A massive rally was held in Turkey’s capital of Ankara on Sunday to protest an upcoming court hearing that could strip opposition leader Ozgur Ozel of his post.
The demonstrators demanded the resignation of authoritarian Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in power for two decades.
Ozel is the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s largest opposition party. CHP is actually the oldest party in modern Turkey, having been founded in 1923 by the first leader of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. CHP describes its governing philosophy as “Kemalist,” a term that has been frequently redefined over the decades, but presently refers to a fusion of Western-style secularism and Turkish nationalism.
CHP was in the midst of some lively internal debates about the nature of Kemalism when the party was hit by allegations of rigging its leadership votes in 2023. The Erdogan government launched intensive investigations of CHP, whose leaders denounced the crackdown as a transparent attempt by the incumbent president to neutralize a challenge to his power.
In early September, a lower Turkish court ruled the 2023 CHP leadership election was invalid. CHP chairman Ozel denounced the ruling as a “coup against the future ruling party.”
“They are trying to take over the party that won the last election, was the founding party of the Turkish republic, is the party leading every poll,” Ozel said.
“We’re facing an authoritarian government,” he said. “The only option is to resist. If the CHP goes, Turkey will go too.”
In March, Istanbul mayor Ekram Imamoglu – the most popular politician in the CHP, and the leading rival to Erdogan in the next election – was arrested on corruption and terrorism charges. The terrorism allegations concerned Imamloglu’s alleged support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a banned separatist organization.
Ozel was among the first and strongest voices in the CHP hierarchy to denounce Imamoglu’s arrest, and his own prominence increased greatly over the past six months as a result.
More top CHP members were arrested on Saturday on corruption charges, including Hasan Mutlu, mayor of the Bayrampasa district of Istanbul. Mutlu denounced the arrests as “a political operation based on unfounded slander.”
According to CHP leaders, over 50,000 people massed in Ankara on Sunday to protest a court ruling that could strip Ozel of his leadership position, replacing him with a court-appointed trustee – or possibly returning control of the party to Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Ozel’s predecessor, whom he narrowly defeated in the 2023 leadership election.
Kilicdaroglu has been urging Ozel to face the court and abide by its decisions. His critics within the party say the two-year court battle was Kilicdaroglu’s attempt to claw back the leadership post after he lost to Ozel.
CHP’s lawyers argue that the court does not have the authority to make such a decision, especially since the Supreme Election Board of Turkey endorsed Ozel’s election.
Ozel spoke at the rally on Sunday, taunting Erdogan with the enormous size and passion of the crowd that assembled to “stand against the coup.” Erdogan was himself the target of a failed coup in 2016, so accusing him of staging one against his opponents is a carefully-targeted insult.
“This government does not want democracy. They know they cannot win the elections if there is democracy. They don’t want justice: they know if there’s justice they won’t be able to cover up their crimes,” Ozel said.
The CHP chairman accused Erdogan of “choosing to govern through oppression rather than the ballot box.”
“This is a coup,” he repeated. “We will resist.”
Ozel has said he would refuse to surrender his seat if the court tries to take it away from him, and was prepared to barricade himself inside CHP headquarters in Ankara if necessary.
Some CHP members are pushing for the party to hold an emergency congress next week to officially reelect Ozel as chair, presumably muting the impact of a court invalidating the 2023 election.
Another tactic under discussion is for CHP to file suits against the validity of numerous past elections, including those won by Erdogan, and especially the dodgy 2017 referendum that gave Erdogan increased powers – a vote that has long been criticized by outside observers for irregularities.
As it turned out, the court in Ankara adjourned the case on Monday without rendering a decision, following what the Daily Sabah described as a “brief scuffle between lawyers for the plaintiffs and the CHP administration.” The next hearing is scheduled for October 24.
“It may prove to be temporary, but at least it will likely offer a few weeks of comfort,” treasury chief Onur Ilgen of MUFG Bank in Istanbul predicted, as Turkish markets soared on the news of an adjournment.
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