, in a move the party denounced as a “judicial coup.”){kind=link}
Thousands of people rallied in İstanbul on Wednesday after a court removed the provincial leadership of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), in a move the party denounced as a “judicial coup.”
The 45th Civil Court of First Instance annulled the outcome of the CHP’s October 2023 İstanbul provincial congress, dismissed provincial chair Özgür Çelik and 195 delegates and appointed a five-member caretaker team. The ruling triggered a sharp sell-off on the stock exchange, with the BIST 100 index dropping as much as 5.5 percent on Tuesday.
The CHP, which dealt President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party a major setback in the 2024 local elections and has been rising in the polls, filed an appeal on Wednesday.
Party leader Özgür Özel addressed supporters in the Zeytinburnu district, a traditional Erdoğan stronghold, as crowds waved Turkish flags and chanted “Government, resign!” “They think they can silence us and create an opposition that suits them, but we will not bow,” he said. “This is not only about our party. It is the multi-party system itself that is under attack.”
The ruling adds to a series of legal cases targeting the CHP. The most significant came in March, when İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — regarded by many as the only politician capable of defeating Erdoğan in a national vote — was jailed following a contested conviction.
Last week, prosecutors indicted Çelik and nine other CHP figures on charges of vote rigging at the 2023 provincial congress, seeking prison terms of up to three years. A separate lawsuit in Ankara challenges the party’s November 2023 national congress that elected Özel as chairman. That case resumes on September 15 and could potentially overturn the result of the leadership contest.
Analyst Berk Esen told reporters the İstanbul ruling should be seen as “a rehearsal” for the Ankara case. “This marks a shift toward full autocracy and signals the end of the multiparty system as we know it,” he said. “The government is making calculated moves to reduce the CHP to a controlled opposition.”
Since October 2024 hundreds of CHP members have been detained on corruption allegations, including 17 mayors, in what critics describe as politically motivated investigations designed to weaken the party.
© Agence France-Presse