JAKARTA - A Turkish court has annulled the results of the 2023 Republican People's Party (CHP) congress which elected the main opposition leader Ozgur Ozel as the General Secretary of the CHP Party.
The ruling on Thursday, May 21 local time, was a crushing blow to President Tayyip Erdogan's opposition.
The appeals court reasoned that the congress was canceled due to irregularities and decided that the former CHP Party Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu should replace Ozel. Kilicdaroglu is a controversial figure in the CHP Party who lost to Erdogan in the 2023 Turkish Presidential Election.
Citing Reuters, this incident is seen as a test that can shake the order of democracy and autocracy in Turkey.
The ruling also has the potential to create internal strife among the opposition. If that happens, it could increase Erdogan's chances of extending his rule for more than two decades in the large NATO member and major emerging market economy.
Erdogan's Opposition Entangled in Law
The CHP, which has almost the same electability as Erdogan's AK Party in polls, is separately facing unprecedented legal action since 2024, with hundreds of members and elected officials of the CHP's cadre detained on corruption charges that the opposition party has denied.
Among those sentenced to more than a year in prison is Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, considered Erdogan's main rival and remains the official CHP candidate for Turkey's presidential election in 2028, but could be held next year.
After the court ruling, Ozel gathered CHP party leaders at the CHP headquarters in Ankara to discuss possible measures against cadres who protested the court ruling.
Ali Mahir Basarir, deputy chairman of the CHP parliamentary group, said the ruling "is a coup attempt carried out through the courts (and) a blow to the will of 86 million people."
He said the CHP party rejected the ruling. Basarir added that those who signed it "were involved in this coup attempt and will be held accountable before the court."
Turkey's main stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul .XU100, fell 6 percent in response to the ruling. It triggered a temporary trading halt across markets, while Turkish government bonds also slumped. Government bonds fell as low as 1.2 cents US900123BG46=TE, US900123CB40=TE, which for many was the biggest drop since the end of March 2026.
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