Turkiye's government intensified its crackdown on the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Saturday, with dozens of arrests targeting the Cankaya district in Ankara, which is governed by the party. Early-morning raids led to the detention of 27 individuals out of 36 named in a warrant issued by Ankara's public prosecutor, according to media reports.
Details of the Arrests and Allegations
The warrant reportedly accused the detainees of forming or belonging to a criminal organization, bribery, and tender rigging. Among those named was Cankaya Mayor Huseyin Can Guner. The arrests come amid a deepening crisis for Turkiye's oldest political party, which recently saw a court remove its elected chairman, Ozgur Ozel, and hand the role to his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
The Ankara court's decision to annul the party's 2023 leadership election over alleged vote buying has been widely criticized as an attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to weaken his political opponents. Critics say the move raises serious concerns about democracy and the rule of law in Turkiye.
Party Response and Broader Context
Following the raids, Ozel, who was visiting the southern city of Adana, urged party members to gather in solidarity in front of Cankaya city hall. Hundreds of CHP officials have been arrested in ongoing corruption investigations, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, considered one of the few politicians capable of defeating Erdogan in elections.
Pressure on the CHP has escalated since its sweeping local election victory over Erdogan's AKP in 2024. By late June, at least 26 CHP mayors were behind bars on various graft charges. The party's local election win came less than six months after Ozel assumed leadership.
Protests and Political Fallout
After Imamoglu's arrest, Ozel played a key role in organizing Turkiye's largest street protests in over a decade, boosting the party's popularity in polls. An outspoken critic of Erdogan, the 51-year-old Ozel is appealing the Ankara court's decision but said on Friday that if legal options fail, he would form a new party. He described that as a "worst-case scenario" in a YouTube interview with journalist Unsal Unlu.
