According to a political commentary by journalist Murat Sabuncu published on T24, the ruling party is executing a two-pronged strategy. The first involves dialogue with Kurdish political representatives to achieve potential disarmament, a process that is now at an advanced stage. The second prong involves a systematic judicial "engineering" of the opposition, utilizing the courts to neutralize key figures and potentially force a change in the CHP's leadership —a move Kılıçdaroğlu himself has hinted he might accept to prevent a government-appointed trustee.
Progress on the Kurdish front was signaled this week after a meeting between Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and veteran Kurdish politicians Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar. The pair stated that "the process has reached a certain stage" and that more comprehensive talks would follow. This has fueled speculation that a public disarmament process is imminent. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan endorsed the developments, stating, "Turkey has taken an important step towards making its internal front more solid," while cautioning that the process remains vulnerable to provocation.
However, in the same breath, Erdoğan signaled a continued crackdown on the opposition. Referencing ongoing investigations into CHP-led municipalities, he remarked, "The evidence and documents put forward by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office are all out there. Unfortunately, not just Istanbul, but other provinces are a disaster." This has been interpreted as a threat of new operations against the CHP, which became the country's leading party in the 2024 local elections. The judicial pressure is already severe, with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu—once Kılıçdaroğlu's vice-presidential pick—having been imprisoned for over 100 days alongside numerous other CHP mayors and officials.
This backdrop makes Kılıçdaroğlu's current posture deeply controversial. Sabuncu questions whether his actions can be read merely as a "lust for his old seat" or a politician seeking revenge. He notes the irony of Erdoğan chiding the CHP for its treatment of a leader they revered for 13 years. Kılıçdaroğlu, who once led a "March for Justice," is now seen by critics as potentially normalizing the very judicial interference he once condemned. Sabuncu warns that Kılıçdaroğlu risks being remembered not as a unifying figure but as "The Divider", whose actions could shatter the CHP and, with it, Turkey's fragile democracy. The coming days are critical, with many hoping he will align his stance with the broader democratic struggle.
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