Ankara Court Voids CHP's 2023 Congress, Restores Kılıçdaroğlu and Ousts Özel
Updated
Updated · Jacobin magazine · May 29
Ankara Court Voids CHP's 2023 Congress, Restores Kılıçdaroğlu and Ousts Özel
10 articles · Updated · Jacobin magazine · May 29
A May 21 Ankara ruling annulled the CHP congress that elevated Özgür Özel in 2023, removed Özel and his team as an interim measure, and reinstated Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
The case turned on alleged irregularities in the 2023 party congress, while the CHP said the decision was part of a wider campaign to undermine its elected leadership.
The intervention lands after more than a year of legal pressure on opposition figures, including the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's strongest potential challenger.
Beyond the leadership switch, the crisis highlights the CHP's longer-running struggle to define its social base, political program and how to turn opposition to Erdoğan into durable electoral power.
Is Turkey's opposition collapsing from within or being systematically dismantled by the state?
Can a new strategy focused on the economy save Turkey's opposition from its fatal identity crisis?
Judicial Overturn of CHP’s 2023 Congress: How Turkey’s Main Opposition Faces Fragmentation and Democratic Backsliding
Overview
In May 2026, Turkey’s main opposition party, the CHP, was thrown into crisis after a regional court ruled that its 2023 leadership congress was invalid due to irregularities, including allegations of bribery and undue incentives for delegates. This decision, which reversed the ousting of long-time leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, sparked immediate political turmoil, mass protests, and a sharp drop in financial markets. The court’s intervention, publicly supported by the justice minister, deepened internal party divisions and raised widespread concerns about judicial independence, political repression, and the future of democracy in Turkey.