Özgür Özel

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Özgür Özel
Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader of the Republican People's Party
In office
24 June 2015 – 3 June 2023
Preceded byAkif Hamzaçebi
Succeeded byGökhan Günaydın
Member of the Grand National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 June 2011
ConstituencyManisa (2011, June 2015, Nov 2015, 2018, 2023)
Personal details
Born (1974-09-21) 21 September 1974 (age 50)
Manisa, Turkey
Political partyRepublican People's Party
SpouseDidem Özel
Children1
EducationPharmacy
Alma materEge University
Signature
WebsitePersonal website

Özgür Özel (born 21 September 1974) is a Turkish pharmacist and politician who has served as

parliamentary deputy group leadership of the CHP with Engin Altay and Levent Gök
between 2015 and 2023.

Özel has been an MP for the

electoral district of Manisa since the 2011 general election and is well known for his activism concerning the rights of miners in Manisa Province. Since February 2024, he has served as vice president of the Socialist International.[1]

Early life and career

Education

Özgür Özel was born in

Bornova Anatolian High School but returned to Manisa to complete high school. He graduated from Ege University Faculty of Pharmacy.[2]

Pharmacist

After graduating from university, Özel worked in an independent pharmacy practice from 1999. He served as the Secretary-General of the Manisa Chamber of Pharmacists between 2001 and 2007 and held the position of Chamber President for two terms. He also took on the roles of Spokesperson and President in the Manisa Academic Associations Union during the same years.

Starting in 2007, he has served as an executive board member, accountant and two-term General Secretary for the Turkish Pharmacists Association, having made numerous statements and presentations in 163 different congresses and conferences. Özel is also a member of the International Pharmacists Federation, the European Union Pharmacists Group and the European Pharmacists Forum.[3]

Between 2007 and 2011, he served as the treasurer of the Turkish Pharmacists' Association for one term and held the position of Secretary-General for two terms.[4]

Early political career

Republican People's Party

Özel was elected as a

parliamentary deputy group leader and was re-elected at the start of the 26th Parliament in November 2015, where he served alongside Engin Altay and Levent Gök.[5][6] He took on important responsibilities as an MP, including roles in the Health, Family, Labor, and Social Affairs Committee, the CHP Prisons Monitoring and Inspection Committee, the CHP Universities and Student Issues Research Committee and the Parliamentary Soma Mine
Research Committee.

In 2015, Özel was awarded the Uğur Mumcu Politician of the Year Award by the Atatürkist Thought Association and the Contemporary Journalists Association.[7]

In the 25th, 26th, and 27th legislative terms, he served as the Deputy Chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Parliamentary Group, overseeing the CHP's work in the Parliament. He served as the Chairman of the CHP Parliamentary Group between 2015 and 2023.

Soma mine disaster

Özel, along with other CHP MPs from Manisa, made worldwide headlines following the Soma mine disaster in May 2014, where 301 miners were killed after coal mine collapsed in Soma, Manisa Province. The disaster caused large-scale criticism of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, since it had rejected a parliamentary motion that Özel had put forward to investigate mining incidents in Soma and other mining towns just two months before the disaster.[8] His speeches before and after the disaster received nationwide attention.[9]

CHP leadership candidacy

Özel voting in the first round of the 38th CHP Ordinary Convention, 4 November 2023

In 2023, Özel ran for party leadership at the 38th Republican People's Party Ordinary Convention. Özel criticized Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for stifling internal democracy and said that the party's leader should be elected democratically. He also objected to Kılıçdaroğlu's analogy of "delivering the party to a safe harbor", asking "Who dragged that ship [CHP] into dangerous waters?"[10] Kılıçdaroğlu's ticket sharing deal to elect 36 deputies from minor parties aligned with the CHP was also severely criticized.[11] In the second round of the CHP congress held on 5 November 2023, Özel was elected the new leader of the CHP.[12]

Leader of the Republican People's Party

Özel's first electoral test as leader came in the 2024 Turkish local elections, where the results were described as a "spectacular upset" victory for the opposition CHP,[13] which despite the lack of any electoral pacts managed to retain all but one of its metropolitan mayoralties, while winning four more. In particular, the party's candidates in Turkey's largest city Istanbul and capital Ankara, Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş, were re-elected by landslide 51% and 60%, respectively. Both mayors also won majorities in their respective metropolitan councils. The CHP also won many unexpected victories in areas that had been under AKP control for the previous two decades, including Bursa, Balıkesir, Manisa, Kütahya, Adıyaman, Amasya, Kırıkkale, Kilis and Denizli. The party also managed to win swathes of districts within many provinces, many of which delivered vote swings of over 30% in the CHP's favor. Overall, the CHP won 35 of Turkey's 81 provincial capitals, with the People's Alliance winning 32.[14] This was the first nationwide election since 1977 where the CHP came first in the popular vote.[15]

Personal life

Özel is married to Didem Özel, and has a daughter. He speaks Turkish, German and English. He supports

Fenerbahçe.[16]

References

  1. ^ "12 yılın ardından: Özgür Özel, Sosyalist Enternasyonal'in başkan yardımcısı oldu". Cumhuriyet. 25 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Özgür Özel". eczozgurozel.com. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  3. ^ "özgür özel ÖZGÜR ÖZEL ozgur ozel OZGUR OZEL ozgur ozel biyografisi biyografi". haberler.com. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Who is Özgür Özel, the new leader of Turkey's main opposition party?". bianet.org. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  5. ^ "Özgür Özel Kimdir". internethaber.com. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  6. ^ "Özgür ÖZEL - 28. DÖNEM MANİSA MİLLETVEKİLİ". www.tbmm.gov.tr. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Uğur Mumcu gururu". hurriyet.com.tr. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Analysis: Gov't ignored warnings, miners paid the bill with their lives - MURAT YETKİN". hurriyetdailynews.com. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  9. ^ "Özgür Özel'in meclisteki Soma konuşması - CNN TÜRK". cnnturk.com. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  10. ^ Gumrukcu, Tuvan; Altayli, Birsen (5 November 2023). "Turkey's main opposition elects Ozgur Ozel as new leader in run-up to local elections". Reuters. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  11. ^ "Özgür Özel announces bid to helm Turkish main opposition CHP". Daily Sabah. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  12. ^ "Ozgur Ozel becomes new leader of Türkiye's main opposition CHP party". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  13. ^ "Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suffers an electoral disaster". The Economist. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  14. ^ "Seçim 2024". Anadolu Agency. Archived from the original on 14 May 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  15. ^ "BTA :: Meral Aksener Gives up Good Party Leadership following Defeat in Local Elections". Archived from the original on 9 April 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  16. ^ https://twitter.com/eczozgurozel/status/319920481564258305?t=QqJ2VaNlkGlAYSxMFHyOhg&s=19 [bare URL]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Özgür Özel.
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Republican People's Party
2023–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Leader of the Opposition

2023–present 		Incumbent
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