TÜRKİYE ORTA ASYA HABER KKUORDİNATÖRÜ

GLOBAL VOICES WORLD TURKISH NEWS: WORLDPRESS Statement: Türkiye’s main opposition party faces a state-appointed trustee Türkiye’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), is facing a growing political crisis. On September 2nd, the 45th Criminal Court of First Instance issued a ruling that annulled the CHP Istanbul Provincial Congress held in October 2023. As a result, the party’s current provincial chairman, Özgür Çelik, was removed from office along with 196 delegates. A trustee committee, reportedly aligned with the former party leadership, was appointed in their place. The CHP leadership has deemed the ruling null and void, despite facing another court hearing on September 15th concerning the “absolute nullity” of the party’s 38th Ordinary Congress held in November 2023. This congress resulted in Özgür Özel being elected as the new party leader and Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who had long served as chairman, being removed from office. A court ruling dated September 2nd stated that irregularities occurred during the voting process. A similar argument was made in a lawsuit filed by a party member reportedly close to Kılıçdaroğlu; this lawsuit alleged irregularities and possible "vote buying" during the party congress. Although Özel's legal team argued that the case should be dismissed because the filing period had expired and political party congresses fall under the jurisdiction of election boards rather than civil courts, the hearing will proceed as planned. If the court concludes that violations did indeed occur, this decision will invalidate all decisions made by the party's current leadership since the congress. Following this, approximately 900 party delegates called for an extraordinary congress in anticipation of a similar court ruling. Özel stated that if the court issues a ruling affecting the party's leadership and appoints a trustee in its place, "this trustee cannot remain in office for more than six days." The party's extraordinary congress is scheduled for September 24th. Some question whether such an outcome is possible. According to journalist Barış Terkoğlu, if Kılıçdaroğlu retains his position as party leader following the court ruling on September 15th, his first move will be to cancel the upcoming congress. Academic Berk Esen, however, disagreed with this view. In an article he wrote for X, Essen stated that he did not think Kılıçdaroğlu would "act so harshly," given that he is a "passive politician" and would try to prolong the process by delaying the congress. Esen explained, "He will try to weaken the Özel-İmamoğlu team in this way. He will prefer the path of resignation and the attempt to form a separate party instead of expulsion." Immediately following the court ruling on September 2nd, the crisis reached a new peak; On September 8th, amid widespread protests and internet restrictions on YouTube, X, Instagram, and WhatsApp, police escorted court-appointed trustee Gürsel Tekin to the CHP's Istanbul provincial headquarters. The night before, police had surrounded and barricaded the party headquarters to prevent any demonstrations by supporters. Meanwhile, the Istanbul Governorate announced that rallies, press conferences, marches, setting up tents, opening stands, sit-ins, signature campaigns, and commemorative events were banned in the Beşiktaş, Beyoğlu, Eyüpsultan, Kağıthane, Sarıyer, and Şişli districts between September 7th and 10th. Journalist Gonca Tokyol summarized the situation on the X channel: "The bans and barricades couldn't stop people from coming, but those who did were violently dispersed by riot police on September 8th." On September 9th, the party's 102nd anniversary, the ousted provincial leader, Çelik X, posted: "Good morning Istanbul. No blockade or attack can stop the Republican People's Party's march to power." Özel, in an interview with the Financial Times, stated that the ruling government was "attempting a coup against the future ruling party." For nearly a year, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has adopted an aggressive stance against the main opposition party, culminating in the arrest of popular Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, 2025, on various charges, including corruption. Before and after the mayor's arrest, numerous CHP members were also detained on similar grounds. Professor Şule Özsoy Boyunsuz, a constitutional law expert at Galatasaray University Faculty of Law, stated to the digital news site Fayn regarding the recent court decision: "Democratic political life as we know it has ended in Türkiye." He continued his remarks as follows: "National will is expressed from the bottom up through political parties. Therefore,..."