{"id":149,"date":"2026-05-25T04:38:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149"},"modified":"2026-05-25T04:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:38:22","slug":"turkish-police-storm-offices-of-the-main-opposition-chp-party-firing-tear-gas-and-rubber-bullets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149","title":{"rendered":"Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>ANKARA (AP) \u2014 Police stormed the offices of <span>Turkey\u2019s main opposition CHP party<\/span> on Sunday, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at party supporters and officials who had been holed up inside for three days.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=147\">Muslims begin the annual Hajj in sweltering heat against a backdrop of war concerns<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It was a violent end to a standoff between members of the Republican Peoples\u2019 Party, or CHP, and a leadership team appointed by an appeals court, escalating tensions between the opposition and the government of President <span>Recep Tayyip Erdogan<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters had barricaded the courtyard entrance with buses and the building with furniture. Footage taken by local media in the courtyard and inside the building showed clouds of tear gas as riot police stormed through the premises, before journalists were removed by the police. <\/p>\n<p>Once the raid began, supporters attempted to resist the police by spraying them with fire extinguishers, but were quickly stopped. Doors, furniture and the ground floor windows were destroyed in the melee.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Among those inside the building was <span>Ozgur Ozel<\/span>, elected as party chairperson in November 2023 but dismissed by the court ruling. A video from inside his office at the start of the raid shows him being served the court order removing him, which he promptly ripped up.<\/p>\n<p>Leaving party headquarters to cheers from supporters outside, Ozel told journalists: \u201cWe are leaving (the building) now only to reclaim it in such a way that no one will be able to meddle again. When we return, neither this administration nor the administration\u2019s collaborators will dare do this once more.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<!-- AP \"Read More\" embed (place mid-article) --><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Ozel asks his supporters to rebuild the party for a third time<\/h2>\n<p>Ozel and his supporters then marched to Parliament about 8 kilometers (5 miles) away, joined by hundreds of passersby despite heavy rain and hail. Before arriving at Parliament, he stopped at the National Sovereignty Park where he asked the crowd if they were willing to rebuild the party for a third time. <\/p>\n<p>The CHP was first established in 1923 by Turkey\u2019s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, but was shut down in a 1980 military coup, before reemerging in 1992. <\/p>\n<p>Outside the legislature, Ozel rallied a crowd of hundreds, telling them that the CHP was \u201cde facto shuttered\u201d but would be reestablished. <\/p>\n<p>Even if ousted as the chairperson of the CHP, Ozel is still an elected lawmaker from the western province of Manisa as well as the party\u2019s group speaker.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=145\">France bans Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after \u2018unspeakable\u2019 flotilla detainee taunts<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The appeals court on Thursday nullified Ozel\u2019s election as CHP chairperson, suspending him and members of the party\u2019s executive board. The ruling said Ozel should be replaced by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, his predecessor, who led the party for 13 years but never won any national elections. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Ozel, in his first and only election as party leader, delivered a decisive blow to Erdogan\u2019s Justice and Development Party in the 2024 municipal polls.<\/p>\n<p>The opposition says the decision was politically motivated to weaken the party as it struggles under <span>waves of legal cases<\/span> targeting its members and elected officials.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Erdogan\u2019s eye is on the next election<\/h2>\n<p>The next presidential election isn\u2019t due until 2028, but Erdogan can call for an early vote. His main challenger, Istanbul Mayor <span>Ekrem Imamoglu<\/span>, a CHP member, has been imprisoned since March last year and is <span>on trial on corruption charges<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Many observers have said the legal cases against the CHP \u2014 mostly centered on corruption allegations \u2014 are aimed at neutralizing the party ahead of the next election. The government insists that Turkey\u2019s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.<\/p>\n<p>The vast majority of the party has rallied behind Ozel. He and most of the party had been inside the CHP headquarters in Ankara since Thursday\u2019s ruling, with the new administration unable to enter. The rival teams were supposed to meet Sunday afternoon to figure a way out of the impasse. <\/p>\n<p>Early on Sunday, a crowd gathered outside the office, watched by a growing police presence. Kilicdaroglu\u2019s lawyer, Celal Celik, sent a request to Ankara police to assist in vacating the building, a move approved by the provincial governor. <\/p>\n<p>The police raid comes at the start of a nine-day holiday for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, when many people are on vacation and out of the big cities. <\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Erdogan has ruled Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a setback in 2019, when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure who many felt could successfully topple Erdogan.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=129\">How Congo is battling an Ebola outbreak complicated by aid cuts, armed rebels and anger<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Police have stormed the offices of Turkey\u2019s main opposition CHP party, using tear gas and rubber bullets. This ended a three-day standoff between CHP members and a court-appointed leadership team. Supporters had barricaded the building, leading to a violent confrontation with police on Sunday. Ozgur Ozel, elected as party chairperson but dismissed by a court ruling, was inside during the raid. He later addressed supporters, vowing to rebuild the party. The appeals court nullified Ozel&#8217;s election, reinstating his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The opposition claims the decision is politically motivated to weaken the party before the next election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets - Top Moving Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets - Top Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Police have stormed the offices of Turkey\u2019s main opposition CHP party, using tear gas and rubber bullets. This ended a three-day standoff between CHP members and a court-appointed leadership team. Supporters had barricaded the building, leading to a violent confrontation with police on Sunday. Ozgur Ozel, elected as party chairperson but dismissed by a court ruling, was inside during the raid. He later addressed supporters, vowing to rebuild the party. The appeals court nullified Ozel&#039;s election, reinstating his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The opposition claims the decision is politically motivated to weaken the party before the next election.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Top Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-25T04:38:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d120f8ae15027244cf4e8ea553e290f8\"},\"headline\":\"Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T04:38:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149\"},\"wordCount\":804,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"World News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149\",\"name\":\"Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets - Top Moving Pros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-25T04:38:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d120f8ae15027244cf4e8ea553e290f8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/?p=149#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/topmovingpross.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"Police officers storm Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) headquarters to evict supporters gathered inside for party leader Ozgur Ozel, in Ankara, Sunday, May 24, 2026. 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This ended a three-day standoff between CHP members and a court-appointed leadership team. Supporters had barricaded the building, leading to a violent confrontation with police on Sunday. Ozgur Ozel, elected as party chairperson but dismissed by a court ruling, was inside during the raid. He later addressed supporters, vowing to rebuild the party. The appeals court nullified Ozel's election, reinstating his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The opposition claims the decision is politically motivated to weaken the party before the next election.","og_url":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149","og_site_name":"Top Moving Pros","article_published_time":"2026-05-25T04:38:22+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d120f8ae15027244cf4e8ea553e290f8"},"headline":"Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets","datePublished":"2026-05-25T04:38:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149"},"wordCount":804,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["World News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149","url":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149","name":"Turkish police storm offices of the main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets - Top Moving Pros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-25T04:38:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d120f8ae15027244cf4e8ea553e290f8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=149#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/dea0afd7ccae493c016b9d337b2fa304-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"Police officers storm Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) headquarters to evict supporters gathered inside for party leader Ozgur Ozel, in Ankara, Sunday, May 24, 2026. 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