In a country where opposition is increasingly treated as treason, the Turkish regime is preparing a judicial strike against the main opposition party. On the eve of a politically charged court ruling, tens of thousands gathered in Ankara to denounce what many describe as a coup in slow motion—a warning sign for what remains of Turkish democracy.
A trial cloaked in legality, driven by politics
On September 14, Ankara became the epicenter of a storm brewing within Turkey’s fragile political landscape. The Republican People’s Party (CHP), the country’s oldest and most structured opposition force—is now facing a court decision that could strip its leadership and deliver a fatal institutional blow.
Officially, the case concerns alleged fraud during the party’s November 2023 congress, in which Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, longtime leader and symbol of defeat, was ousted and replaced by Özgür Özel. Prosecutors claim irregularities in delegate voting, and are calling for prison sentences for Özel, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and ten other CHP officials.
But few are fooled. Even among moderate observers, the consensus is forming: this is not a legal dispute, it is a calculated purge.
“This trial is political”
Standing before an electrified crowd in Ankara’s central square, Özgür Özel made no effort to soften his words: “This is not about the CHP, it is about whether democracy still exists in Turkey.”
The tens of thousands chanting “Erdogan, resign!” were not merely party loyalists; many were ordinary citizens fearing a return to one-man rule, bypassing elections under a veil of legal formalism.
Imamoglu, widely seen as Erdogan’s most dangerous opponent after his strong showing in Istanbul, added: “The allegations are slanderous. This is a political coup, and we will resist.”
Since Özel took over the party in 2023, he has turned the CHP from a disoriented relic into a mobilized force. The March 2024 local elections saw Erdogan’s AKP suffer humiliating defeats, including in Istanbul and Ankara. The regime has not forgotten.
A pattern of political neutralization
This case is not isolated. Just two weeks earlier, a court dissolved the Istanbul branch leadership of the CHP, citing “vote buying” during the provincial congress. An administrator was installed by decree. The move sent a chill through opposition ranks—and caused a 5.5% drop in the Istanbul Stock Exchange, signaling investor anxiety about creeping authoritarianism.
If the Ankara court follows suit, Özel could be removed from office, and the way paved for the return of the deeply discredited Kılıçdaroğlu. A party congress has already been scheduled for September 21—but whether such maneuvering can shield the party from further attacks remains uncertain.
Erdogan’s long game: purge by legalism
While international media focus on Erdogan’s foreign policy maneuvers, his internal consolidation continues, methodically and ruthlessly. The Turkish president, emboldened by a fragmented opposition and silent Western partners, is now applying a tested formula: judicial harassment under democratic veneers.
This isn’t 2016. The regime no longer needs tanks in the streets. A judge’s gavel, combined with selective prosecution, is now the preferred weapon.
Fragile democracy under siege
Turkey is not merely undergoing a political crisis. It is undergoing institutional corrosion. The erosion of electoral legitimacy, the instrumentalization of the judiciary, and the political weaponization of “fraud” accusations all point to a trajectory seen elsewhere—Hungary, Venezuela, even Russia.
As opposition figures are prosecuted and elections are rewritten retroactively, the illusion of democratic pluralism grows thinner.
And yet, the sheer size of the protests in Ankara suggests something more: that the Turkish public, despite two decades of authoritarian drift, has not entirely given up on resistance.
Erdogan tests the system, again
With this trial, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not merely settling political scores. He is testing how far the system will bend—and whether anyone, inside or outside the country, will stop him.
The CHP’s fate now rests in the hands of a judiciary whose independence is more ceremonial than real. But the stakes go beyond one party. This is a question of whether opposition as such will remain possible in Turkey, or whether all roads now lead back to the palace.
