ISTANBUL, May 23 (Reuters) - Turkish police detained 13 people under an investigation into a 2023 congress of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), state media said on Saturday, after a court ruling this week ousted the party's leader Ozgur Ozel, inflaming a political crisis.A Turkish appeals court on Thursday annulled the congress, at which Ozel was elected, citing unspecified irregularities. In his place, the court reinstated former CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a divisive figure who lost to President Tayyip Erdogan in elections earlier that year.

The ruling marks a major escalation in the legal crackdown on the CHP, which has already been hit by the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, its presidential candidate.

Court ruling removes current CHP leader Ozgur Ozel and reinstates former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu