The postponed hearing could lead to the removal of Ozgur Ozel, the Republican People’s Party’s chairman.
A court in Ankara has postponed the hearing of a controversial case that could oust the leader of Turkiye’s main opposition party, amid protests against the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On Monday, the hearing about alleged internal irregularities during the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 congress was adjourned until October 24.
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Prosecutors have accused CHP leaders of vote-buying at the internal event in 2023 in which Ozgur Ozel was elected chairman, allegations the CHP says are politically motivated.
The case is the latest in a long line of challenges faced by the party.
The Turkish government has rejected accusations of political interference, insisting the judiciary acts independently.
Officials said the cases against CHP figures stem from corruption charges, which the party denied and argued are designed to weaken the opposition.
Turkish authorities have jailed hundreds of CHP members this year for alleged corruption, including Erdogan’s main political rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was arrested in March.
Critics say the crackdown is an attempt to destabilise Turkiye’s oldest political party, which won a large victory over Erdogan’s AK Party, or Justice and Development Party, in local elections last year.
On Sunday, Ozel told thousands of protesters in the national capital that the case was part of Erdogan’s wider attempt to undermine democracy.
“This case is political, the allegations are slander,” said Ozel, who claimed CHP was experiencing the “grave consequences” of government oppression.
“Anyone who poses a democratic threat to the government is now the government’s target,” he suggested.
The government denies the claim. Erdogan has described the CHP network as corrupt, comparing it with “an octopus whose arms stretch to other parts of Turkiye and abroad”.
Reporting from Ankara, media’s Sinem Koseoglu said the CHP congress case had been criticised by legal experts.
“Many legal experts are against the procedure because, according to the Turkish laws, any irregularity related to a political party’s internal dynamics should be taken care of by the higher election board, not by a local board,” Koseoglu noted.
Imamoglu, the CHP’s presidential candidate, also accused Erdogan and his allies of anti-democratic actions.
“This isn’t about the CHP, it’s about the existence or absence of democracy in Turkiye,” he said, after appearing in court on Friday in an unrelated case.
The CHP has had a chequered history with democracy despite founding modern Turkiye. The CHP pursued authoritarian policies in the past that suppressed ethnic and religious minorities and it has been a key factor in how Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) were able to rise to power and hold it.
There is also an historical distrust of the CHP from many communities who will continue to stand with the AKP regardless.
After Imamoglu’s arrest, Turkiye experienced its largest protests in more than a decade.
In advance of the Ankara court ruling, at least 50,000 people took part in a protest in the capital on Sunday.
Over the weekend, the Turkish authorities arrested 48 more people as part of the inquiry into the CHP.
On September 2, a court removed the leadership of the party’s Istanbul branch over the allegations of vote-buying at its provincial congress. The decision was seen by analysts as a test run for the congress case that was adjourned on Monday.
Following the ruling earlier this month, Turkiye’s stock market plummeted by 5.5 percent, raising fears about its already fragile economy.
