Özgür Özel (born 21 September 1974) is a Turkish pharmacist and politician who serves as the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP).

He comes from a Balkan Turkish family originating from Skopje, North Macedonia and Thessaloniki, Greece and completed his primary education there.

Starting in 2007, he has served as an executive board member, accountant and two-term General Secretary for the Turkish Pharmacists Association, having made numerous statements and presentations in 163 different congresses and conferences.

Özel criticized Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for stifling internal democracy and said that the party's leader should be elected democratically.

He also objected to Kılıçdaroğlu's analogy of "delivering the party to a safe harbor", asking "Who dragged that ship [CHP] into dangerous waters?

"[9] Kılıçdaroğlu's ticket sharing deal to elect 36 deputies from minor parties aligned with the CHP was also severely criticized.

In particular, the party's candidates in Turkey's largest city Istanbul and capital Ankara, Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş, were re-elected by landslide 51% and 60%, respectively.

The CHP also won many unexpected victories in areas that had been under AKP control for the previous two decades, including Bursa, Balıkesir, Manisa, Kütahya, Adıyaman, Amasya, Kırıkkale, Kilis and Denizli.