Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş announced on Tuesday that he was resigning from the Republican People's Party, Turkey's largest opposition party, and confirmed that he would continue his political activities as an independent. The decision comes as the party faces a deepening internal crisis amid a political and legal dispute over its leadership and a rivalry between the camps of Özgür Özel and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
Yavaş announces resignation and plans to continue as an independent
In a statement posted on his official account on X, Yavaş said his decision to leave the party was not driven by anger or disappointment, but followed lengthy reflection and careful consideration. He added that he accepted responsibility for the decision before the Turkish people, explaining that he would continue his political work outside the party's organisational framework.
The Ankara mayor linked his position to the political and legal developments that began on 19 March and the subsequent discussions over the future of the Republican People's Party and the legitimacy of its leadership. He described the stage reached by Turkish politics as a result of those developments as regrettable, pointing to deepening divisions within the opposition.
In his resignation statement, Yavaş stressed that differences among opposition forces must not turn into a conflict that drains them from within. He said that changing the government through democratic means required cooperation among opposition groups, rather than wasting their energy on internal disputes that limit their ability to engage in joint political action.
A well-informed Turkish source said Yavaş had not yet decided whether to join the new party led by Özgür Özel, the former leader of the Republican People's Party. The Ankara mayor therefore remains independent for now, without announcing a new party affiliation or specifying the organisational form of his future political activities.
Crisis in Republican People's Party deepens
The resignation comes as the Republican People's Party faces one of its most complex internal crises. According to the information available, the crisis has pushed the party from its leading position among opposition parties in parliament to low levels, after its leader left the party with nearly 100 MPs months ago.
The dispute intensified after a court ruling annulled the results of the party congress held in November 2023, which brought Özgür Özel to the party leadership, succeeding Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Kılıçdaroğlu had lost to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the country's most recent presidential election.
The court ruling returned Kılıçdaroğlu to the forefront of the party as its leader, while Özel's camp effectively refused to relinquish control. This led to the emergence of two leaderships and two decision-making centres within the party, before the dispute expanded from an internal organisational conflict into a political and legal confrontation.
The crisis saw rival meetings and actions organised by supporters of both sides before reaching a new level in May, when police intervened at the party headquarters in Ankara to implement the consequences of the court ruling. The scene reflected the scale of the division affecting Turkey's largest opposition party.
At a later stage, Özel's supporters continued their activities within the party's institutions, while Kılıçdaroğlu's camp worked to consolidate his return to the leadership. Several party council members aligned with Özel also resigned in an attempt to pressure the party into holding an extraordinary congress, before moving towards forming a new party.
Growing tensions between Yavaş and the party leadership
Yavaş emerged during the crisis as one of the most prominent political figures in the Turkish opposition, but his relationship with the Republican People's Party leadership became increasingly strained in recent months. The tension became more apparent after the Ankara mayor met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on 9 September this year.
The meeting sparked discussion within the party, particularly as Yavaş was absent that same day from events marking the anniversary of the founding of the Republican People's Party. The party's spokesman, Müslüm Sarı, criticised his position, saying that a party official should not bypass the party leadership when making contacts of this kind. The resignation was announced immediately after Sarı's remarks.
Yavaş's resignation reopens debate over opposition candidate
Yavaş's departure from the party coincides with the continuing debate over the identity of the opposition candidate in the next presidential election. The Ankara mayor is being considered one of the leading potential contenders, alongside former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is facing a complex legal process.
Özgür Özel had previously spoken of the possibility of Yavaş running for president if İmamoğlu could not be put forward as a candidate, placing the Ankara mayor's future at the centre of attention in Turkey's political scene. With his resignation, Yavaş's activities are now moving outside the organisational structure of the Republican People's Party, without a decision having been made on whether he will join another party.
