Thousands march in Ankara after court ousts CHP leader

Tens of thousands of supporters of Turkey's ousted opposition leader, Özgür Özel, marched through the capital Ankara on Saturday in a major show of defiance following a controversial court ruling that removed him from office. The demonstration highlighted the deepening political crisis within the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the country’s main opposition force, and raised fresh concerns about the state of Turkish democracy.

The Ankara appeals court annulled the CHP’s 2023 party congress on May 21, a decision that effectively removed Özel as chairman and reinstated his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The court cited alleged irregularities in the delegate voting process. The ruling has been widely condemned by the opposition as a politically motivated move to weaken President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s rivals ahead of the next national elections, which are due by 2028. The government insists Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently.

On Saturday, the political divide within the CHP was on public display. While Kılıçdaroğlu addressed a smaller gathering at the party’s Ankara headquarters, pledging to purge the party of corruption in CHP-run municipalities, Özel spoke to...