ANKARA, May 21 (Reuters) – A Turkish court effectively ousted the main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel on Thursday in a ruling that annuls the party’s 2023 congress at which he was elected chairman, marking a big blow to President Tayyip Erdogan’s challengers and hitting financial markets.
Last year, a court of first instance had ruled that the case surrounding the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 congress had no substance. But the appeals court overturned that, ruling that the congress should be annulled because of irregularities and that former CHP chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu should replace Ozel.
The ruling may throw the opposition into further disarray and possible infighting, and boost Erdogan’s chances of extending his more than two-decade rule of the big NATO member country and major emerging market economy.
The CHP, which is running about even with the ruling party in polls, has separately faced an unprecedented judicial crackdown since 2024 in which hundreds of party members, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – who is seen as the main rival of Erdogan – have been detained as part of corruption cases against CHP-run municipalities.
The party denies the legal charges. After the court ruling, Ozel and CHP administration convened to discuss possible next steps.
Turkey’s main Borsa Istanbul dropped 6% after the ruling, triggering a market-wide circuit breaker.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara, additional reporting by Mirac Eren Dereli in Gdansk; Editing by Jonathan Spicer )
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