Riot police entered the İstanbul provincial headquarters of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Thursday night, Turkish Minute reported.
Police assistance was sought by a court-appointed committee that replaced the elected leadership of the CHP in İstanbul after CHP members loyal to the elected provincial leadership hung a banner of jailed İstanbul mayor and CHP’s presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu on the façade of the provincial headquarters premises.
The committee had previously replaced the banner with an image of former CHP chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, whom a separate court reinstated as national party leader in May after annulling the 2023 congress that elected Özgür Özel.
CHP İstanbul Secretary Soner Özimer said the committee called riot police after party members rehung İmamoğlu’s banner. Officers entered the building and reached the floor housing the provincial chairman’s office, while access was restricted for some CHP members.
Özgür Çelik, the elected provincial chairman, accused authorities of using the courts, police and bureaucracy to reshape politics and choose the government’s preferred opponent. He claimed that some 1,000 officers were deployed and that party officials were forced from the building. Authorities had not released a police count or responded to the allegation as of Friday afternoon.
Court keeps appointed committee in office
Hours after the intervention, the İstanbul 45th Civil Court ruled that Gürsel Tekin and the committee appointed to replace Çelik would remain in office. The court postponed the case until October 16 while it awaits developments in related civil and criminal proceedings.
The lawsuit seeks to annul the CHP’s October 2023 İstanbul congress, citing alleged interference in the vote. The court suspended Çelik and his executive board in September 2025 and appointed Tekin’s committee. Police used pepper spray while escorting Tekin into the same building days later.
Çelik was subsequently re-elected at two provincial congresses, but the court declined to lift the temporary measure.
Part of a wider campaign against the CHP
The dispute in İstanbul mirrors the fight over the CHP’s national leadership. An appeals court on May 21 annulled the party’s 2023 national congress and restored Kılıçdaroğlu, prompting Özel to call the ruling a “judicial coup.” Riot police entered the party’s Ankara headquarters three days later and removed Özel’s team.
The leadership battle comes amid a broader legal campaign against the CHP. İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, has been jailed since March 2025 and is standing trial on 142 corruption-related charges.
