Turkey opposition vows to resist court ruling ousting leader as political crisis deepens
NBC News • • world
Key Points:
- Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) vowed to resist a court ruling that annulled its 2023 congress and reinstated former leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, sparking a political crisis and investor concerns over instability.
- The appeals court cited unspecified irregularities to overturn Ozgur Ozel’s leadership election, a move condemned by the CHP as a “judicial coup” and unprecedented in Turkey’s political history.
- The ruling has led to market volatility, with Turkish stocks plunging and the lira hitting record lows, forcing the central bank to intervene by selling foreign reserves and prompting predictions of urgent interest rate hikes.
- The political turmoil risks reigniting anti-Erdoğan protests and opposition infighting, while raising the possibility of an early national election before the scheduled 2028 vote.
- The CHP has appealed the decision to the Supreme Election Board (YSK), which traditionally oversees party congresses, but the court’s ruling was based on a rarely used law on associations, challenging established electoral norms.