A Turkish court has issued a ruling that removes the head of the main opposition party, in the latest blow to challengers of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The ruling, delivered by an appeals court in Ankara on Thursday, annulled a 2023 leadership contest within the Republican People's Party (CHP), deposing its leader, Özgür Özel.
Background of the Ruling
Özel, 51, has become the face of Turkey's opposition, credited with rejuvenating the CHP and remaining one of the few party figures who has avoided charges that could lead to detention. The court ordered that Özel be replaced by his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost a pivotal general election to Erdoğan in 2023 despite widespread opposition to the president's two decades in power.
Impact on Turkish Politics
Özel's election as party leader preceded the 2024 local elections, where the CHP swept Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) from power in municipalities and mayoralties across the country. Earlier this week, another Ankara court ordered Özel to pay the president 300,000 lira (approximately £4,900) in damages for remarks about Erdoğan, including calling him an “oppressor” and urging him to “leash your dogs” in criticism of a crackdown on the opposition.
In response, Erdoğan called Özel “delusional,” stating, “We have to protect the reputation of politics in the face of attacks.” Erdoğan has frequently accused the CHP of acting as a “puppet of terrorists seeking to undermine this state.” The court case that unseated Özel was widely criticized as an effort to subdue the CHP and install a leader more amenable to Erdoğan's rule.
Reactions and Consequences
Kılıçdaroğlu, who has called for the “purification” of his own party, responded sanguinely to the ruling in an interview with pro-government channel TGRT Haber, expressing hope that it would prove “beneficial to Turkey and the CHP.” The ruling jolted Turkey's struggling economy amid fears of further instability, leading to a temporary suspension of trading on the Istanbul stock market after a 6% drop in share prices.
Broader Crackdown on Opposition
Since the 2024 elections, observers have denounced a fresh crackdown targeting opponents of Erdoğan's rule, primarily opposition mayors and local officials from the CHP. More than 20 CHP mayors have been detained on charges related to corruption, bribery, and terrorism. The arrest last year of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, seen as a probable CHP presidential candidate, marked a watershed for the party and Turkey's beleaguered opposition, sparking mass protests.
İmamoğlu has spent the intervening year in a maximum-security facility near Istanbul. Earlier this year, he was among 400 defendants in a mass trial accused of participating in a corruption scheme allegedly tied to his tenure as mayor. Human Rights Watch called the trial part of a broad effort to weaponize the criminal justice system against the CHP. Many other CHP municipal officials have faced similar graft charges, including five officials from the Beşiktaş municipality taken into custody this week in a bribery investigation.
Future Prospects
CHP officials have indicated they are eager to contest a presidential election expected next year, with speculation that they might run the jailed former mayor İmamoğlu as a candidate. In an interview with the Guardian last year, Özel stated that the party had prepared plans for İmamoğlu to be the candidate even if he remained in detention, and that he himself was prepared for arrest if Erdoğan “can't cope politically like what happened with İmamoğlu.” He described the upcoming election as a referendum on whether Turkey would have “autocracy or democracy.”
