Turkish riot police have stormed the headquarters of the country’s main opposition party in Ankara, firing tear gas and demolishing barricades to forcibly remove its leader — in scenes that critics and democracy experts have condemned as a judicial coup designed to tighten President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s grip on power ahead of the 2028 elections.
Officers from the Republican People’s Party, known as the CHP, had barricaded the building’s entrances in defiance of a court order issued on Thursday that nullified the 2023 election of Özgür Özel as party leader and installed former chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu — a figure who suffered a string of electoral defeats during his tenure — as interim leader in his place. When Ankara’s governor ordered the eviction of those inside on Sunday, riot police moved in, using tear gas and batons to clear the building.
“They stormed our headquarters, used tear gas, beat us with batons, ransacked the party building and threw us out,” Özel said following the raid. He accused Erdoğan of having “lost his senses” and claimed the assault was part of a calculated effort “to win the next elections” due in 2028. “Just as he jailed the presidential candidate who could have beaten him, he has now officially closed the political party that could have beaten him,” Özel said.
The reference to jailing was pointed. Last year, Turkish authorities arrested Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential election and widely seen as the politician most capable of defeating Erdoğan — on corruption charges that Imamoglu dismissed as politically motivated. The detention sent shockwaves through Turkey’s opposition and drew international condemnation.
Sunday’s events represent a further escalation. The court order that stripped Özel of the CHP leadership cited alleged irregularities in his election but has been widely interpreted as a legal mechanism to destabilise the only political force capable of mounting a serious challenge to Erdoğan. Experts warned the ruling could extend Erdoğan’s 23-year hold on power, which began when he became prime minister in 2003 before assuming the presidency. Under the Turkish constitution, Erdoğan can only seek another presidential term if he calls early elections before 2028 or amends the constitution.
Rather than retreating, Özel vowed defiance. Following the police raid, he marched to the Turkish parliament alongside supporters and addressed thousands of demonstrators who gathered outside, chanting “Traitor Kemal” — a reference to the reinstated interim leader — and “Shoulder-to-shoulder against fascists.” Özel declared that the CHP would from now on be “on the streets, in the squares, marching towards power.”
The dramatic images of tear gas billowing above the opposition’s Ankara headquarters — viewed by millions across social media — have added to mounting international concern about the state of democracy in Turkey, a NATO member and EU candidate country. The CHP’s ousted leadership described the court ruling as a “judicial coup,” a characterisation that is likely to intensify scrutiny of Erdoğan’s government from Western allies already watching his consolidation of power with growing unease.
