Turkey's CHP "Absolute Nullity" Crisis: What Happened, Reactions & What's Next

While my colleagues and I were in distress whether we have our university or not, Türkiye’s main opposition party had its own ordeal, which is lasting, unlike ours. Here is a review:

The past two weeks have seen the most dramatic legal blow ever delivered to Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), triggering a constitutional standoff, a police raid on party headquarters, and deep uncertainty over the opposition’s future heading into the 2028 elections.

The Core Legal Ruling (May 21)

On May 21, 2026, the 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Appeal (Bölge Adliye Mahkemesi) issued an “absolute nullity” (mutlak butlan) ruling against the CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress held on November 4–5, 2023 — the congress at which Özgür Özel had defeated Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to become party leader. The court cited allegations of vote buying, with prosecutors claiming that Özel secured delegates’ votes through promises of municipal jobs, party positions, and financial kickbacks.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The ruling was extraordinary on multiple fronts:^[5]

It marked the first time in Turkish history that a party leadership elected by delegates was overturned by a court ruling
It retroactively annulled all subsequent congresses, including an April 2025 extraordinary congress at which Özel was re-elected, voiding all decisions taken in them
It also nullified the CHP Istanbul Provincial Congress of October 8, 2023
It ordered the temporary reinstatement of Kılıçdaroğlu and his pre-2023 team as interim leadership pending finalization

The ruling reversed a lower court (Ankara 42nd Civil Court) decision from October 2025, which had dismissed the original case as lacking merit. Crucially, the appeals court acted without citing detailed evidence in its written decision.^[6]^[2]

The Political Escalation: Four Days of Standoff

The legal ruling rapidly morphed into a physical confrontation:^[7]^[8]

May 21 (Thursday): Özel declared the ruling a “judicial coup,” refused to leave party HQ, and pledged to stay “day and night.” Thousands of CHP supporters gathered in Ankara. The Turkish stock market fell 6% and trading was halted briefly; state banks sold an estimated $6–8 billion to defend the lira^[9]^[5]
May 21–22: The CHP immediately appealed to both the Ankara Regional Court and the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) to lift the interim injunction — both bodies rejected the appeals. Kılıçdaroğlu, speaking to pro-government TGRT Haber, said the party would “purify itself”. His first act as reinstated leader was to fire the three CHP lawyers handling the party’s appeal to the Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) and appoint new ones who immediately moved to withdraw the appeal^[10]^[4]^[6]
May 22–23 (Saturday): Özel called for a new congress within 40 days as a condition for meeting with Kılıçdaroğlu; Kılıçdaroğlu responded that a congress would be held at the “most appropriate time”. Both leaders spoke by phone for the first time since the ruling^[11]
May 24 (Sunday): Turkish riot police, acting on an order from the Ankara Governor’s Office (at the request of Kılıçdaroğlu’s lawyer), stormed CHP headquarters using tear gas and rubber bullets. Police cut through the iron gate and forced entry. Özel, who had declared “we are under attack,” eventually left the building after receiving an eviction notice, which he tore up, vowing to return. No injuries were reported^[8]^[12]^[13]

Reactions

Opposition and CHP Özel camp

Özel and his team have framed the entire process as a “judicial coup” — the first instance of a court overturning a democratically elected party leadership in Turkish history^[5]
Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş said the ruling’s aim was to “divide Turkey’s biggest opposition party and render it ineffective”^[5]
Jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu sent a message from prison urging Turks to “unite for their nation”^[14]
Özel has declared there are now “two CHPs” — one “appointed” by the courts, one “elected” by delegates — and has vowed not to leave the party^[15]
After being evicted, Özel announced he would work from his new role as CHP parliamentary group chair, and his team plans to begin collecting delegate signatures on June 1 to force an extraordinary congress^[15]

Government and Kılıçdaroğlu camp

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek called the ruling a demonstration of “democracy’s self-correcting processes and the rule of law” and noted the decision could still be appealed^[2]
AKP and its ally MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli — in a notable break — publicly urged the judiciary not to interfere in party affairs and called for a settlement between the two CHP factions^[10]
Kılıçdaroğlu said “there is no place for division” in the party and promised a “march to power,” while denying that he had prepared expulsion lists targeting Özel supporters^[4]^[15]
Kılıçdaroğlu’s camp has emphasized the ruling was unanimous and legally binding, and criticized Özel’s team for blocking his MPs from entering headquarters^[16]

International reactions

The European Union’s External Action Service stated the ruling “raised concerns regarding the rule of law, democratic pluralism, and judicial independence”^[5]
The European Green Party called it “another attack on democracy” and part of “a broader pattern of political instrumentalisation of the justice system,” invoking İmamoğlu’s earlier imprisonment and calling on the EU Commission to act firmly^[17]
The European Democratic Party called for political consequences against Turkey for its democratic backsliding^[18]
The Council of Europe expressed being “deeply concerned” by police use of tear gas and rubber bullets against opposition party members^[5]
Human Rights Watch called the decision “the latest deeply damaging blow to the rule of law, democracy and human rights in Türkiye”^[6]

Near-Future Expectations

The crisis is far from resolved, with multiple legal and political battlefronts ahead:

The Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) appeal: The original ruling allows an appeal to the Court of Cassation within two weeks. Kılıçdaroğlu’s lawyers moved to withdraw the earlier appeal, but Özel’s camp is expected to pursue its own legal track. Any final ruling from the Cassation court would be definitive — but the process is expected to be protracted.^[3]^[14]

The congress battle: The key near-term fight is over timing and conditions for a new leadership congress. Özel is pressing for a congress within 40 days, while Kılıçdaroğlu says the timing is at his discretion. Özel’s camp plans to start collecting notarized signatures from delegates on June 1 to trigger an extraordinary congress — requiring an absolute majority of the approximately 1,323 delegates. Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to convene the Party Assembly on June 1 to form his Central Executive Committee.^[19]^[15]

İmamoğlu’s candidacy in doubt: A particularly significant long-term consequence: if the court ruling becomes final, the CHP’s nomination of İmamoğlu as its 2028 presidential candidate could also be voided, as it was made under the Özel-era congresses. Opinion polls from April 2026 showed İmamoğlu leading Erdoğan 55–45% in a hypothetical runoff, making this potentially decisive.^[20]^[21]

Snap election scenario: Analysts suggest the crisis could trigger a snap election as early as autumn 2026, with Ankara Mayor Yavaş warning the struggling economy makes such a scenario increasingly likely.^[14]^[5]

New party formation: Sources indicate Özel and allies may consider forming a new party if legal avenues are exhausted. Özel has explicitly rejected this for now, saying abandoning the CHP would hand its “history, logo and identity” to a “palace-appointed” leadership.^[14]^[15]

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Turkey’s CHP “Absolute Nullity” Crisis: What Happened, Reactions & What’s Next

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