Hasan Taçoy: UBP Faces Risk Of Being Unable To Contest Elections

Speaking on Kanal T in response to questions from Damla Dabiş, Taçoy said that despite complaints from party organisations and court injunctions issued over allegations of inflated membership lists, the party leadership continued to proceed with congresses without addressing the legal concerns.

Taçoy argued that recent court decisions concerning the party congress have created a serious legal risk for UBP in terms of election participation, stressing that internal disputes should be settled politically rather than through prolonged legal battles.

“At any moment, someone can lodge a complaint against my party and the party may be barred from entering elections. No risks should be taken; precautions must be taken now. We must resolve this through a political decision without engaging in endless disputes. That decision must be to hold a new congress. This is not something citizens can solve. It must be resolved by MPs themselves. Citizens will give their answer at the ballot box. True UBP supporters are deeply troubled,” he said.

Taçoy maintained that although lawsuits were filed and interim court orders were issued over claims that membership lists had been manipulated, the party mechanism continued to recognise the process and press ahead with congresses.

He said UBP should now take courageous decisions to clear the way both for the party and the country, but instead a process of postponement and uncertainty had been created.

Taçoy added that court proceedings had effectively documented that the congress was invalid, and that legal rules and party traditions had also been violated in the removal of certain women’s branch presidents. He claimed that these individuals had become “victims of other processes” and that innocent people were being deprived of their rights in order to obscure the real intentions behind the decisions.

“The Congress Has Not Been Completed, A New One Is Mandatory”

Taçoy said a congress could not be considered valid when village and district congresses had not been completed beforehand.

“Would a party go to a congress without completing village and district congresses? The late annulment decision has taken us back to July 2024. Under Article 114 of the party statute, organisations whose congresses are incomplete cannot participate in the party congress. Therefore, the congress itself has not been completed,” he said.

Referring to the Political Parties Law, Taçoy warned that there was a legal risk regarding UBP’s participation in elections and that a new congress was therefore unavoidable.

Commenting on early election debates, Taçoy said this would not be an early election but rather a rescheduled one, with the date to be determined by parliament. He added that elections should be held before the local elections.

“2026 will bring many developments,” Taçoy said, noting that the end of June was still being discussed as a possible timeframe.