Thousands of people marched through the center of the Turkish capital Ankara on Saturday in support of Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel.
The demonstration was organized to protest the removal of Özel from his post as head of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, after an Ankara court ruled on May 21 that the 2023 CHP congress in which Özel was elected as chair was invalid due to alleged irregularities.
The court temporarily reinstated Özel’s controversial predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
After this, CHP took to the streets and protested against this decision. The party and its supporters argue that the decision is politically motivated, aimed at weakening the opposition by removing Özel from contention for the 2028 presidential election.
Former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, the man seen as the most likely challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was jailed last year amid widespread pressure on the CHP.
Ozel’s supporters branded Kilicdaroglu a ‘traitor’
Özel led a march to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Türkiye and the CHP, in Ankara.
At the rally, Özel rejected the notion that the situation was an internal CHP dispute.
He said that despite the court’s decision, Kilicdaroglu’s leadership was not legitimate, and called for an immediate party congress.
“This matter concerns Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the people,” he said.
Özel’s supporters chanted “Leader Ozgur!” and called Kilicdaroglu a “traitor”.
Kilicdaroglu rallies supporters
While Özel addressed the crowd at his rally, Kilicdaroglu gave a speech in front of the CHP party headquarters to mark the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha.
He also entered the party headquarters and spoke to his supporters.
Kilicdaroglu said, “I will bring a ballot box to you for the party congress as soon as possible.”
“We will hold a clean, completely transparent party congress,” he said. He said, “Our party members will create a safe harbor for our party. We will all go to that safe harbor together.”
Edited by: Carl Sexton