Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu returned as interim leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) earlier this year after a court annulled the 2023 leadership election that had removed him — and he says jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is not a political prisoner, while leaving the door open to supporting an İmamoğlu presidential bid.
In an exclusive interview with Euronews at CHP headquarters in Ankara, Kılıçdaroğlu defended his court-ordered return, acknowledged the party split would cost the CHP votes and called for Turkey to lead a new regional peace organisation.
İmamoğlu was arrested in March 2025 on corruption charges, triggering Turkey’s largest street protests in more than a decade.
His supporters say the charges are politically motivated, noting his status as Erdoğan’s most credible electoral rival.
His 2019 victory ended 25 years of AKP and other rule in Istanbul and his re-election in 2024 reinforced that standing. The government has rejected accusations of political interference.
Kılıçdaroğlu said İmamoğlu’s potential candidacy for the presidency did not make the corruption case political.
“Being a presidential candidate is one thing. These cases are another,” he said, noting that he had voted for İmamoğlu in the CHP’s own presidential primary.
But Kılıçdaroğlu said İmamoğlu should not have been detained while awaiting trial. “He can stand trial, but I did not think it was right to detain him. I still hold that view today.”
A separate legal complication arose when Istanbul University annulled İmamoğlu’s degree in March 2025, raising questions about his presidential eligibility — Turkey’s constitution requires candidates to have completed higher education.
İmamoğlu has since joined Yeni Parti, the breakaway political group led by his ally Özgür Özel.
Asked whether he would back an İmamoğlu presidential bid if those legal obstacles were resolved, Kılıçdaroğlu did not give an unconditional endorsement but said talks would be needed and stressed that opposition unity was a mathematical necessity.
“How will you get 51%? By working together. How can you get it without working together?” he said. “There is no place for grudges, anger or hostility in politics.”
The CHP was founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923 as the party of the Turkish republic and its founding secular ideology, known as Kemalism.
It governed Turkey without interruption until 1950 and remains the main vehicle for secular, centre-left politics. It draws its core support from western Turkey’s urban and coastal populations, civil servants, professionals and voters who prioritise secularism and EU integration.
A court-ordered return
Kılıçdaroğlu, who led the CHP for 13 years, came closer to defeating Erdoğan than any opposition candidate in two decades when he ran against him in the May 2023 presidential election.
The race went to a second round — the first runoff in Turkish history — where Erdoğan won 52.2% to Kılıçdaroğlu’s 47.8%.
The result ended the most serious electoral challenge to Erdoğan’s rule and directly triggered the CHP leadership contest that replaced Kılıçdaroğlu with Özel. İmamoğlu backed Özel in the party contest.
A court ruling on 21 May annulled that congress and restored the previous leadership on an interim basis. Özel’s leadership team denied the vote-buying allegations and accused the government of using the judiciary against the party.
Özel has appealed the ruling, leaving Kılıçdaroğlu’s interim leadership subject to further judicial review.
Kılıçdaroğlu denied any involvement in the case. “I am not a party to this case. I did not file it. I did not testify. I have no involvement in this case,” he said.
Asked whether returning through a court ruling rather than a delegate vote bothered him, he said the ruling had restored the full previous leadership, not just him personally.
Asked whether accepting the ruling implied trust in the judiciary, he replied: “Who said I trust the judiciary?”
The cost of CHP’s split
The CHP came first in Turkey’s 2024 local elections under Özel, retaining Istanbul and Ankara and dealing a major setback to Erdoğan’s ruling AKP.
Turkey’s parliament has 600 seats. With 91 MPs, Yeni Parti is now the second-largest parliamentary group after the ruling AKP and the largest opposition bloc, while the CHP has 44 MPs.
Kılıçdaroğlu insisted that his party’s core voters remained loyal, but acknowledged that the division would come at a cost.
“Will it lose strength? Of course it will. But we will recover over time. No one should be concerned,” he said.
Citing his own unsuccessful presidential bid in 2023, he argued that political success could no longer be measured solely by parliamentary seat totals.
“A party’s success now depends on its presidential candidate winning,” he said.
He also said he had instructed provincial party leaders not to criticise or quarrel with Yeni Parti, and remained willing to meet Özel.
“It is the government we should be criticising,” he said.
Erdoğan’s current presidential term runs until 2028. Whether he is constitutionally eligible to stand again is disputed: Turkey’s constitution limits presidents to two terms, but the AKP argues the clock reset when the new presidential system took effect in 2018, making 2028 effectively his first term under the new rules.
The Constitutional Court has not definitively ruled on the question. If he does stand, he would face an opposition that is currently divided.
Turkey ‘a leading force for peace’
Asked about Turkey’s role in the conflict between Israel and Iran, Kılıçdaroğlu called for closer cooperation among regional countries.
“Turkey should not want war in its region. It should be a leading force for peace,” he said.
He pointed to the CHP’s proposal for a Middle East Peace and Cooperation Organisation, initially led by Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, which he said could later expand.
Regional countries should work together to secure peace, economic integration and stability, he argued.
Relations between Turkey and Israel deteriorated over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, with Ankara suspending bilateral trade in May 2024. Their rivalry also extended into Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s fall.
Kılıçdaroğlu also condemned what he described as Israel’s threatening stance towards Turkey.
“It is absolutely unacceptable for Israel to threaten Turkey,” he said. “Israel does not even have the right to criticise Turkey.”