Turkish Court Ousts Main Opposition Party Leader
Theo Al Jazeera
An Ankara court has annulled the 2023 leadership election of the main opposition CHP party, appointing former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as interim head. The ruling is seen as a judicial escalation that could deepen political turmoil and boost President Erdogan's grip on power.
A Turkish court has annulled the 2023 leadership election of the Republican People's Party (CHP), the main opposition party, in a sharp escalation targeting the country's struggling opposition.
This is the latest in a series of actions against the CHP, Turkey's oldest political party, which won a major victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK Party in the 2024 local elections and has been gaining in opinion polls.
Thursday's ruling reversed the leadership vote that brought current party chairman Ozgur Ozel to power, with the court appointing Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the former chairman whom Ozel defeated, as interim leader.
The case is seen as a test of the delicate balance between democracy and increasingly concentrated power in Turkey. The verdict could plunge the opposition into turmoil and internal conflict, and potentially bolster Erdogan's chances of extending his more than two-decade grip on power in the major NATO member and leading emerging economy.
The CHP rejected the ruling as a 'judicial coup,' while the government—which denies using courts to target political rivals—said it strengthens public confidence in the rule of law.
The secular, centrist CHP, which is running neck-and-neck with Erdogan's conservative, Islamist-rooted AK Party in polls, is also facing an unprecedented judicial crackdown since 2024. Hundreds of its members and elected officials have been detained on corruption charges that the party rejects.
Among those arrested more than a year ago is Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan’s main rival and the CHP’s presumptive candidate for presidential elections scheduled for 2028 but which could be held next year.
Ozel, the controversial CHP chairman who emerged after Imamoglu's detention, has summoned party leaders to discuss a response to the court ruling, while protests are being planned.
Ali Mahir Basarir, deputy head of the CHP parliamentary group, told Reuters the ruling 'is a coup through the judiciary, a blow to the will of 86 million people.' Those behind it 'will be held accountable in the courts,' he said.
The Istanbul stock exchange (BIST 100) fell 6% after the ruling, triggering a market-wide circuit breaker, while government bonds dropped. The central bank sold billions of dollars in foreign currency to mitigate the impact, four traders said.
In March last year, Imamoglu’s detention triggered a sell-off, driving up inflation expectations and temporarily reversing an interest-rate cutting cycle. Investors said the latest political turmoil would be monitored for similar risks.
The Ankara court ruling reversed a lower court decision last year which had found the lawsuit concerning the 2023 CHP congress to be without merit.
The pro-Kurdish DEM Party (Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party), the third-largest in parliament, called the court decision a 'black stain' on Turkish democracy.
Kilicdaroglu, the reinstated CHP leader who has largely disappeared from public view since his election defeat three years ago, called for calm and business as usual, expressing hope that Turkey would benefit from this.
