Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel on Nov. 13 accused the chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul of attempting to shut down his party after it sent a letter to the Court of Appeals related to the charges in an indictment against the city's municipality.
"Let no one distort the essence of the matter. In the end, these insolent people tried to file a case to close the Republican People's Party,” Özel said at an event in Istanbul.
The ofice said it had notified the Court of Appeals prosecutors for "legal consideration and execution" after finding that the CHP had "systematically and continuously intervened in the reliability of elections, the will of voters and the democratic order."
Articles 68 and 69 of the constitution, which regulate the establishment, obligations and closure of political parties, were reportedly cited in the findings sent to the high court.
Prosecutors denied that the notification amounted to a request to dissolve the CHP, calling such claims “disinformation.” In a second statement, the office reiterated that the Court of Appeals was informed “as a legal requirement upon the detection of financial irregularities” within the party.
"The nation rose up and said, 'Even Kenan Evren couldn't close the party founded by Gazi Mustafa Kemal on the battlefield, are you going to do it,'" Özel said, referring to the late leader of the 1980 coup.
"The [ruling] AKP... as a political movement that has itself been the victim of closure cases, has once again been caught red-handed while trying to shut down the Republican People's Party."
The controversy comes as the nearly 3,900-page indictment against the Istanbul Municipality accuses suspended Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu of establishing and leading a criminal organization, bribery, fraud against public institutions and bid rigging. Prosecutors are seeking up to 2,430 years in prison for the CHP mayor.
