Turkey’s main opposition party on Friday applied to hold an extraordinary party congress on September 21 so delegates can vote again for party leader, a move that would serve as a backstop against the possible ousting of its leadership in a September 15 court hearing in Ankara.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) delegates elected Özgür Özel as chairman in November 2023, unseating former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who held the position since 2010.
The plaintiffs, who observers say are aligned with the Kılıçdaroğlu camp, are asking the judges to declare the 2023 leadership vote void. Such a ruling would remove Özel at once. The judges could also authorize a committee chosen by the court to manage party procedures.
The CHP’s application went to the Çankaya district election board in Ankara. The board must approve the request before any meeting can take place.
Analysts say a September 21 vote would answer either outcome. If judges void the 2023 result on September 15, delegates would still meet on September 21 and could re-elect the same leader that day. If the judges adjourn or take no action, the congress would still produce a visible count of support that signals the party’s internal will.
An extraordinary congress in Turkey is a formal gathering of elected party delegates called outside the normal calendar. Delegates vote for the party chair and the party council. More than 900 delegates signed the request for the September 21 meeting. The signatures did not include 196 Istanbul delegates who were suspended by an earlier civil court order. Party lawyers say they excluded those names to avoid disputes over status, but opponents could still challenge the count.
The local election authority can also issue its own instructions that affect the timing and rules of the meeting.
The move follows a civil court ruling on September 2 that annulled the party’s October 2023 İstanbul provincial congress. That ruling removed the provincial chair and named a five-person caretaker board. Two appointees later said they would not serve. The İstanbul order increased pressure on the opposition and raised the stakes of the September 15 hearing.
İstanbul matters because it is Turkey’s largest city and its economic center. It is also the base of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the strongest political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
This comes against the backdrop of a year-long crackdown on CHP that followed the March 2024 local elections, when the party won a sweeping victory in major cities as well as garnering a plurality of the vote for the first time in 47 years.
Since October 2024 many opposition officials were detained or arrested on corruption and related charges. Hundreds of elected officials and municipal staff have been targeted, including at least 17 mayors. Supporters of the government say the cases enforce criminal law.
The party says the congress will proceed if approved by the election authority, no matter what the court decides, and that delegates — not judges — should decide who leads the main opposition.