CHP is under judicial siege. Eyes of September 15 trial

The removal of CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik and his administration from office by court order and the appointment of Gürsel Tekin, a former CHP Secretary General, as trustee not only disrupted the CHP but also stirred up politics and the relationship between politics and the judiciary. CHP leader Özgür Özel declared that they would not recognize the decision, that Tekin had been expelled from the party, and that they would not “give up İstanbul”; the CHP was entering a state of resistance.

The next day, on September 4, local congresses of the CHP in Ataşehir, Esenyurt, and Sarıyer districts of İstanbul were not permitted by the Election Board, saying that the ruling of the  İstanbul 45th Civil Court, which dismissed the elected CHP Provincial Chairmen Özgür Çelik, did not allow them.

In response, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç condemned Özel’s statement that he would not recognize the court ruling, saying that Özel’s stance was contrary to the rule of law.

What hurt CHP members in what Tunç said was that the investigation into fraud in the İstanbul Provincial Congress on October 8, 2023, had been initiated by a CHP delegate’s application. In fact, the petition seeking the “absolute nullity,” or “deeming it never happened,” of the November 4-5, 2023 Congress where the CHP elected Özgür Özel as General President instead of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, which was expected to be heard on September 15 at the Ankara 42nd Civil Court of First Instance, also bears the signatures of two CHP delegates; along with Lütfü Savaş, the former Mayor of Hatay who was expelled from the CHP earlier.

Judicial siege on the CHP

From this perspective, the removal of the İstanbul Provincial Chairman from office by a court decision on September 2 and the appointment of Tekin, who had previously served as General Secretary of the CHP, in his place, appear to be a rehearsal for the removal of the CHP’s Special Administration in the trial scheduled for September 15.

Referring to September 15 in his broadcast on TRT, Justice Minister Tunç pointed out that the situation concerns both criminal and civil courts, saying, “Of course, both cases could affect each other.”

Of course, the court may not necessarily appoint Kılıçdaroğlu and his team as trustees for the CHP; it could be someone else. The appointed administration will face a “process of leading to a convention” that could last from 90 days to 1.5 years. This process will pave the way for the CHP to become embroiled in sharper internal conflicts, perhaps even splitting, within the framework of President Tayyip Erdoğan’s plans to call early elections starting in the fall of 2027 so that he can run again.

It appears that this is the game plan behind closed doors in Ankara.

Symbolically, since the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, the CHP appears to be under judicial siege.

The AKP is playing with fire

Tunç criticizes Özel, saying, “It can be said that the decision is wrong, and there are lawyers who criticize it.”

Some lawyers believe that courts cannot invalidate a political party’s congress, and the Minister is certainly aware of this.

The Minister is speaking cautiously, but the AK Party is not complaining about developments. Party spokesman Ömer Çelik says, “We did not discuss it in the administration; it is the judiciary’s job.”

Despite Özel’s refusal to concede and his mobilization of both his own party and a portion of the opposition voters, the CHP has been on the defensive for almost a year.

Yet Özel says that opening this door means that tomorrow, in the event of a change in government, it would be possible to revoke any elected office, including the presidency, with a court decision. This is playing with fire.

But there may be those who think that if the goal is to paralyze the CHP at any cost, there is no need to worry because power will remain with them anyway.

Özel says that because they “don’t have the nerve to file a closure case against the party founded by Atatürk,” they want to “eliminate” the CHP this way. However, if a CHP emerges from the ballot box in the upcoming election that is not wanted by the government, it should be noted that the option of filing a closure case against the CHP through the judiciary could also be on the table.