ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey’s ousted opposition leader Ozgur Ozel on Tuesday said he would form a new party, two months after a controversial court ruling removed him from his post.

In a farewell address, Ozel — who led the Republican People’s Party (CHP) for nearly three years — told lawmakers at the party’s weekly parliamentary group meeting that Turkey stood at “a historic crossroads.”

“Once the necessary procedures are completed, the new party we are about to establish will become the main opposition force in the Grand National Assembly by a wide margin,” he said.

“We carry within us an unwavering hope for a new beginning,” he told lawmakers, who gave him a standing ovation.

Turkey’s oldest political party has been battling a deepening crisis since a court in May ordered the removal of Ozel, CHP’s elected leader, and reinstated his defeated predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

The highly controversial ruling by an Ankara court annulled the CHP’s November 2023 leadership election over allegations of vote-buying.

Critics view the move as the latest attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to remove his political opponents.

The decision has fueled concerns about the state of democracy and the rule of law in Turkey.

Ozel is reportedly due to submit an application to the interior ministry on Monday to establish the new party.

He declined to provide further details about the party, but it is widely........

© The Times of Israel