https://arab.news/wt9vh
- The ruling follows clashes on Monday at the Istanbul headquarters of the opposition Republican People’s Party
- Protesters tried to stop a court-ordered administrator from entering the building
ANKARA: A Turkish court on Thursday rejected the ouster of the Istanbul branch leaders of the country’s main opposition party over alleged irregularities in its leadership congress.
The ruling follows clashes on Monday at the Istanbul headquarters of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), as protesters tried to stop a court-ordered administrator from entering the building.
The CHP, which won a huge victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party in 2024 local elections, had vowed to fight the dismissal of its Istanbul branch leadership.
But the party has been facing a growing number of graft investigations since the jailing of Istanbul’s popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, seen as the sole candidate with a realistic chance at beating Erdogan at the ballot box.
“The annulation of the Istanbul regional congress has been definitely overturned today,” CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said, ahead of an extraordinary congress set for September 21.
But a lawyer for Gursel Tekin, a former senior CHP member who was named a state-appointed trustee to take control of the party’s Istanbul branch, rejected the ruling, saying on X that “the temporary injunction... remains valid.”
The latest ruling could have an impact on the court ruling expected Monday in Ankara in a separate case aiming to oust the CHP’s national leadership.
If successful, the case alleging vote rigging at the CHP’s November 2023 congress could unseat party leader Ozel and several other senior party figures.
The CHP denies the allegations, which critics see as a politically motivated bid to undermine the party as its popularity has grown.