A Turkish appeals court’s ouster of the elected leadership of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) sparked condemnation from opposition parties, bar associations, labor unions, rights groups and professional organizations, Turkish Minute reported.
The Ankara Regional Court of Justice’s 36th Civil Chamber annulled the CHP’s 38th ordinary congress, the November 2023 vote that brought Özgür Özel to the party leadership, and ordered former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the previous party administration to take over on an interim basis.
The same court later rejected the CHP’s objection to the interim measure, while the Supreme Election Board (YSK), Turkey’s top election authority, also rejected a CHP application against the ruling.
The ruling added a new legal front to pressure on the CHP, Turkey’s oldest political party and the main opposition force against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
It came as the CHP was already facing investigations and a crackdown on municipal administrations that resulted in the jailing of 20 mayors including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the CHP’s presidential candidate, who was detained and subsequently arrested in March.
Özel rejected the ruling and remained at CHP headquarters in Ankara, where party officials held an emergency meeting. He told supporters the party would not surrender the headquarters or accept what he called “the palace’s opposition,” using a term the opposition often uses for Erdoğan’s presidential office.
He said the CHP would resist through democratic means and, if needed, mobilize its base to use their power as consumers and bring public life to a halt.
Kılıçdaroğlu, who had led the party from 2010 until Özel defeated him at the 2023 congress, then moved to dismiss three CHP lawyers who had prepared legal challenges to the ruling.
His press adviser denied reports that Kılıçdaroğlu had appointed a new Central Executive Board, saying no such appointments had been made.
Kılıçdaroğlu called for unity and said the CHP should continue its “march to power.” He framed the ruling as a chance for the party to renew itself and avoid a split.
Özel’s camp rejected that position, saying the ruling had no political legitimacy and that Özel remained the party’s elected chairman.
İmamoğlu’s presidential campaign office said the ruling targeted not only the CHP but also democracy and the republic. İmamoğlu is widely seen as Erdoğan’s strongest rival in a future presidential race.
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, another CHP figure, said courts could not replace party congresses but urged the CHP to announce a congress within one or two months to resolve the matter through party delegates.
Former CHP presidential candidate Muharrem İnce visited party headquarters and called for calm, saying internal conflict inside the CHP would serve Erdoğan’s one-man rule.
Other CHP officials also rejected the court action. CHP İstanbul provincial chair Özgür Çelik said the decision marked a new phase in what he called the “coup mechanism” that began with İmamoğlu’s detention.
CHP youth branches called young people to party headquarters, while the CHP women’s branch said Özel remained the party’s chairman.
Opposition parties across ideological lines condemned the decision.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) said the ruling sought to redesign politics through the judiciary and harmed the political climate at a time when talks around what Kurdish politicians call the Peace and Democratic Society Process were underway.
DEM Party Co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan called Özel to express support.
Nationalist opposition İYİ (Good) Party leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu called the ruling itself “absolute nullity” and said his party opposed interventions against the national will.
Victory Party (ZP) leader Ümit Özdağ canceled a program in Antalya, returned to Ankara and visited CHP headquarters, saying the government was using the law to liquidate the opposition.
Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party leader Ali Babacan said party leadership must be decided by members, delegates and voters, not by the courts.
Future Party leader Ahmet Davutoğlu said the ruling looked like an attempt to design politics rather than a legal result and warned that election and congress security would become open to dispute if courts could later overturn procedures approved by election boards.
Islamist opposition Felicity Party leader Mahmut Arıkan said political parties’ futures should be determined at the ballot box, not in courtrooms.
New Welfare Party leader Fatih Erbakan said politics should not be designed by court decisions and called for elections.
Left-wing parties also rejected the ruling. The Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) said it did not recognize the decision.
The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) said the government had changed the CHP leadership through the judiciary, while the Left Party said a “palace trustee” had been appointed to the main opposition.
The Labor Party (EMEP) called for a joint campaign to defend democracy, freedoms and the right to elect and be elected.
The government defended the legal process and urged restraint. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said the ruling should be respected and that legal avenues remained open.
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, Erdoğan’s main ally in parliament, urged Kılıçdaroğlu to take responsibility and waive his claim in favor of a formula that would allow the CHP to move forward.
Bar associations issued some of the strongest legal objections.
The Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) said the ruling created the appearance of direct judicial intervention in politics and affected pluralist democracy, political competition, CHP delegates and voters.
The İstanbul Bar Association said court intervention in a party congress could not be treated as a narrow internal party matter and warned that the decision threatened democratic political life.
The Ankara Bar Association said civil courts and regional appeals courts lacked authority to decide whether a political party congress was lawful, arguing that election boards and the YSK hold that power.
The İzmir Bar Association also condemned the ruling.
A group of 15 bar associations from pre-dominantly Kurdish eastern and southeastern provinces issued a joint statement saying authority over party congresses rests with election boards and the YSK.
Later, 69 bar associations issued a joint statement saying the constitutional order and public will could not be subjected to judicial intervention.
Labor unions and professional chambers also condemned the ruling.
The Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), the Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions (KESK), the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), the İstanbul Medical Chamber and other unions and chambers said the ruling could not be accepted.
The Human Rights Association (İHD) said the decision violated human rights, democracy and legal security and called on the judiciary to reverse the error.
Public reaction spread beyond party headquarters.
CHP members gathered outside party buildings in Ankara and İstanbul, including the CHP İstanbul provincial headquarters in Sarıyer.
Protests took place in several provinces after the ruling.
Some CHP supporters removed or covered photographs of Kılıçdaroğlu at party offices, reflecting anger among the constituents over his court-backed return.
