Turkey’s main opposition New Party is preparing an application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) challenging a ruling that removed its leader, Özgür Özel, from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) leadership, the ANKA news agency reported Tuesday.
The petition is still being drafted. The party plans to apply without waiting for Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals to rule on its appeal, arguing that the courts are being used to reshape the country’s main opposition, party officials told ANKA.
The 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice annulled the CHP’s November 2023 congress on May 21 and ordered Özel and his leadership team removed as an interim measure, reinstating his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
The ruling applied the legal concept of “absolute nullity,” meaning the congress at which Özel was elected was treated as legally invalid from the outset.
The case concerned allegations of vote buying and manipulation at the congress, where Özel defeated Kılıçdaroğlu. Özel and his allies have denied wrongdoing and described the proceedings as political interference.
The domestic appeal reached the Supreme Court of Appeals on July 17, and its Third Civil Chamber began a preliminary examination on July 26, according to ANKA.
The European Convention on Human Rights generally requires applicants to exhaust domestic legal remedies before the ECtHR can examine a complaint. ANKA did not explain the legal basis for seeking review before the domestic appeal concludes.
Özel and 90 other lawmakers left the CHP to establish the New Party on July 24 after efforts to regain control of the CHP failed. The new party began with 91 seats in Turkey’s 600-member parliament, becoming its largest opposition group, while the CHP’s representation fell to 44.
Before his removal, Özel had led the CHP to first place nationwide in the March 2024 local elections, defeating President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The party retained İstanbul and Ankara and won municipalities in provinces previously dominated by the AKP.
Özel and his allies accuse Erdoğan’s government of using the judiciary to weaken the opposition.
