Özgür Özel, formerly the leader of Turkey’s Republican People’s Party, announced on July 21 that he has established a new political party: Yeni, meaning “new.” Ninety of the Republican People’s Party’s 135 members of parliament have defected to Yeni, making Özel leader of the opposition.

We opened up a new road because they blocked all the others. We are opening up that road now. Are you ready to march to power? We will march to power.
—Özgür Özel

Why now? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has harassed popular opposition figures through lawfare. His judicial system has imprisoned his previous main challenger, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, on a questionable conviction. In May, the courts stripped Özel of his leadership over the Republican People’s Party. Other prominent opposition figures have faced similar treatment.

• But whereas other figures like prominent mayors have faced arrest, Özel as a sitting member of parliament has legal immunity.

Where to now? Erdoğan has led Turkey since 2003. He has survived previous serious crises. But Özel seems to be the candidate every anti-Erdoğan Turk is now coalescing around.

Prophecies in the Psalms, Obadiah and elsewhere show Turkey will serve a crucial geopolitical role in the years ahead. Because of this, the Trumpet watches events in Turkey closely. The chapter “Reviving the Ottoman Empire” in our free booklet He Was Right explains in detail.