Turkey’s ousted opposition leader says he is forming new party 

ANKARA, July 21 (Reuters) – Ozgur Ozel, the court-ousted leader of Turkey’s main opposition party, said on Tuesday he was formally resigning from the party and forming a new one.

In May, a Turkish court annuled the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 congress that elected Ozel as chairman, citing irregularities, amid an unprecedented crackdown on President Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents. It reinstated as chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the CHP’s former leader who lost to Erdogan in the 2023 presidential election.

“Today, we are on the brink of a sad farewell that has become inevitable and whose time has come. However, we would like to share with the people that we carry the hope of a new beginning,” Ozel said in fiery speech to CHP lawmakers in parliament. 

(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer )

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com