President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairperson Özgür Özel on Thursday. The meeting, which lasted just over 1.5 hours, marked the beginning of a new political process in Türkiye. The Republicans reportedly viewed the meeting as “positive,” and the Turkish media reported that Erdoğan would visit the CHP headquarters in the future. In this sense, the quest for dialogue and negotiations, which dates back to Özel’s interview with the Sabah newspaper, led to a new chapter that activated the political arena as well as rumors and rhetorical battles following reciprocal visits by the two chairpersons. This is to say that the psychology of Türkiye’s political atmosphere is changing as dialogue and negotiations gain importance – where any attempt to hinder such efforts could come with a heavy price tag. The current process should be met with cautious optimism since there are obvious challenges ahead. Some groups within CHP might try to block Özel’s efforts to build a new political platform, or future crises could derail the process. Still, even the fact that a symbolic meeting has already taken place and the signs that more developments could follow soon deserve recognition. Indeed, the most recent meeting was significantly different from the meeting that the former CHP Chairperson Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was essentially compelled to take in the July 15 coup attempt’s immediate aftermath eight years ago. It is important to recognize that Erdoğan’s meeting with Özel took place against the backdrop of a public debate on the outcome of the March 31 municipal elections and in the absence of anything extraordinary – such as a coup attempt. Ahead of the meeting, Özel stood his ground despite Kılıçdaroğlu’s incendiary comments (“One does not negotiate with the Palace but merely fights it”) and some indirect objections from people around Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu. Ultimately, Erdoğan and Özel managed to hold a positive meeting despite CHP’s insistence on celebrating Labor Day at Taksim Square.

Politics of dialogue: Serving national interests

At this time, there is no point in asking whose interests the current process of dialogue would serve. That is because no politician could possibly avoid exchanging views with others on the country’s pressing problems. Moreover, the CHP chairperson knows that his predecessor’s antagonizing and polarizing discourse caused the movement to lose the 2023 presidential election – although it may have helped them in the 2019 and 2024 municipal elections. Hence his decision to stop questioning the popularly-elected president’s legitimacy and simultaneously fight and negotiate with Erdoğan by pledging to respect the office. It appears that Özel sees this brand of politics as a way to help the electorate view CHP as a viable alternative. That is why he is willing to take some risks by engaging in debates over constitutional reform and counterterrorism, which the CHP circles will surely criticize.

Constitutional reform ahead

Keeping in mind that the constitutional reform process, which Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş launched by reaching out to the relevant political parties, will further energize the political arena, there is reason to believe that the country will experience a particularly interesting period over the next weeks and months. It is possible to argue that the Green Left Party (YSP), informally known as the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), a successor of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), will seek to take advantage of such developments for the purpose of politicking. With politics gaining further momentum, party politics will likely face new challenges. Bearing in mind that the People’s Alliance has recently demonstrated its strong unity, CHP’s relationship with other opposition parties will receive plenty of attention. Likewise, one cannot help but wonder how the Good Party (IP) intends to pursue "third-way" politics despite dialogue and negotiations between the AK Party and the CHP chairman. Yet, another significant factor will be DEM’s demands and discourse. President Erdoğan has vast experience in international politics – especially leader-to-leader diplomacy. Leading up to the 2028 general elections, he will make the necessary changes to his party, develop new policies to address pressing problems, and actively seek to shape party politics in Türkiye. [Daily Sabah, May 4, 2024]