ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Ousted leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Ozgur Ozel, on Friday resigned from the party to launch the YENI Parti (New Party) alongside 90 lawmakers, months after Turkey's judiciary suspended his leadership.

Turkey's pro-opposition Anka Haber reported that Ozel "resigned from the CHP after signing the founding documents of the YENI Party," with 90 CHP lawmakers also resigning to become founding members of the new party.

Video published by Turkish media on Friday showed Ozel signing the party's founding documents. "May it be beneficial to our country, our nation, our party, and all of us," he said.

The move comes two months after a court ruling suspended Ozel's leadership and reinstated his defeated predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Ozel first announced the party's formation, along with his resignation, during a CHP group meeting on Tuesday.

With 91 lawmakers, the YENI Party becomes the second-largest party in Turkey's 600-seat parliament after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which holds 277 seats. 

The CHP, previously the second-largest party with 135 lawmakers, now falls to fourth place with 44 seats, behind the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM Party), which holds 56 seats.

Ankara's Regional Court of Appeals in May suspended Ozel's leadership after ruling that the CHP congress held on November 4-5, 2023 - where Ozel defeated longtime party leader Kilicdaroglu - was invalid due to what the court described as “absolute nullity,” according to Turkish state media.

Following the ruling, Turkish police stormed CHP headquarters in May to evict Ozel and his loyalists, with Kilicdaroglu returning to lead the party.

At the time, the DEM Party said democracy in Turkey was facing a “political crisis” following the police raid.

After the CHP lost the 2024 Turkish presidential election in a landslide and voted to replace its leadership, Kilicdaroglu - who had led the party for nearly 14 years - filed a legal challenge against Ozel, arguing that the congress in which he was replaced had been conducted illegally.

Erdogan's administration has intensified its crackdown on the CHP since the party secured major victories in the 2024 local elections, with numerous party officials arrested on various charges.