Explainer-Why is Turkey's main opposition party facing a legal crackdown?


  • World
  • Friday, 12 Sep 2025

FILE PHOTO: Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), gestures as he speaks during a rally protesting a recent court ruling that removed Ozgur Celik from the CHP's Istanbul provincial leadership, in Istanbul, Turkey, September 10, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektass/File Photo

ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkey's main opposition party has seen hundreds of its members arrested in a nearly year-long legal onslaught that will reach a critical point on Monday when a court decides whether to annul the party's last congress and unseat its leader.

The Ankara court's decision on whether to invalidate the 2023 congress of the Republican People's Party (CHP) over alleged procedural irregularities could reshape the party, rattle financial markets and even influence the timing of a general election set for 2028.

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