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ISTANBUL: A Turkish court ruling to effectively oust opposition leader Ozgur Ozel has inflamed a political crisis, rattled financial markets and could prolong the 23-year rule of President Tayyip Erdogan.
The May 21 decision came against the backdrop of an extended crackdown that has seen the detention or jailing of hundreds of members of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and several mayors.
The CHP condemned the appeals court ruling as a “judicial coup”, with Ozel vowing to fight it through legal appeals. After police firing tear gas forced him out of the party’s headquarters on May 24, Ozel marched to parliament and vowed that the CHP would from now on be “on the streets, in the squares, marching towards power”.
Smaller opposition parties also criticised the ruling as anti-democratic, while Erdogan ally Devlet Bahceli suggested the judiciary should not intervene in internal party matters.
