ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An appeals court in Ankara on Thursday ruled to suspend the current leadership of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and reinstate the former administration over a case concerning the legality of the party’s 2023 congress, which resulted in a leadership change.
Ozgur Ozel defeated the CHP’s long-standing leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu at a party congress in November 2023. Following the vote, Kilicdaroglu’s allies filed a lawsuit alleging vote-buying, bribery, and procedural violations during the congress — accusations denied by the new administration.
An appeals court in Ankara ruled on Thursday in favor of the former administration, temporarily suspending the current leadership and reinstating Kilicdaroglu, according to Turkish state media.
The CHP had held another congress in an effort to prevent the appointment of a trustee to run the party amid the legal dispute. However, pro-government newspaper Daily Sabah reported that the court also annulled that congress.
TGRT Haber cited Kilicdaroglu as welcoming the ruling.
“May the absolute nullification decision be beneficial,” he said.
Ozel has yet to react to the move, but the party has called on supporters and members to gather outside CHP headquarters in Ankara.
A statement attributed to CHP provincial offices across Turkey reiterated support for Ozel ahead of the ruling.
“As the elected 81 provincial chairs of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), we once again declare that we stand firmly until the end behind our party’s institutional identity, its elected bodies, its legal rights, and the struggle for justice and democracy carried out under the leadership of our Chairman, Mr. Ozgur Ozel,” the statement read.
“Everyone should know that our party’s march toward power cannot be diverted through any political engineering attempt or any outside intervention. No authority that has not been granted by our organization, our delegates, and our people can be obtained or exercised through courts operating under government influence or through the Justice and Development Party (AKP) itself,” it added, referring to Turkey’s ruling party.
The CHP, founded by modern Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is the country’s main opposition force and emerged as the leading party in Turkey’s 2024 local elections, handing a major setback to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP.