Turkish police fire teargas to break up protest after opposition leader ousted

Thursday’s shock court ruling overturned the 2023 party primary that elected Özel, ordering his defeated rival Kemal Kıliçdaroğlu, a lacklustre ineffective politician, to resume his position as CHP leader.

In Izmir, thousands of chanting demonstrators waved flags as Özel addressed the crowd from the top of a bus, urging Kıliçdaroğlu to agree to a party congress “immediately” so members could choose their leader.

Özgür Özel addresses his supporters from a bus. Photograph: Berkcan Zengin/Reuters

“Bring whoever you want as a delegate and let’s compete,” he said, directly challenging Kıliçdaroğlu to hold a party primary “within a week or two” of Eid al-Fitr, which ends on Saturday.

The ousting of CHP’s elected leadership was “not an internal matter for the party”, he said.

“Anyone who sees it that way is deceiving the people … this is between the people and Erdogan,” Özel said.

“The issue is about stopping a party that is on the march toward ultimate power.”

The court case concerned allegations of vote-buying at the 2023 primary, but was thrown out by an Ankara court in October for lack of substance only to be overturned on appeal.

Turkish riot police stand guard as protesters gather for the rally led by Özgür Özel. Photograph: EPA

The assault on the CHP began in earnest with the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdogan’s main political rival and the party’s presidential candidate, on charges widely seen as political.

“Erdogan has lost all restraint,” Özel told AFP late on Sunday.

“Just as he imprisoned the presidential candidate who could defeat him, he is now effectively shutting down the political party that could defeat him,” he said.

“Turkey has ceased to be a modern democratic republic and has turned into a one-man regime.”