Turkey: CHP Istanbul head ousted as court escalates pressure on Ozel
The court’s ruling has raised further challenges to the leadership of CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel, who led the party to victory in last year’s local elections.
ANKARA — An Istanbul court dismissed the provincial chair of Turkey’s main opposition party, Ozgur Celik, along with his team and appointed an interim board to run the party’s Istanbul branch on Tuesday, the latest move in an ongoing judicial crackdown on the opposition.
Prosecutors launched an investigation in March into alleged voting irregularities, including accusations of bribery for votes during the October 2023 provincial convention of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) where Celik was elected by delegates. The CHP has slammed the accusations as politically motivated, saying they aim to weaken the party, which won more than 37% of the vote nationwide in last year’s local elections and emerged as the country’s top party.
On Tuesday the court suspended Celik and his team’s leadership, appointing former CHP deputy chair Gursel Tekin, along with four others to run the main opposition’s Istanbul branch.
The court also suspended 196 party convention delegates who elected Celik and his team of more than 40 CHP officials.
