The dramatic scuffles were the latest episode in a crackdown by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his political rivals, who have angrily resisted in the streets.Party members had blocked the building's entrances, defying the court order issued Thursday as part of an official probe against the Republican People's Party (CHP), before officers broke in to remove the group's leader."They stormed our headquarters, used tear gas, beat us with batons, ransacked the party (building) and threw us out," Ozel told AFP on Sunday evening.He said his rival Erdogan had "lost his senses", claiming the assault was part of the president's manoeuvres "to win the next elections", due in 2028.
Ozgur Ozel addressed a crowd after the police raid © ADEM ALTAN / AFP
Last year, Turkish authorities jailed Erdogan's main political rival, Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, who was the CHP's candidate for the 2028 presidential election.They arrested him on corruption charges which he has dismissed as politically motivated.Thursday's court order cancelled the 2023 victory in party elections of CHP head Ozgur Ozel and named its former chair Kemal Kilicdaroglu -- a lacklustre figure who suffered a string of electoral defeats -- as interim leader."Just as he (Erdogan) jailed the presidential candidate who could have beaten him, he has now officially closed the political party that could have beaten him," Ozel told AFP.Rights group warningEjected from the party building, Ozel walked several kilometres in the rain towards parliament, surrounded by supporters."The Republican People's Party will from now be on the streets or in the squares," he said as he was forced out of the building.He later added in comments to AFP: "Turkey has ceased to be a modern democratic republic and has turned into an authoritarian regime."
