Reuters. Turkey's main opposition leader rallied supporters outside party headquarters late on Thursday (May 21) after a court ruling ousted him from power, calling it a coup carried out "in judges' and prosecutors' robes."
Ozgur Ozel told hundreds CHP supporters that he would not leave his office until party members, not what he called "the judicial branches of the Justice and Development Party," decided who should lead.
Ozel warned that if necessary, the party would "bring life to a standstill" and said he would not surrender. He said responsibility for any consequences lay with "these coup plotters."
A Turkish court effectively ousted Ozel on Thursday, annulling the 2023 party congress that elected him chairman in a ruling that dealt a blow to President Tayyip Erdogan's challengers.
The appeals court annulled the congress over irregularities and ruled that former CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu - a divisive figure within the party who lost to Erdogan in an election earlier in 2023 - should replace his successor Ozel.
