Thousands of people on Sunday protested in the Turkish capital of Ankara over a court case that could reshape the main opposition party after a year of legal battles concerning the arrest of opposition party members.
On Monday the court will decide whether it will invalidate the 2023 congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and oust its leader, Özgür Özel, following allegations of procedural irregularities. The CHP is Türkiye’s oldest and biggest opposition political party.
Speaking to protesters, Özel stated that a government that became authoritarian through elections is now “eager to transition to a dictatorship without elections,” criticizing what Özel has called attacks on democracy and the multi-party system.
Additionally, Özel called for a snap general election, calling the court case political and a mirror of the ruling party’s fear of losing elections in a fair electoral process.
In 2023, CHP elected Özel as its new leader, ending the 13-year tenure of Kemal Kilicdaroglu ahead of the 2024 local elections, in which the opposition won major cities. Özel, who advocated for a renewal of the party, secured a victory after a tense two-round vote at the party congress.
The legal battle is a culmination of a general crackdown on the opposition, with more than 500 CHP members, including several mayors, being detained over alleged corruption. In March, the Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was arrested on allegations of corruption and financing terrorism, sparking the country’s largest protests in over a decade.
The potential annulment of the congress could likely affect Türkiye’s political landscape, as it could disrupt CHP‘s internal structure, create a power vacuum, and influence the timing of a presidential election, initially scheduled for 2028.
According to Amnesty International, Türkiye’s crackdown on pro-CHP protesters signifies a wider pattern of suppressing political opposition in the country. The rights group warned that measures to violate the right to peaceful assembly risk the further erosion of democratic pluralism.
