A Turkish appeals court has annulled the 2023 congress of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), removing party leader Özgür Özel and the current administration from office as an interim measure and reinstating former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his team, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. The ruling by the 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice concerns the party’s November 2023 congress—where Özel defeated Kılıçdaroğlu to become chairman—which the court found legally invalid amid allegations of irregularities such as vote buying and manipulation; an Ankara court had dismissed the same lawsuit in October 2025 as moot after the CHP re-elected Özel at an extraordinary congress, and the decision can still be challenged before higher courts. The intervention, one of the most dramatic against Turkey’s main opposition in recent years, comes as the CHP has faced mounting legal pressure since its strong showing in the March 2024 local elections, with more than 20 mayors and hundreds of municipal officials detained in investigations the party calls politically motivated; news of the ruling triggered a sharp selloff on Borsa İstanbul, with the main index falling more than 6 percent and trading briefly halted. The CHP rejected the decision and called supporters to defend its headquarters, while Kılıçdaroğlu—who led the party for 13 years and was the opposition’s 2023 presidential candidate—welcomed the ruling; the party leadership has repeatedly accused President Erdoğan’s government of weaponizing the courts to weaken the opposition ahead of the 2028 presidential election, a charge the government denies, insisting the judiciary acts independently.

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