ANKARA, May 25 (Reuters) - Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party condemned on Monday a court ruling that ousted the leadership of the main opposition CHP last week, calling a police operation to evict the leaders from the party's headquarters a "disgrace to democracy".
Riot police fired tear gas and forced their way into the Republican People's Party's (CHP) headquarters in Ankara on Sunday, evicting ousted leader Ozgur Ozel, whose party has rejected the ruling as a "judicial coup" and vowed to fight it.
Joining smaller opposition parties' criticism of the appeals court ruling as anti-democratic, the DEM - parliament's third-biggest party - denounced the ruling and Sunday's police intervention.
Speaking to reporters after visiting Ozel in parliament, DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan called the police action "shameful and unacceptable", saying the handling of the incident by security forces was "a disgrace to democracy and a scandal for the rule of law".
"The fate of political parties should not be determined by courts; it should be determined by their members and the choices of their voters," Bakirhan added.
KEY ROLE IN PEACE TALKS
The DEM is the third parliamentary force behind the CHP and the ruling AK Party (AKP) of President Tayyip Erdogan.
It helped facilitate steps toward peace between the Turkish state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), whose conflict has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984.
But it has been critical of the government's handling of the peace process, calling for it to take more concrete steps towards democratisation. It has also said that the crackdown on the main opposition raises concerns among the public about the success of the peace process.
ERDOGAN'S PARTY REJECTS CRITICISM
Last Thursday's court ruling ousted Ozel by annulling the results of the 2023 CHP congress where he was elected, citing irregularities, and reinstated former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost to Erdogan in a national election that year.
The CHP accused the court of acting as "a branch of the ruling party".
After leaving his party's headquarters on Sunday, Ozel led a march to the Turkish parliament, telling a crowd of supporters that the assembly would be their new headquarters "until this struggle frees the party from occupation".
Omer Celik, spokesperson for Erdogan's AK Party, rejected criticism of the ruling on Monday.
"Today's events simply involve the judiciary investigating and reaching a conclusion regarding certain allegations that emerged as a result of internal conflicts and struggles within the CHP," Celik said.
The crisis comes amid an unprecedented judicial crackdown on the CHP, which is running roughly even with Erdogan's Islamic-rooted and conservative AKP.
Since 2024, hundreds of members and elected officials from the CHP, including Ekrem Imamoglu, Istanbul mayor and the party's presidential candidate for the next elections, have been detained as part of corruption charges that the party denies.
Turkey's next national election is set for 2028 but would need to be brought forward if Erdogan, at age 72 and facing a term limit, wants to run again.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Helen Popper)
