TÜRKİYE ORTA ASYA HABER KKUORDİNATÖRÜ

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING COMMITTEE Turkey: Court Removes Leader of Main Opposition Party This decision deepens the Erdoğan government’s assault on civil and political rights. Istanbul) – Human Rights Watch said today that a court ordering the removal of the leader of Türkiye’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), is a devastating blow to the rule of law, democracy and human rights in Türkiye. On May 21, 2026, the Ankara 36th District Court of Appeals issued a provisional injunction removing CHP leader Özgür Özel and the entire party leadership and canceling the party congress held on November 4-5, 2023, in which party delegates elected them. The court reinstated the previous party leadership of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost the May 2023 presidential election to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and was succeeded by Özel at the party congress. "The court's decision to remove Özgür Özel and the entire CHP leadership is part of a broader political effort by the Erdoğan government to sideline the main political opposition, and this deeply undermines civil and political rights and Türkiye's democratic process," said Benjamin Ward, Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch. "Following the government's imprisonment of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and other CHP mayors and officials on baseless charges, it is clear that Turkish authorities want to remove the current CHP leadership from being an effective force in politics." The court's decision to annul the party congress is an extremely unusual interference in the internal elections and elected leadership of a political party. Interfering with the functioning of a political party, or illegitimate attempts to dissolve the party or to prevent elected leaders from operating as political candidates, constitutes a violation of freedom of association under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and of the right to free and fair elections under Article 3, Protocol 1. Türkiye has a poor track record of illegal dissolution and interference with political parties, and the Erdoğan government’s ongoing abusive tactics to eliminate the CHP as a political force constitute violations that undermine the very essence of a democratic society based on human rights and the rule of law. Human Rights Watch stated that an examination of the timeline of the leadership case shows that the Turkish President had a clear political motivation in securing Özel’s removal from office. In the March 2024 local elections, under Özel's leadership, the CHP won 37.8% of the national vote, surpassing President Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) of 35.5%, and the AKP lost its leadership for the first time in 22 years. In October 2024, President Erdoğan made the first of several speeches implying that Özel was suspiciously elected as party leader at the 2023 CHP congress. In February 2025, the Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office announced it had launched an investigation into complaints regarding the 2023 congress. The complaints came from several former and current CHP members opposed to Özel's leadership, alleging that Özel and others were elected through a fraudulent process involving vote buying, but offering no concrete evidence. The CHP leadership denies these allegations. In October 2025, after several hearings, the Ankara Administrative Court, which was handling the case, dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that Özel had already been elected leader in two more congresses held in 2025. This decision prompted the plaintiffs to appeal to the Ankara Regional Court, which on May 21st upheld the complaint, invalidating the 2023 congress and subsequent congresses where Özel's leadership was re-elected, without presenting any evidence to justify its decision. In a separate criminal case ongoing at the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance, allegations that İmamoğlu and 11 others paid delegates to vote for Özel at the congress are being investigated. The indictment is based on vague allegations lacking proof of a criminal act. Following the court's decision, Özel and the party leadership met at the party headquarters in Ankara. In a press conference and a speech to supporters gathered in front of the party building, Özel stated that he would not leave the building and accused the courts of attempting a coup against the opposition. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek described the court's decision as "a step that strengthens our citizens' trust in democracy." Gürlek was the Chief Prosecutor of Istanbul when investigations against the CHP began in October 2024. On February 10, 2026, following the completion of the investigations against İmamoğlu, Gürlek was appointed to the Istanbul Courthouse.