Turkish Opposition MP Resigns from Party After Party Colleagues Hold Genocide Related Banner

A Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP Birgul Ayman Guler has handed her resignation after CHP politicians were seen at a Hrant Dink memorial march holding a banner saying “Confront the Genocide.”

Guler, a Kemalist opposition MP from Izmir, accused her party of having a “politically inconsistent structure."

A photo reveals CHP Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrıkulu, MP Safak Pavey and MP Umut Oran standing next to Hrant Dink’s wife Rakel Dink and holding a banner saying "Confront Hrant, Confront the Genocide.” The latter case is being investigated by an internal Disciplinary Committee for violating the statutes of the party, according to Taraf․ 

Guler stated in her reasons for resigning: “In regards to the current structure and ideology of the CHP, the CHP is not where I can be a member of the parliament. False accusations of genocide have been supported by the leaders of the new CHP and thus depriving Turkey from its abilities to express itself. In a year of attacks like 2015, leaders of the party (CHP) are carrying a banner that reads “confront the genocide,” which is a concrete manifestation of support.” She says that the party she is resigning from is not the CHP but a politically inconsistent structure.

Among other reasons, she also stated that "the new CHP has abandoned the understanding of the national economy and became a structure that reflects the interests of the global financial market."

Guler also made statements last month, criticizing the party’s cooperation with the Gulenist movement, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's arch-nemesis, which has led to her referral to the CHP’s disciplinary council. On Monday, the day of her resignation, she presented a defense letter to the council.

In the past few months, multiple CHP MPs have submitted their resignations over the party’s stance on various issues.

To note, this past Monday, CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu met with non-muslim religious leaders in Turkey to discuss their concerns.

Kilicdaroglu stated that his party would bring some of the leaders concerns to the Parliamentary agenda and acknowledged that the religious leaders had issues with hate speech and the implementation of the law.