 MPs, a group of local organisation representatives, and a policy group of experts and academics, Cumhuriyet reported. The statute calls for open lists, but the paper said the vote was leaning towards a single block list.
Earlier in the day an AI-made video message from the jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was shown in the hall. He said the party’s decision to scrap the delegate system meant that “the era of old-style politics based on delegate hunting” had closed, Cumhuriyet reported. The pro-government Sabah wrote that the congress was held in the shadow of bribery allegations and resignations from the party.