ISTANBUL — Riot police in Turkey used water cannons on Tuesday to prevent people from gathering to hear a speech by the deposed leader of the country’s main opposition party.
Ozgur Ozel and the core leadership of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, were removed from their posts on Thursday by a court order that many people consider to be politically motivated.
Ozel had intended to address supporters on Tuesday in the western Turkish city of Izmir, but those heading to the city’s Cumhuriyet Square found their way blocked by steel barriers and riot police.
Pro-opposition broadcaster Halk TV showed many of the largely middle-aged crowd being soaked by water cannon as they tried to reach the square. Local media also reported that police deployed pepper spray.
The political crisis was sparked last week when an appeals court in Ankara overturned a 2023 party congress vote that appointed Ozel as CHP leader. The court decision replaced him with his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, sparking outrage among party supporters.
Ozel, 51, who succeeded the 77-year-old Kilicdaroglu after 13 years of mostly ineffective opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Tuesday called on Kilicdaroglu to hold another party leadership vote. “Don’t divide the party, don’t stop our march to power,” he said. “Let’s ask the 2 million members (and) whoever they choose, let’s hold the congress immediately.”
The court case, which centered on irregularities in the congress vote, is seen by the president’s critics as the latest legal attack on the CHP, during which waves of elected officials and party members have been imprisoned.
Following the court ruling, Ozel and his supporters barricaded themselves inside the CHP headquarters in Ankara. Police stormed the building on Sunday, firing plastic pellets and pepper spray in a violent end to the standoff.
Ozel, who has vowed to take the struggle to the streets, said on arriving in Izmir that he would “go wherever the people are waiting.” He later arrived at Cumhuriyet Square before walking to another nearby square where he delivered a speech to thousands of cheering supporters.
The confrontation in Izmir - Turkey’s third-largest city and traditionally a CHP stronghold - came a day ahead of the official Eid al-Adha holiday, although many people had also taken Monday and Tuesday off work.
In a televised Eid message, Erdogan said he hoped the vacation would be “an occasion for hearts to soften, for those who are estranged to reconcile, for grievances to be resolved.”
The CHP is level with the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in most recent opinion polls and although the next election is not due until 2028, many expect Erdogan to push for early elections.
Ozel delivered a serious blow to the AKP in the 2024 municipal elections, strengthening the opposition’s grip on key cities it had won five years earlier, including Istanbul and Ankara.
The CHP mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, emerged as the likeliest challenger to Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003, in the next presidential poll. But he has been imprisoned since March last year as he faces several criminal cases that could see him sentenced to decades behind bars.
Many observers have said the legal cases against the CHP - mostly centered on corruption allegations - are aimed at neutralizing the party. The government insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.
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