Ankara’s 42nd Civil Court is set to convene at 10:00 local time to consider annulling the Republican People’s Party’s November 2023 congress results. Organizers say about 50,000 people filled Tandogan Square on September 14 as Özgür Özel denounced what he called a judicial coup. A prosecutor ordered the arrest of 48 officials from Istanbul’s Bayrampaşa municipality on September 13, including Mayor Hasan Mutlu and his deputy, on allegations of corruption, extortion, aggravated fraud and tender rigging. The indictment lists Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as the injured party and seeks prison terms of up to three years for Ekrem İmamoğlu and roughly ten other CHP figures over alleged electoral fraud. The CHP has called an extraordinary congress for September 21 intended to preserve or quickly restore its leadership if the court overturns the 2023 vote.
