An Ankara civil court on Monday adjourned to Oct. 24 a closely watched case that could annul the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 leadership congress—potentially unseating party chair Özgür Özel and reshaping Turkey’s opposition landscape. The judge postponed proceedings after roughly an hour of arguments, according to multiple outlets, including wire reports from the courtroom.
The lawsuit challenges the Nov. 4–5, 2023 congress where Özel defeated longtime leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Plaintiffs allege delegates were bribed with cash, jobs, or tenders; Özel denies wrongdoing and calls the process a pretext for removing him via courts. Monday’s session again rejected interim steps to immediately suspend Özel, with the court opting to reconvene in October.
Why it matters
The case lands amid a broader legal squeeze on the opposition and follows mass rallies. On Sunday night, tens of thousands packed Tandoğan Square in Ankara, where Özel labeled the campaign a “judicial coup.” The opposition argues the goal is to cripple the party ahead of national politics in the late 2020s; the government says courts act independently.
Markets are watching. After the court opted not to deliver a decisive ruling Monday, Turkish equities rallied—the BIST-100 jumped more than 4.5% and the lira firmed—reversing the panic seen earlier this month when a court removed the CHP’s Istanbul provincial leadership and installed a trustee. That Sept. 2 decision had triggered a 5.5% slide and circuit breakers.
What the case says
The Ankara suit consolidates complaints—including one by former Hatay mayor Lütfü Savaş—and seeks to void the 38th CHP congress on grounds of bribery and “absolute nullity.” It also aims to annul an April 6, 2024 extraordinary convention that reconfirmed Özel shortly after İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was jailed. Earlier hearings denied emergency measures to freeze the current leadership. Separately, prosecutors have filed a vote-buying indictment to a higher criminal court after a lower court said it lacked jurisdiction.
A related indictment—cited in press accounts—names Kılıçdaroğlu as the injured party and seeks up to three years in prison for 11 CHP mayors and officials (in some tellings, including İmamoğlu) on vote-rigging charges, claims the party rejects as fabricated.
The Istanbul “test run”
On Sept. 2, a separate court annulled the CHP’s İstanbul provincial congress and suspended its leadership, later allowing Gürsel Tekin to assume the trustee role amid police clashes. The move sparked protests and the market sell-off noted above—developments many ‘analysts’ viewed as a trial balloon for the national-level leadership case in Ankara.
Özel told supporters Sunday, “This is a coup and we will resist,” as the party framed the showdown as a referendum on whether Turkey’s elections still decide power. Inside Monday’s hearing, CHP lawyers pushed to move to a larger room—“Millions are watching you, Your Honor”—while outside, armored police and riot units ringed the building.
To insulate itself from an adverse ruling, the CHP has called an extraordinary congress for Sept. 21, where delegates are expected to re-elect Özel—a move designed to blunt any attempt to restore the prior leadership or install a trustee. Monday’s adjournment leaves that plan intact for now.
