ANKARA, May 24 (Reuters) – Turkish authorities ordered police to evict the leadership of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) from their headquarters on Sunday, enforcing a court ruling that reinstated the former leader and fuelled a political crisis.
Riot police and crowds gathered outside the gates of CHP headquarters in the Turkish capital after the Ankara governor’s office issued the order to remove CHP members aligned with ousted leader Ozgur Ozel.
A Turkish appeals court on Thursday annulled the results of a CHP congress at which Ozel was elected in 2023, citing unspecified irregularities. In Ozel’s place, the court reinstated former CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections earlier that year.
Ozel called on Saturday for a new party congress to be held as soon as possible while Kilicdaroglu has said that a congress would be held at an “appropriate” time.
The ousted CHP leadership under Ozel has condemned the court ruling as a “judicial coup” and Ozel promised to fight it through legal appeals and to remain “day and night” in the party’s Ankara headquarters.
CHP lawmakers on Saturday elected Ozel as leader of the party’s parliamentary group.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Daren ButlerEditing by David Goodman)
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