Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1353 EAT on Friday 24 October 2025

A Turkish court has dismissed a case against the country’s main opposition party that sought to unseat its leader, Özgür Özel, ruling that the corruption allegations lacked merit.

The case revolved around accusations of vote buying and procedural irregularities during the 2023 congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP). The Ankara court threw out the case on Friday, saying it had “no basis,” according to AFP.

The case, filed by a former party member in February, sought to annul the results of the 2023 CHP congress, which saw 51-year-old Özgür Özel elected chairman. It came amid a wider crackdown in which hundreds of Republican People’s Party (CHP) members have been jailed this year on corruption charges.

According to a Reuters review, Turkish law enforcement agencies have detained more than 500 people, including 16 mayors, over the past year in Istanbul and other CHP-run municipalities.

The sweep intensified after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — widely seen as the CHP’s top contender for the 2028 presidential election — was arrested last March on corruption charges, which he denies. His detention triggered Turkey’s largest protests in over a decade and a sharp sell-off of the lira, the national currency.

Earlier this month, the CHP’s Istanbul provincial head was removed from office after a court ruled that delegates’ votes during a party congress had been influenced by cash payments. The party later expelled the court-appointed successor.

Meanwhile, prosecutors are reportedly seeking a combined 415 years in prison for Rıza Akpolat, the mayor of Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district, on bid-rigging charges.

Reporting from Ankara, Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu described the case as “critical,” saying the ruling would “boost [Özgür Özel’s] legitimacy” and enable him to “strengthen his base” ahead of the 2028 elections.

Koseoglu noted that the court had “probably hesitated to issue such an annulment decision.”

“When you ask constitutional experts, they have always said that any allegation within a political party must be handled by the higher election board, since political parties are private entities. A local court may not interfere,” she explained.

Posting on X days before Friday’s verdict, Özel said his party’s supporters would “march forward without fear, without division, growing hope.”

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