Erdoğan's government seizes CHP headquarters in Ankara and installs a loyalist atop Atatürk's party
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government has seized the Ankara headquarters of the opposition CHP and, through a compliant judge, installed a loyalist as the party's leader -- a hostile takeover of the party founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The move follows an Ankara appeals court's annulment of the CHP's 2023 congress and the removal of leader Özgür Özel earlier in the week. Özel has continued to defy Erdoğan despite the risk of imprisonment, though whether Turks mobilise in defence of the party will not be clear until after the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's government has seized the Ankara headquarters of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and, with the help of a compliant judge, installed a loyalist as the party's leader. Commentary in the German press described the move as a hostile takeover of the party founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and another taboo broken on Turkey's path toward an authoritarian system.
The seizure caps a sequence of court actions against the CHP: an Ankara appeals court voided the party's 2023 congress and removed its leader, Özgür Özel, earlier in the week, a ruling that was then upheld, while Erdoğan's AK Party denied any involvement in the leadership crisis.
The same week showed how abruptly Erdoğan is wielding power, the commentary noted: he had Istanbul's private Bilgi University summarily closed on Friday and reopened on Monday without explanation, apparently unconcerned that such moves undermine the confidence of foreign investors.
Özel, the embattled opposition leader, has continued to confront Erdoğan rhetorically despite the risk of ending up in prison. Whether enough Turks rally behind him will become clear only after the country returns from the Eid al-Adha holiday. Many Turks regard the images of the storming of the CHP headquarters as a turning point; the commentary attributed Erdoğan's confidence to a favourable international environment, including his good rapport with US President Donald Trump, and read his promotion of his son Bilal as a sign that his ambitions now extend beyond his own hold on power.