Turkey's main opposition, the Republican People's Party (CHP), is experiencing an internal crisis following recent allegations involving the party's former presidential candidate, which has shaken the party at its core as the party member in question challenged the administration to launch an extensive process to rid itself of conspirators and schemers.
"CHP will not be able to engage in ethical politics in Turkey as it claims if the party does not break its chains and start a cleansing process," Muharrem İnce, who was the CHP's presidential candidate in the 2018 elections said Sunday. İnce was responding to a group of his colleagues, who claimed that he recently held a secret meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara; this claim has been rejected by the presidency and İnce but has caused great controversy within the party.
In a press conference held at his home in northwestern Yalova province, he urged the CHP to get rid of all actors who cause internal strife and spread lies, causing great harm to the party.
"The CHP will only rise again if it unveils the actors behind this conspiracy, punishes them and dismisses them from the party," he said.
He noted that he was not surprised about the plot and Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's attitude, he reminded reporters that he became the party leader following a sex tape scandal involving his predecessor Deniz Baykal.
As the party's presidential candidate in the 2018 elections, İnce received 30% of the votes, the highest percentage the party received in years. He also voiced his aspirations for the party chairmanship. He also sparked an internal debate by calling for an extraordinary convention, but the CHP's then-spokesperson, Bülent Tezcan dismissed his request, saying that the CHP's Central Execution Board (MYK) was in full support of its current chairman, Kılıçdaroğlu and dismissed any calls for an extraordinary convention.
The main opposition has been shaken by the claims, which were brought forward with Sözcü daily columnist Rahmi Turan, who is notorious for fake stories, including one claiming that a baby was born with a beard. Turan cited Talat Atilla as the source of his claim, who said a source within the CHP told him about the alleged meeting.
İnce told journalists that the goal of this baseless claim was to knock him out and phase out his influence within the party.
He mostly blamed Kılıçdaroğlu for his ineffective leadership skills and poorly managing the crisis.
"The CHP should announce to 82 million [Turkish citizens] who came up with this plot," İnce said, adding that it is the party's responsibility to clear the mess.
He made a special call to Kılıçdaroğlu, warning him that if he does not take action now, he may be the target of the "plotters" tomorrow.
"Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu should announce the name if he knows it. They're plotting against me today and the same plot may be set up against Kılıçdaroğlu," he said.
İnce noted that he called Kılıçdaroğlu and told him to arrange a meeting, and the latter said he will get back to him but never did.
"We should have been making this statement with Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu now," İnce reproached, as he said such controversies cause significant damage to the party.
He continued by saying that a circle within the party has been plotting and spreading lies against him since the 2018 presidential election.
He slammed Kılıçdaroğlu for giving the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and President Erdoğan reason to criticize the CHP and rejecting his offer to clear the air.
He also criticized the party spokesperson for failing to issue an official statement, as he noted that he would hold talks with all political actors, including the president and other party leaders, but he would inform the press about it and announce it on his official Twitter account.
İnce also thanked some journalists, including Uğur Dündar and Canan Tolga Işık for refusing to write about the alleged meeting. Uğur Dündar, who writes for Sözcü daily, said that he had heard the claim, but did not write about it due to lack of supporting evidence. In a later statement on Twitter, Dündar also urged Kılıçdaroğlu to take immediate action to shed light on the matter and punish the perpetrators.
He previously told Hürriyet daily columnist Ahmet Hakan that the aforementioned circle within the CHP is involved in controversy, gossip, conspiracies and slander, calling them a "gang," as he noted that the CHP needs to get rid of these individuals.
He also said that all actors involved in a series of attacks targeting him since the presidential election are within the party, rather than AK Party members.
İnce reiterated his determination to stay in the party and protect the party from harm, as he said he's been working for the CHP for the past four decades.
Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also rejected the meeting claims, saying that they do not reflect the truth.
"The Presidential Complex Visitor's List does not have records of the vehicle plate no. 06 SFG 4543 entering the complex and vehicle plate no. 06 GHJ 1290 leaving the complex on the claimed date," Altun said in a statement.
He referred to the claims as baseless, noting that the aforementioned plate numbers, which allegedly belonged to İnce, do not even exist according to official traffic records.
This was not the first time the CHP is experiencing internal conflict. Several dissidents, including prominent figures, were either fired or resigned from the party.
Many of these figures criticized Chairman Kılıçdaroğlu for failing to step down even though he has never won a single election in almost a decade.
For instance, Emine Ülker Tarhan resigned in 2014 and formed her own party after criticizing the CHP administration for their "wrong and weak policies." Known as a staunch opponent of the AK Party's policies, Tarhan was one of the most prominent figures of the opposition within the CHP.
More recently in 2018, intraparty debates targeted Kılıçdaroğlu's "poor leadership skills" following poor results in the June 24 elections. The dissidents held him responsible for the CHP's repeated failures in the elections.
Kılıçdaroğlu responded by expelling the dissidents, who, according to him, harm both the CHP and its ideologies by insisting on their demands.
