Turkey’s court ousted
Istanbul (dpa) — A court Ankara on Thursday ordered the removal of the leader of the Turkey’s largest opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), state news agency Anadolu reported.
The ruling strips Özgür Özel and the current party leadership of their positions, Anadolu said.
The court also ordered that former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the party’s previous leadership temporarily take over the party’s administration.
The verdict is not yet final.
Turkey’s court ousted
The case, brought by a former party member, has weighed on the party for years. It is centred on allegations that delegates were bribed to vote for Özel during the CHP leadership contest in November 2023.
The CHP leadership has denied the accusations. The case was dismissed in October before later being reopened.
Date 28 February 2024
Turkey’s judiciary has been intensifying pressure on the CHP for more than a year, with hundreds of party members and numerous mayors detained. At the same time, internal power struggles have simmered between supporters of Özel and his predecessor Kılıçdaroğlu.
Kılıçdaroğlu led the CHP for more than a decade before unsuccessfully challenging long-serving President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2023 presidential election.
Özel was chosen to replace Kılıçdaroğlu after the election defeat and sought to reposition the party.
The most prominent CHP figure detained so far is former Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, regarded as one of Erdoğan’s most serious political rivals. İmamoğlu has been held in pre-trial detention since March 2025 and is on trial on corruption charges.
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