Riot police in Turkey have fired teargas and water cannon to break up a rally called by ousted opposition leader Özgür Özel, days after a court dismissed him from office.The protest in Izmir on Tuesday came two days after riot police battered their way into the main opposition CHP’s headquarters in the capital, Ankara, firing teargas and beating party members before throwing them out, Özel told AFP on Sunday.The dramatic scenes followed a shock court ruling on Thursday that overturned a 2023 party primary that elected Özel.It was the latest in a string of moves against the CHP, Turkey’s oldest political party, which scored a major political win over President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling AKP in 2024 local elections and has been rising in the polls.Since the court ruling, the party has been in chaos.Özel called the lunchtime rally in Izmir as Turkey was poised to shut down for the four-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, which begins on Wednesday.Özgür Özel, the deposed leader of Turkey's main opposition, arrives for a rally in Izmir on Tuesday. Photograph: Erdem Şahin/APÖzgür Özel in Izmir on Tuesday. Photograph: EPAAhead of the rally, the governorate ordered the closure of the city’s central Cumhuriyet Square, deploying a large number of riot police with water cannon trucks who tried to break up the flag-waving crowd, Turkish media reported.“President Özgür, free Turkey!” they shouted in scenes broadcast live on TV.Thursday’s shock court ruling overturned the 2023 party primary that elected Özel, ordering his defeated rival Kemal Kıliçdaroğlu, a lacklustre ineffective politician, to resume his position as CHP leader.In Izmir, thousands of chanting demonstrators waved flags as Özel addressed the crowd from the top of a bus, urging Kıliçdaroğlu to agree to a party congress “immediately” so members could choose their leader.Özgür Özel addresses his supporters from a bus. Photograph: Berkcan Zengin/Reuters“Bring whoever you want as a delegate and let’s compete,” he said, directly challenging Kıliçdaroğlu to hold a party primary “within a week or two” of Eid al-Fitr, which ends on Saturday.The ousting of CHP’s elected leadership was “not an internal matter for the party”, he said.“Anyone who sees it that way is deceiving the people … this is between the people and Erdogan,” Özel said.“The issue is about stopping a party that is on the march toward ultimate power.”The court case concerned allegations of vote-buying at the 2023 primary, but was thrown out by an Ankara court in October for lack of substance only to be overturned on appeal.Turkish riot police stand guard as protesters gather for the rally led by Özgür Özel. Photograph: EPAThe assault on the CHP began in earnest with the jailing of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdogan’s main political rival and the party’s presidential candidate, on charges widely seen as political.“Erdogan has lost all restraint,” Özel told AFP late on Sunday.“Just as he imprisoned the presidential candidate who could defeat him, he is now effectively shutting down the political party that could defeat him,” he said.“Turkey has ceased to be a modern democratic republic and has turned into a one-man regime.”