Turkey’s opposition HQ under police ‘siege’
The Republican People’s Party (CHP), Turkey’s main opposition, called for the citizens of Istanbul to gather in a rally around their headquarters after police surrounded the building with barricades on September 7th, reports The Arab Weekly via Reuters on September 8th.
On the 2nd of September, a Turkish court ordered the removal of the CHP’s Istanbul provincial head over alleged irregularities in the nation’s congress during 2023.
Following the ruling, the head chairman of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel, called for Turks to gather and demonstrate against the court and the police measures obstructing his party’s headquarters.
Ozel said, “From here, I invite all democrats and CHP members whom my words and voice reach to, to protect the home of Ataturk in Istanbul,” referring to the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
He continued: “Shame on those who have put our home under police siege, who brought police special forces to our Istanbul provincial headquarters … to those trying to cancel our Istanbul provincial congress via unauthorised courts and seat an appointee there.”
Ozel’s calls for the people of Istanbul to protest the government’s actions were supported by the CHP’s youth wing. The CHP has also announced plans to host another rally on the 8th of September.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that the court ruling requires the CHP to appoint an interim delegation to run its Istanbul team, adding that failure to do so will be considered an obstruction of justice.
The decision comes amid a month-long crackdown by the ruling party on the CHP over alleged corruption.
The crack-down began with the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. The ruling party banned protests after the arrest, leading to over 1000 being arrested in Turkey’s largest street protests in over a decade.
In August, the crack-down continued with the arrest of 44 people associated with the CHP party.
Analysts have said the ruling party’s crack-down is to deliberately undermine the CHP after their success in local election in the spring of 2024.
The Arab Weekly via Reuters, Maghrebi.org
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