The CHP membership enrolment ceremony, attended by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu—who was appointed as leader of the CHP following a court ruling declaring the previous leadership null and void—saw the hall filled with extras. Alongside Kılıçdaroğlu, the ceremony was attended by Gürsel Tekin, who was appointed as interim head of the CHP Istanbul Provincial Directorate, and members of the party’s Central Executive Committee.

Following the establishment of the YENİ Party, led by Özgür Özel, it was announced that the CHP’s badge presentation ceremony had been moved to the Rauf Denktaş Cultural Centre in Ayazağa, Sarıyer, Istanbul, due to “high turnout”. Whilst casting agencies filled the hall with hundreds of extras to make it appear as though they were CHP members, the only people actually present in the hall were members of the CHP’s Central Executive Committee and those organising the event.

20 BUSES HIRED AT 950 TL PER PERSON

Hundreds of extras from three different casting agencies gathered at Trump Shopping Centre in Mecidiyeköy at 09:00 and were transported to the Cultural Centre in Sarıyer by around 20 shuttle buses.

I learnt of the event through a message sent by a person whose story we had previously covered regarding a loss of rights he had suffered at his former workplace. The message stated that a fee of 950 TL would be paid for the ceremony at which Kılıçdaroğlu was to pin on his badge. Thanks to this message, which I received the day before, I managed to get myself signed up as one of the extras.

In the story I began following after joining them as an extra and gathering at Trump Shopping Centre that morning, I learnt that none of the people who had come as extras had any connection to Kılıçdaroğlu; some were pensioners, some were unemployed, and others were unappointed primary or maths teachers. Hundreds of extras, including people from Iran, Uzbekistan and Egypt, filled the hall at the Rauf Denktaş Cultural Centre for the badge-pinning ceremony.

The extras were transported to the ceremony by coach.

Many of the extras – who were unappointed, unemployed, unable to find work, retired, or working at a casting agency solely in the hope of becoming actors – said they had assumed they had been called to work as extras on film, TV series or advertising sets, just like their other jobs, rather than for the CHP event.

SLOGAN REHEARSALS HELD

The extras, who had travelled to Sarıyer for 950 TL, were dropped off by coaches and gathered in the back garden of the Cultural Centre, where they were instructed to chant slogans such as “Kılıçdaroğlu, the people’s hope”, “Rights, law, justice”, “Kılıçdaroğlu, the youth’s hope”, “Hero Kemal”, and were instructed to clap and whistle in unison.

EXTRAS WERE MADE TO WEAR CHP YOUTH WING VESTS

Whilst Gürsel Tekin and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu were speaking at the ceremony, the extras were asked to applaud.

Prior to the event, which began at 12.00, the extras positioned on the lower and upper levels of the hall were directed by casting directors to clap and chant slogans; approximately 50 male extras, including the casting directors themselves, were made to wear CHP Youth Wing vests and were instructed to wave CHP and Turkish flags. The casting director directing the CHP-looking extras in the hall from in front of the podium would signal for applause with a hand gesture between Tekin’s and Kılıçdaroğlu’s speeches, whilst the directors among the extras would lead the chanting of slogans. The extras were frequently instructed to shout louder, clap more vigorously, chant slogans and wave flags.

“I’M AN İMAMOĞLU SUPPORTER – I’LL TAKE MY MONEY AND LEAVE”

Gürsel Tekin, appointed as a trustee to the CHP Provincial Headquarters, said in his speech from the podium, “Friends, if you have a friend nearby who is spreading lies and deceit, stop talking to them immediately.” Meanwhile, hundreds of extras who appeared to be CHP members were thinking only of the 950 lira they were to be paid, and were discussing amongst themselves that the CHP was now full of lies and deceit. Some said, “I’m an İmamoğlu supporter; I’ll take my money and leave.” Other extras, however, refused to carry the CHP flags handed out by the agency.

EXITS WERE PROHIBITED UNTIL THE SPEECH ENDED

After the ceremony ended, the extras were taken to the casting agency’s office to collect their fees. BirGün reporter Ebru Çelik was also among them.

The extras were not allowed to move from their seats during the three-hour-long speeches by the interim leader Gürsel Tekin and the controversial Kılıçdaroğlu. Exits from the hall were prohibited for so-called CHP members who wished to use the toilet or step outside for some fresh air.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Kılıçdaroğlu’nun rozet töreninde skandal: Yüzlerce figüran parayla törene taşındı, published in BirGün newspaper on July 26, 2026.