Özgür Özel was elected as the new chairman of CHP, which has been the main opposition party in Turkey since 2002. After the second round of elections at the party's 38th Ordinary Congress, he managed to defeat his rival, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the politician who has been at the head of the CHP for 13 years.
Özgür Özel received 682 votes in the first round and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu received 664 votes. Since the candidates could not obtain an absolute majority, the election went to the second round. Özgür Özel, who left behind Kılıçdaroğlu, who has been the party leader for 13 and a half years, in the second round, became the 8th Chairman of the CHP with 812 votes.
WHO IS THE NEW CHAIRMAN OF CHP, ÖZGÜR ÖZEL?
His profession is pharmacy.
Born in 1974; 49 years old.
His family is from Turkish families who immigrated from the Balkans. Originally from Skopje and Thessaloniki...
He started working as a pharmacist in 1999.
In 2009, he became a mayoral candidate for Manisa, where he lived at the time; but he could not be selected.
He became a member of parliament in 2011.
He became mayor of Manisa again in 2014, but he was not elected again.
Life story
Özgür Özel was born on September 21, 1974 in Manisa. His father's name is Talat and his mother's name is Rukiye Şükran. He graduated from Ege University Faculty of Pharmacy.
The Republican People's Party (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi) is a Kemalist and social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first president and founder of the modern Turkish Republic. The party is also cited as the founding party of modern Turkey. Its logo consists of the Six Arrows, which represent the foundational principles of Kemalism: republicanism, reformism, laicism, populism, nationalism, and statism. It is currently the second largest party in Grand National Assembly with 130 MPs, behind the ruling conservative Justice and Development Party (AKP).
He worked as a freelance pharmacist. He served as a Board Member, Treasurer, Secretary General, and President of the Manisa Chamber of Pharmacists, respectively.
Özgür Özel (born 21 September 1974) is a Turkish politician and the leader of Republican People's Party (CHP) since 2023. He had previously served as a parliamentary deputy group leader of the CHP since June 2015, along with Engin Altay and Levent Gök. He is a former pharmacist and has been a Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Manisa since the 2011 general election. He is well known for his activism concerning the rights of miners in Manisa Province.
He has been serving as a Manisa deputy in the Turkish Grand National Assembly since 2011. He served as deputy group chairman of the Republican People's Party from 24 June 2015 to 3 June 2023. On June 3, 2023, he was elected by the party group as the Republican People's Party TBMM group chairman.
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (born 17 December 1948) is a Turkish politician and former leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP). He was Leader of the Main Opposition in Turkey between 2010 and 2023. He served as a member of parliament for Istanbul's second electoral district from 2002 to 2015, and as an MP for İzmir's second electoral district from 2015 to 2023.
Özel, who speaks fluent German and English, is married and has one child.
POLITICAL CAREER
Özgür Özel was a Manisa Mayor candidate from the Republican People's Party in the 2009 local elections, but he could not be elected. He entered the parliament for the first time as a CHP Manisa deputy in the 2011 Turkish general elections. He became a candidate for Manisa Metropolitan Municipality mayor from the same party in the 2014 local elections, but he was not elected again. He entered the parliament again as a CHP Manisa deputy in the June 2015 and November 2015 Turkish general elections.
He was elected as a CHP party council member at the 18th Republican People's Party Extraordinary Congress. During his time as a member of parliament, he became a member of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Health Commission and the CHP Prisons Investigation Commission. He was elected as CHP group deputy chairman on June 24, 2015.