Statement from Kılıçdaroğlu after being summoned to testify in party congress investigation: 'My stance has not changed'

Kılıçdaroğlu was summoned to testify as part of an investigation launched into allegations of 'irregularities' regarding the 38th Ordinary Congress. 

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will also not provide testimony in the capacity of a 'victim' in the investigation concerning allegations that "votes were cast in exchange for money" at the party's 38th Ordinary Congress held on November 4-5, 2023.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which had previously summoned Kılıçdaroğlu to testify as a "witness" for the same investigation—a request he declined through his lawyer—has now sent a summons for him to testify as a "victim." 

According to information obtained, Kılıçdaroğlu informed the prosecutor's office that he would not testify as a "victim" either. 

STATEMENT FROM KILIÇDAROĞLU: I WILL NOT GO

Following these developments, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu made a statement on his X account.

Kılıçdaroğlu stated, "I am watching with deep sadness and concern as the 102-year-old Republican People's Party, which founded the Republic and is the hope of the people, and our party members are being debated in court corridors. I was invited to provide information before, and I did not go. Today, even though I have been summoned in the capacity of a victim, my stance has not changed. Therefore, I will not comply with this invitation either."

I am watching with deep sadness and concern as the 102-year-old Republican People's Party, which founded the Republic and is the hope of the people, and our party members are being debated in court corridors. I was invited to provide information before, and I did not go. Today, even though I have been summoned in the capacity of a victim, my stance…

— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) May 8, 2025

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

In a program he attended on KRT television on February 7, Kılıçdaroğlu was asked about the congress and stated that the party management "needs to make a clear and explicit statement," adding, "If you do not, silence implies consent, and that means there is something else going on here. If there is something, the party must definitely be cleansed of corruption."

When asked if he had any suspicion of irregularity, the former chairman replied, "I do not have anything in my possession."

Former CHP İstanbul MP Akif Hamzaçebi also argued on his social media account that those who cannot respond to Erdoğan's claims of a "dubious congress" should not enter the presidential candidacy process, calling on the party management to "either reject this claim by challenging it or do not sit in that seat."

Immediately following these allegations, an investigation was launched into the CHP's 38th Ordinary Congress, and claims were made that a trustee would be appointed to the party. The CHP management repelled this move by holding an extraordinary congress, where Özgür Özel was re-elected chairman with a record number of votes.