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Turkish opposition calls extraordinary congress amid judicial turmoil
Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), announced plans to hold an extraordinary congress on 21 September after a court removed its Istanbul leadership over alleged corruption, a party source told AFP on Saturday.
The decision follows a legal challenge that annulled the results of the CHP’s Istanbul provincial congress held in October 2023, removing leader Ozgur Celik and 195 other officials. Over 900 CHP delegates submitted a petition on Friday to the local electoral commission in Ankara to authorize the extraordinary congress, which is expected to shape the party’s strategy amid legal uncertainty.
The CHP, the primary opposition force in Turkey’s parliament, won a major victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP in the 2024 local elections. Since then, the party has faced a wave of arrests and legal proceedings, including the imprisonment of Istanbul’s popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, over corruption charges he denies.
Imamoglu’s arrest sparked street protests not seen in Turkey for a decade, with authorities detaining nearly 2,000 people, most of whom were later released. Earlier this week, a court removed Istanbul CHP leaders and appointed a five-member team to replace them, causing a 5.5% drop in the Turkish stock market. The party has appealed the ruling.
Political analyst Berk Esen described the move as a “rehearsal” for a broader case targeting the party’s national leadership. CHP Vice President Gul Ciftci said the extraordinary congress “will not only determine the future of our party but also reaffirm faith in pluralism, diversity, and democratic politics in Turkey.”