GZERO  Daily

May 26, 2026

Turkey’s crisis of democracy deepens

Riot police over the weekend raided the headquarters of Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), following a court order to remove party leader Özgur Özel. There were subsequent demonstrations in Istanbul and Ankara against the move by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, one that protesters and rights groups saw as politically motivated: under Özel, elected as chair in 2023, the CHP has mounted a competitive opposition to Erdoğan, who has held power for more than 20 years. Last year, courts jailed another prominent CHP figure, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is seen as a viable candidate in the next presidential election. But the current assault on the party has also benefited from divisions within the CHP itself about leadership. The courts have effectively backed a faction that supports the party’s previous leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who largely failed to mount an effective challenge to Erdoğan. On Tuesday, Özel himself called for fresh party elections to settle the issue. Will the courts allow it?

Riot police over the weekend raided the headquarters of Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), following a court order to remove party leader Özgur Özel. There were demonstrations against court order in Istanbul and Ankara on Friday, as protesters and rights groups called the move by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan politically motivated: under Özel, elected as chair in 2023, the CHP has mounted a competitive opposition to Erdoğan, who has held power for more than 20 years. Last year, courts jailed another prominent CHP figure, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is seen as a viable candidate in the next presidential election. But the current assault on the party has also benefited from divisions within the CHP itself about leadership. The courts have effectively backed a faction that supports the party’s previous leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who largely failed to mount an effective challenge to Erdoğan. On Tuesday, Özel himself called for fresh party elections to settle the issue. Will the courts allow it?