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Turkish authorities arrested three people on Tuesday over social media posts that urged people to gather outside the İstanbul headquarters of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) after police surrounded the building to enforce a court ruling replacing the party’s elected provincial leaders with a court-appointed team.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said it opened an investigation into 24 social media accounts on the accusation of “incitement to commit a crime,” a provision of Turkey’s penal code used against calls to take to the streets.
Police detained 14 people. Nine were referred to court. Judges ordered three of them jailed pending trial and released the others under judicial supervision, a form of conditional release that can include reporting requirements or travel limits. Ten more people are being sought, according to notices carried by Turkish outlets.
Turkish media named two of the three arrestees as writer Nur Betül Aras and political scientist Abdullah Esin. One of the 14 detained, academic Emrah Gülsunar, was released under judicial supervision, his lawyer said. Separate reports said Aras also faced an allegation of “insulting the president,” which her lawyer called baseless.
Police set up barricades and entered the main opposition’s provincial headquarters in the Sarıyer district on Sunday and Monday to facilitate a court-appointed “caretaker” team taking control.
Officers used pepper spray inside the building, and streets nearby were closed. The İstanbul governor also announced a short ban on public gatherings in six central districts.
The party and its youth wing had called on supporters to assemble outside the building. Prosecutors say the social media posts under investigation encouraged people to join those gatherings despite the ban.
The CHP is Turkey’s oldest political party. It runs the municipalities of major cities, including İstanbul, a city of more than 16 million people that is the country’s economic hub.
Last week an İstanbul civil court annulled the party’s 2023 provincial congress and dismissed the elected provincial leadership over alleged irregularities. The court named a five-person caretaker board to run the branch.
The party expelled veteran politician Gürsel Tekin after he accepted the court’s appointment.
The arrests form part of a wider campaign that escalated after the opposition’s sweeping wins in the March 2024 local elections. Since October 2024 prosecutors and police have pursued corruption and terrorism investigations that have led to hundreds of detentions, including the March arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the opposition’s most prominent elected figure.
At least 15 opposition mayors have been jailed pending trial in the sprawling cases. Markets have swung on each major development, reflecting investor concern about political risk.
The party says it has changed the address of its İstanbul provincial headquarters to the CHP Bahçelievler district office and designated the former headquarters in Sarıyer as Chairman Özgür Özel’s working office in İstanbul.
Police remain inside the Sarıyer site and have limited access for most party members, according to party officials and local media.
A separate civil case in Ankara on September 15 challenges the validity of the CHP’s November 2023 national congress that elected Özel as party leader. If a court annuls that congress, judges could void the 2023 leadership vote. The party has applied to hold an extraordinary congress on September 21 to give delegates a fresh vote regardless of the court’s timing, and a local election board must first approve the application.