‘Know your place’: Foreign Minister Fidan warns opposition leader

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan issued a scathing rebuke Sunday to main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel following allegations about foreign influence in the detention of Former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

“Know your place!” Fidan wrote on social media platform X, responding to statements made by Ozel after the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) extraordinary congress, where Ozel was reelected as party chair with unanimous support.

The diplomatic confrontation erupted after Ozel made allegations during his speech about foreign consultation regarding Imamoglu’s case.

Fidan, a former intelligence chief who has been serving as foreign minister since June 2023, categorically rejected these assertions.

Foreign Minister Fidan highlights Türkiye’s independent decision making

“We have never taken orders from anyone except our nation; we have never sought permission from anyone other than our people,” Fidan stated in his social media post. “We have fought against all kinds of power and guardianship targeting Türkiye.”

The foreign minister accused Ozel of representing “a tradition that has conducted politics under the shadow of coups against the will of the nation for years” and of “seeking support from foreign capitals by saying ‘we feel abandoned’ for weeks.”

The exchange highlights escalating tensions between Türkiye’s government and opposition following Imamoglu’s March 23 arrest on corruption charges.

The former mayor was detained four days before his expected nomination as the opposition’s presidential candidate and subsequently removed from his position as mayor by the Interior Ministry.

Sunday’s party congress, which the CHP called to prevent what it described as government attempts to place the party under “trusteeship,” ended with Ozel receiving all 1,171 valid votes cast.

In his victory speech, Ozel vowed to continue fighting for Imamoglu’s release and to pursue the petition campaign until it reaches its goal of obtaining support from “one more than half” of Türkiye’s voters.