Turkey’s ousted opposition leader Ozgur Ozel showed he can still command strong support on Saturday, drawing a crowd of thousands in Ankara despite a court ruling that removed him from office and dealt a blow to President Tayyip Erdogan’s challengers.
After addressing supporters – estimated in the tens of thousands by the private Anka news agency and media outlets close to the opposition – Ozel led a march through the capital following last week’s ruling that removed him as leader of the main opposition CHP.
The court annulled the CHP’s 2023 party congress, effectively reinstating former chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu – a divisive figure within the party who lost to Erdogan in an election earlier that year.
The move could boost Erdogan’s chances of extending his more than two-decade rule of the NATO member country and major emerging market economy.
On Saturday, Kilicdaroglu visited the CHP party headquarters for the first time since the May 21 ruling and pledged to purge the party of corruption, referring to cases involving CHP-run municipalities.
The ousted leadership denies the allegations, calling them politically motivated, a charge the government rejects.
