Police have stormed the offices of Türkiye's main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at party supporters and officials who had been holed up inside for three days.It was a violent end to a stand-off between members of the Republican Peoples' Party, or CHP, and a leadership team appointed by an appeals court.Footage taken by local media on Sunday, local time, in the courtyard and inside the building showed clouds of tear gas as riot police stormed through the premises, before journalists were removed by the police. Supporters initially attempted to resist the police by spraying them with fire extinguishers, but were quickly stopped. Doors, furniture and ground-floor windows were destroyed.Ozgur Ozel led a march through Ankara after the raid. (Reuters: Alp Eren Kaya)Among those inside the building was Ozgur Ozel, elected as party chairperson in November 2023 but removed by the appeals court ruling.Leaving the headquarters building to cheers and applause from supporters outside, Mr Ozel told the journalists gathered at the entrance: "We are leaving [the building] now only to reclaim it in a way no-one will be able to interfere again."When we return, neither this administration nor the administration's collaborators will dare do this again."Mr Ozel and his supporters then began marching toward Türkiye's parliament over 5 kilometres away from the CHP headquarters.The raid came after authorities ordered enforcement of a court ruling removing the party's leadership from the building. (Reuters: Efekan Akyuz)'Til the end'Tension had been rising since Thursday, when an appeals court nullified Mr Ozel's election as CHP chairperson, suspending him and members of the party's executive board.The court ruling said Mr Ozel should be replaced by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, his predecessor, who led the party for 13 years but never won any national elections.Meanwhile, Mr Ozel, in his first and only election as party leader, delivered a decisive blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party in the 2024 municipal polls.Riot police were seen firing tear gas and rubber bullets at party officials and supporters. (Reuters: Efekan Akyuz)The opposition says the decision was politically motivated to weaken the party as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials.Immediately after the raid began, Mr Ozel posted a three-minute video on social media in which he said: "We are under attack. Our crime? To make our party Turkey's number one party after 47 years. Our crime? Defeating the Justice and Development Party."We will resist here till the end. And if they forcibly remove us, we'll resume our march towards [becoming] the administration in the public square."The next presidential election is not due until 2028, but Mr Erdoğan can call for an early vote. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is accused by critics of cracking down on political opposition. ( AP: Vladimir Smirnov: Sputnik: Kremlin Pool Photo)His main challenger, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a CHP member, has been imprisoned since March last year and is on trial on corruption charges.Many observers have said the legal cases against the CHP — mostly centred on corruption allegations — are aimed at neutralising the party ahead of the next election. The government insists Türkiye's courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.The vast majority of the party has rallied behind Mr Ozel. He and most of the party had been inside the CHP headquarters in the capital Ankara since Thursday's ruling, with the new administration unable to enter.The rival teams were supposed to meet on Sunday afternoon to figure a way out of the impasse.Early on Sunday, a crowd gathered outside the office, watched by a growing police presence. In his social media video, Mr Ozel said those outside had been sent to intimidate CHP members.Mr Kilicdaroglu's lawyer, Celal Celik, sent a request to Ankara police to assist in vacating the building. The Ankara governor's office released a statement approving the request.The police raid comes at the start of a nine-day holiday for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when many people are on vacation and out of the big cities.Mr Erdoğan has ruled Türkiye, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a setback in 2019, when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Mr Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure who many felt could successfully topple Mr Erdoğan.AP