Riot police storm Turkey opposition HQ to restore ousted leader

Riot police forced their way into the headquarters of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Ankara on Sunday, May 24, 2026, to forcibly remove the ousted leadership of Özgür Özel following a court verdict that nullified his administration and restored his predecessor Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to power. The eviction sparked violent clashes between supporters of both factions, with police deploying pepper gas while CHP members responded by hurling objects and setting up barricades using furniture at the main entrance. Özel, who had been hiding on the 12th floor, eventually emerged, criticized the move as a "raid" driven by personal greed, and departed the building to march toward Parliament while his supporters chanted anti-Kılıçdaroğlu slogans. The court ruling that removed Özel nullified the 2023 leadership election that brought him to power, effectively reinstalling Kılıçdaroğlu as CHP chairman. The action follows a pattern in which Turkey's ruling AKP appears to use the judicial system to target opposition figures, including the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in 2025 and the jailing of HDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş in 2016. Justice Minister Akin Gürlek, who previously served as Istanbul's chief prosecutor targeting opposition figures, defended the court's decision as strengthening democracy. Thousands of demonstrators had gathered outside CHP headquarters in Ankara and Istanbul last week following the initial ruling. The political turmoil occurs amid economic challenges for Turkey, with the country selling US Treasury notes to defend the Turkish Lira and concerns about investor confidence. Kılıçdaroğlu, who lost multiple elections to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his long tenure as CHP leader, is viewed by some commentators as a more compliant opposition figure who would be unlikely to defeat the AKP. The removal of Özel and subsequent police operation at CHP headquarters represent the latest development in a broader struggle between Turkey's ruling party and its fractured opposition, which has not managed to unseat the AKP in twenty years despite winning numerous municipal and local elections.