Judicial Blow: Istanbul Court Overturns CHP Leadership Amid Political Turmoil

A Turkish court has removed the Istanbul provincial head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) due to voting irregularities, marking another judicial blow to President Tayyip Erdogan's opponents. The court found that delegate votes at a 2023 CHP Istanbul congress were swayed by monetary payments, leading to the dismissal of board members elected at the event.

The court's decision appointed former CHP deputy chair Gursel Tekin as the interim provincial head, a move that negatively impacted Turkish stocks. The ruling may influence another case in Ankara, threatening to unseat CHP leader Ozgur Ozel. That lawsuit, with a hearing due by Sept. 15, could nullify the results of the party's 38th Ordinary Congress in 2023.

The 2023 congress saw Ozel take over from Kemal Kilicdaroglu, following his loss to Erdogan in the presidential elections earlier that year. This ruling comes during an intense crackdown on Turkey's main opposition, with 15 mayors, including Istanbul's Ekrem Imamoglu, detained. Following the court's decision, Turkey's BIST 100 index fell by 5.4%, and the banking index dropped by 7.5%.