02.06.2026 16:01
The tension that began when Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's team entered the headquarters accompanied by police, following the court's 'absolute nullity' decision regarding the CHP congress, took on a new dimension with the "chocolate" controversy. After Özgür Özel claimed that the person distributing chocolate at the headquarters was a caricaturist who mocked the late Ferdi Zeyrek, the targeted individual swiftly denied the allegation.
The waters are not calming in the leadership and management crisis within the Republican People's Party (CHP). On Sunday, May 24, after a court decision and police intervention, Kılıçdaroğlu's team entered the CHP headquarters, and their initial moments in the building were captured on camera celebrating by eating chocolate. While these images sparked controversy within the party, Özgür Özel brought the issue to the Turkish Grand National Assembly podium and made a shocking claim.
ÖZEL: THE ONE WHO DREW THAT CARTOON IS DISTRIBUTING CHOCOLATE
Speaking at his party's group meeting in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Özgür Özel reacted very harshly to the images of chocolate distribution at the headquarters. Claiming that the person in the images was the owner of a controversial content published in Yeni Akit newspaper, Özel stated the following:
"On that day when our dear Ferdi Zeyrek was struggling for his life after an electric shock, the woman who drew the cartoon mocking him with the headline 'He Got Shocked' in Yeni Akit Newspaper is now distributing chocolate at the paternal home."
GÜLŞAH ALYANS' SWIFT RESPONSE: I HAVE NO CARTOONS
Following Özgür Özel's serious accusation, Gülşah Alyans, identified as the person distributing chocolate in the images, broke her silence. Making a statement on her social media account, also tagging Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's press advisor Atakan Sönmez, Alyans firmly denied the claim that she was a cartoonist.
In her post, Alyans reacted to Özel with the following words:
"I have no cartoons. There is no one like you for fake news. I have no posts other than saying 'May God have mercy on President Ferdi.' My Twitter account was opened in November 2025. But you have no peace. Continue spreading hate."
WHAT HAPPENED?
Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek tragically lost his life on June 6, 2024, after being electrocuted while trying to check a malfunction in the machine room of the pool at his home in the Yunusemre district. Following Zeyrek's death, Yeni Akit newspaper published a cartoon with the phrase 'He Got Shocked', which caused a major uproar in the public and political arena at that time.