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Ankara. After the court order, a situation of conflict has arisen in Turkey’s main opposition party over leadership. On Sunday, party members stood face to face outside the party headquarters. Most of the members stopped the new leadership brought in by court order from entering.

This dispute in the Republican People’s Party i.e. CHP has increased since Thursday. The appeals court annulled the party conference held in November 2023, at which Ozgur Özel was elected party chairman, replacing Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Following the court decision, Özel and members of the party’s executive committee were suspended. It was also ordered that Kemal Kilicdaroglu and other leaders holding the post before November 2023 should be brought back in their place. The opposition says that this decision has been taken for political reasons, so that the party can be weakened.

Kilichdaroglu (77 years old) stepped down after leading the party for 13 years. CHP could not win any national election under his leadership. At the same time, after becoming the party president, Özel gave a big blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling party in the 2024 municipal elections.

The next presidential election in Turkey is to be held in 2028. But President Erdoğan may hold early elections. His main rival and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu (who is a member of the CHP) has been in jail since March last year facing corruption charges.

Many political experts say that the ongoing legal cases against the CHP are an attempt to weaken the party before the next elections. However, the government maintains that Turkish courts are impartial and independent of political pressure.

Most of the party members are standing in support of Özel. Ozel and his supporters have been inside the party headquarters in Ankara since Thursday’s decision and the new leadership is not being allowed inside. Both sides were scheduled to meet on Sunday afternoon to resolve the dispute.

According to local media, a large number of people gathered outside the party office. Özel claimed that these people are not members of the CHP and were sent to intimidate. Police presence was continuously increasing since morning. Meanwhile, Kilicdaroglu’s lawyer Celal Celik asked Ankara Police for help in evacuating the building. The Ankara Governor’s Office has approved this request.

Erdoğan has been ruling Turkey as Prime Minister and then President since 2003. In the 2019 local elections, the CHP captured several big cities, dealing a major blow to Erdoğan. Ekrem Imamoglu emerged as a popular and influential leader in Istanbul, whom many considered a strong challenger to Erdoğan.