Tens of thousands follow Özel's protest against Erdoğan's judiciary in Ankara

Tens of thousands of supporters of the Turkish opposition party CHP took to the streets in Ankara on Saturday to support their ousted chairman Özgür Özel. Reuters reports that after his speech before the demonstrators, Özel led a march through the capital. The rally is directed against a court ruling from the previous week that removed Özel as party leader and installed a court-appointed successor.

The protests shed light on the political crisis within the CHP, which has been shaken by internal power struggles for months. Straitstimes reports that Özel visited the party office on Saturday for the first time since the controversial court decision – a symbolic step that heightened tensions. The demonstration developed into open criticism of the judiciary under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose government has repeatedly been accused of instrumentalizing courts.

Massive support for Özel

Aawsat reports that the tens of thousands of demonstrators carried banners with anti-Erdoğan slogans and loudly expressed their support for Özel. The rally underscores the deep polarization in Turkish society and the question of whether the judiciary acts independently or under political pressure.

The CHP has been in turmoil since the 2023 presidential election. Özel had run as a candidate against Erdoğan at that time and lost. The now annulled 2023 party primary and the subsequent court decision have split the party into two camps – a situation that Erdoğan's government could exploit to consolidate its political dominance.