A Turkish court has annulled the 2023 leadership election of the country's main political opposition, dealing a blow to opponents of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The ruling on Thursday overturned the party congress that elected Ozgur Ozel as chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and replaced him on an interim basis with former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost in a presidential election to Mr Erdogan in 2023 and is widely viewed as posing little threat to Turkey's longtime leader.
CHP supporters began to rally in Turkish cities including capital Ankara and Istanbul on Friday evening to protest the decision, which also ordered the suspension of Mr Ozel and members of the party’s executive board. The country's Supreme Election Board on Friday rejected an appeal for it to be overturned, the opposition-linked Halk TV reported.
The CHP earlier convened an emergency meeting at its headquarters in Ankara, where hundreds of supporters gathered, waving flags and chanting slogans for several hours.
"I will stay in this building until the members of the Republican People's Party decide who will lead the Republican People's Party, not the AKP's judicial branches; I'm not going anywhere," Mr Ozel later posted on X.
Observers said that the court decision runs against Turkey's democratic principles and continues a trend of increasing authoritarianism in the Nato member and middle power country.
It was a "dark day" in Turkey's history, academic Berk Esen wrote on X. "Through the courts, an attempt is being made to change the leadership of the main opposition party in a manner unprecedented in our legal tradition."
Turkey is at a threshold that is "destructive for the country’s present and future," political analyst Seren Selvin Korkmaz wrote on X.
The decision also drew condemnation from some in Europe.
European Parliament member and rapporteur for relations with Turkey Nacho Sanchez Amore said it was a "well-prepared plan" to eliminate Turkey's main opposition party.
A lower court had previously dismissed the same case against the 2023 CHP congress, ruling last year that there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
However, an appeals court on Thursday declared the vote null and void over alleged irregularities, including claims that Mr Ozel secured support through promises of jobs and other benefits.
Mr Kilicdaroglu urged CHP members to remain calm and said the party would "solve its own problems internally."
Many CHP voters do not back Mr Kilidaroglu, and in Duzce on Turkey's Black Sea, party officials removed his photos from their offices.
The secular, centre-left CHP has faced mounting judicial pressure since 2024, with hundreds of party members and elected officials detained in corruption investigations that the opposition says are politically motivated. The Turkish government denies those allegations and says the judiciary is independent.
The most prominent case is that of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested in March last year on corruption charges and remains in prison. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of more than 2,000 years in prison for the charges against him, which he denies.
The legal action against Mr Imamoglu was spearheaded by former Istanbul prosecutor Akin Gurlek, who Mr Erdogan promoted to the position of Justice Minister in February.
Mr Imamoglu was widely seen as Mr Erdogan's biggest rival for the Turkish presidency before his arrest, which prompted the country's largest protest movement in a decade. Mr Imamoglu was also stripped of his university degree, a qualification required for presidential candidates in Turkey.
In response to the court ruling annulling the CHP leadership election, an X account posting for Mr Imamoglu described the move as an "attack on the will of the people".
Turkey’s next presidential election is scheduled for 2028. Mr Erdogan can only run for president again if he calls early elections or changes the constitution, something he does not have a parliamentary majority to secure.
Separately, Mr Erdogan ordered the closure of Istanbul's independent Bilgi University, which has more than 20,000 students, by presidential decree.
The order, published in Turkey's official gazette, cited a law for the closure of a private institution if "the expected level of education and training ... is insufficient".
Turkey's Higher Education Council said in a statement that it was taking measures to ensure that students at the university "do not suffer any hardship" and their education could continue "without interruption".
