Turkey’s political opposition dug in on Friday to resist an unprecedented court ruling that ousted its leader and annulled its congress, inflaming a political crisis that critics say aims to further prolong President Tayyip Erdogan’s 23-year rule. The appeals court cited unspecified irregularities in the Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 congress. It also reinstated the CHP’s former chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu – a divisive figure who lost to Erdogan in elections earlier that year – in place of current leader Ozgur Ozel.
The CHP condemned the ruling as a “judicial coup” and Ozel vowed to fight it through legal appeals and to personally remain “day and night” in the main opposition party’s headquarters in Ankara.
Democratic test
The case was seen as a test of Turkey’s shaky balance between democracy and autocracy, and the ruling could rekindle anti-Erdogan protests. It could also spark opposition infighting that boosts Erdogan’s chances of extending his rule in Turkey, a large NATO member country and emerging market economy.
Turkish assets sold off in the face of the latest political crisis and the lira touched a record low, prompting the central bank to sell billions of dollars in foreign reserves to maintain stability.
