Last week, Türkiye had a packed political agenda.
The political rupture within the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) following the court’s ruling of absolute nullity culminated in the party splitting in two and the establishment of a new party with the name of “New Party”.
Another important development of the week was Türkiye’s admission as an ASEAN Dialogue Partner.
And the Turkish Women’s National Volleyball Team crowned world champions, sparking celebrations across the country.
A new main opposition party
The split within the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which began with the absolute nullity proceedings, ultimately led to the birth of a new political party.
91 of CHP’s 135 MPs resigned from the party and founded a new party called the “New Party.” With that, CHP is now left with 44 MP and became only the fifth-largest group in the parliament. The CHP, which has been the second-largest party since 2002, thus lost this position.
With this change in the distribution of seats in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, the New Party became the second-largest party in the parliament, following the ruling AKP’s 277 MPs.
The New Party is headed by Özgür Özel, who was removed from the CHP leadership by a court ruling.
Under the new parliamentary configuration, the AK Party ranks first with 277 seats, followed by the New Party with 91. The DEM Party holds 56 seats, the MHP 46, the CHP 44, the Good Party 29, and the New Path Party 20. The remaining parties and independent MPs together hold 29 seats.
As a result of the new balance of power, the CHP’s seats on parliamentary committees have also passed to the New Party.
Speaking at the press conference where he announced the establishment of the New Party, Özgür Özel said that their goal is to come to power: “We are now counting down the days until we bid farewell to the main opposition party’s parliamentary group podium and take our place at the ruling party’s parliamentary group podium.”
The New Party’s founding program places emphasis on the Republic and on fundamental rights and freedoms. Its pledges include a return to the parliamentary system, accelerating the European Union accession process, rejoining the Istanbul Convention, and recognizing the right to native language.
In the economic sphere, the party program proposes a planned model of development and promises to expand the role of the state in the economy.
In foreign policy, it calls for speeding up the process of full EU membership, strengthening Türkiye’s active position within the Western alliance, maintaining its commitment to NATO, and pursuing balanced relations with Russia and China.
Özgür Özel also announced that more than 200 mayors would join the New Party. Özel said: “Starting tomorrow, more than 200 municipalities will declare their intention to join the New Party. Mansur Yavaş remains in our former party. We have not invited anyone. So no one should accuse Mayor Mansur of siding with those who support the nullity ruling.”
In fact, many ex-CHP mayors started joining the New Party as Özel announced.
Özel also addressed claims that MPs’ parliamentary immunity could be lifted: “Those who are afraid of iron should not board the train. Who is going to frighten me with the threat of lifting my immunity? They could not intimidate us.”
Türkiye becomes an ASEAN Dialogue Partner
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that Türkiye had been admitted to ASEAN as a Dialogue Partner country. In an official statement, Fidan said:
“Türkiye has been accepted as an ASEAN Dialogue Partner following a decision taken by the ASEAN foreign ministers in Manila. We have therefore attained a status immediately below full membership within ASEAN, a position previously granted to only 11 countries. Following our application in 2024, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my fellow foreign ministers who supported us throughout the process, to the Philippines as the current ASEAN Chair, and to the ASEAN Secretariat.”
Fidan continued:
“Since laying the institutional foundations of our relations with ASEAN in 2010, we have expanded our cooperation with ASEAN countries in every field and increased our trade volume from $6.5 billion to $16 billion. With Dialogue Partner status, we believe that our political and economic cooperation with the ASEAN region, which has a population of approximately 700 million and an economy exceeding $4 trillion, will deepen even further. I hope this new era will bring benefits to both our country and the ASEAN member states.”
The statement emphasized that strategic cooperation with ASEAN would be further developed on the basis of mutual benefit and shared prosperity: “In line with the strategic vision of our Asia Anew Initiative, we will continue with determination to deepen our institutional cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region.”
ASEAN Dialogue Partnership is described as the organization’s most comprehensive and institutionalized form of relations with non-member countries and international organizations.
Women’s Volleyball Team crowns world champions
The Turkish Women’s National Volleyball Team has once again been crowned Nations League champion.
Türkiye defeated world number two Brazil 3–1 in the final of the 2026 FIVB Volleyball Nations League to claim the title for the second time. The Turkish team thus returned to the summit of world volleyball, following its first Nations League championship in 2023.
In a thrilling final played at the Macao East Asian Games Dome, Türkiye won the match with set scores of 23–25, 25–23, 26–24 and 25–21.
The star of the match was Melissa Vargas, who scored 33 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Brazil made a strong start by winning the first set 25–23, but Türkiye levelled the match by taking the second set by the same score.
The third set was fiercely contested, and Türkiye prevailed by 2 points: 26–24.
Türkiye then opened up an 8–2 run in the fourth set. Although Brazil fought back to narrow the score to 19–18, Türkiye held firm, won the set 25–21, and became the championship.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated the team in a post on social media: “I wholeheartedly congratulate our women’s volleyball team, which achieved a tremendous success by defeating Brazil in the Nations League final and made all of Türkiye proud.”
In the updated FIVB Women’s World Ranking after the tournament, Türkiye retained third place with 388.35 points.
Italy remained at the top with 461.17 points, and Brazil held on to second place with 403.61 points.