Overview

• Organizers said at least 50,000 people filled Ankara’s Tandogan Square as CHP leader Özgür Özel accused authorities of mounting a ‘judicial coup.’
• An Ankara court hearing on Monday seeks to annul the CHP’s November 2023 congress over alleged vote-rigging, a move that could unseat Özel.
• A prosecutor ordered the detention of 48 Bayrampasa municipal members on September 13, including Mayor Hasan Mutlu and deputy Lütfi Kadiogullari.
• Authorities cite allegations of corruption, extortion, aggravated fraud, and tender rigging, while the CHP says the government is using courts to seize municipalities.
• Bayrampasa was won by the CHP in the 2024 local elections, and Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu has been jailed since March in a broader wave of cases targeting the party.