Turkish police storm offices of main opposition CHP party, firing tear gas and rubber bullets | CNN

Police stormed the offices of Turkey’s main opposition CHP party on Sunday, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at a crowd of party supporters and officials gathered outside the gates. It was a violent end to a standoff that had been going on for several hours between members of the Republican Peoples’ Party, or CHP, and its new court-appointed leadership. Footage taken by local media in and around the building, in the capital Ankara, show huge clouds of tear gas with riot police storming through the premises. Tension had been rising since Thursday when an appeals court on nullified the election of Özgür Özel as party chairperson in November 2023. The ruling said he should be replaced by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, his predecessor, who led the party for 13 years but never won any national elections. Meanwhile, Ozel, in his first and only election as party leader, delivered a decisive blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party in the 2024 municipal polls. The opposition says the decision was politically motivated to weaken the party as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials. The next presidential electio