ANKARA: Turkiye’s main opposition CHP was holding an extraordinary congress to re-elect its leader Sunday as the party fights off a barrage of what critics say are politically-motivated legal challenges.
The move comes as the Republican People’s Party (CHP), seeks to shore up its leadership in the face of a potentially damaging lawsuit seeking to oust Ozgur Ozel as leader.
The lawsuit, which had its second hearing on Monday, aims to overturn the result of CHP’s November 2023 congress which elected Ozel, on grounds of alleged vote rigging.
Taking place in Ankara, the capital, the CHP congress is looking to forge a strategy going forward in a move Ozel has described as “an entirely technical and legal maneuver” to protect the party’s leadership.
At Sunday’s gathering, 911 party members will vote sto re-elect Ozel, who is the only one running, party officials said.
Under his leadership, CHP’s fortunes have improved significantly, with the party winning a huge victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP in the March 2024 local elections.
Since then, the party has been targeted by a wave of arrests and legal cases that peaked in March with the jailing of Istanbul’s popular and powerful mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on corruption allegations that he denies.
The dramatic arrest and jailing of Imamoglu — CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election — sparked an outpouring of protest with Ozel leading huge protests that spread from Istanbul in the worst unrest Turkiye has seen since 2013.
On September 2, a court ousted the leader of CHP’s Istanbul branch, Ozgur Celik, after annulling the outcome of the October 2023, provincial congress that elected him and 195 others.
At the time, political analyst Berk Esen said the move was a “rehearsal” for the bigger case against the overall leadership that was effectively seeking to hobble it as an opposition force.
The next hearing in the CHP case is scheduled for October 24.
CHP’s Istanbul branch will hold its own extraordinary congress on Wednesday to re-elect its leadership.
Embattled Turkiye opposition holds congress to re-elect leader
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Embattled Turkiye opposition holds congress to re-elect leader
- Turkiye’s main opposition CHP was holding an extraordinary congress to re-elect its leader Sunday as the party fights off a barrage of what critics say are politically-motivated legal challenges
Child injured as Israeli settlers assault Palestinians
- Local authorities decry ongoing efforts to restrict Palestinian livelihoods and displace Bedouin communities
HEBRON: Israeli settlers assaulted a child and attempted to run over several others in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, on Sunday evening.
In Khirbet Rajoum Ali, settlers attacked 12-year-old Salah Ismail Al-Hadra, causing bruises and other injuries.
He was taken to Yatta Governmental Hospital.
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Israeli settlers also chased shepherds in Rajum Ulei, drove livestock into crops, and conducted provocative patrols near homes.
In Khirbet Al-Halawa, settlers chased children tending sheep, assaulted several, and tried to run them over with vehicles.
Masafer Yatta has seen a sharp rise in settler attacks, often under Israeli military protection.
Separately, settlers assaulted farmers plowing land in Khirbet Salama, Kharsa (south of Hebron), injuring locals identified as Ayman Izzat Awda and Diaa Awda.
In Jabal Al-Baba Bedouin community (Al-Eizariya, south of occupied Jerusalem), Israeli forces shot at shepherds grazing sheep in Wadi Al-Hawd.
One was wounded, and another arrested.
Authorities described it as part of ongoing efforts to restrict Palestinian livelihoods and displace Bedouin communities.
Settlers also attacked farmers in Mahfuriya (south of Aqraba, Nablus) while they worked their land, and damaged windows at the home of one person, identified as Munther Shreida, in Al-Shajra, Duma.
In Masafer Yatta, settlers in military-style uniforms detained and abused six residents near Khirbet Al-Fukhit before releasing them.
Settlers also chased shepherds in Rajum Ulei, drove livestock into crops, and conducted provocative patrols near homes.
Late on Saturday, settlers attempted to steal sheep from shepherd Imad Houshiyeh’s herd in Khirbet Al-Markaz but were stopped by local residents.
