Court annuls CHP’s Istanbul congress, suspends provincial chair
ISTANBUL
An Istanbul court on Sept. 2 annulled the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) 2023 provincial congress and removed the current provincial chair and delegates from office.
The decision followed allegations from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office that “voting fraud” occurred during the CHP’s Istanbul congress held on Oct. 8, 2023.
The indictment seeks prison sentences ranging from one to three years for 10 individuals, including CHP Istanbul Provincial Head Özgür Çelik, Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney and Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat.
As a precautionary measure, the court also suspended 196 delegates from their duties and halted the ongoing congress process.
It further ruled to remove Çelik and the current administration from office, appointing a temporary committee composed of Gürsel Tekin, Zeki Şen, Hasan Babacan, Müjdat Gürbüz and Erkan Narsap to manage the provincial organization.
In his initial statement regarding the decision, Çelik said that no official notification has been served to them yet. “We are trying to understand the matter,” he said as quoted by the media.
The party agreed to hold a central executive committee meeting at 5 p.m. on Sept. 2 to discuss the developments.
Çelik won the 2023 CHP Istanbul Provincial Congress with 342 votes, while his opponent Cemal Canpolat received 310 votes. He had entered the election as the candidate supported by Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation on March 4 concerning the congress.
The indictment alleged that 150,000 Turkish Liras was offered for two delegates to vote in favor of supporting Çelik in the provincial chair election. The delegates considered this amount insufficient and demanded 750,000 liras for three delegates, according to the prosecutors.
Approximately one month after the Istanbul Provincial Congress, CHP’s incumbent chair Özgür Özel was elected party leader at CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress. A separate case concerning this congress is still ongoing.
