Turkish opposition fights court ousting of leaders in ruling boosting Erdoğan

Turkish opposition leader Özgür Özel has vowed to fight a court ruling removing him and fellow party leaders, in the latest legal move that helps cement President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's grip on power. The appeal court declared the 2023 leadership election in Özel's Republican People's Party (CHP) null and void, prompting thousands of demonstrators to gather outside party headquarters in Ankara. "We are experiencing a dark day for Turkish democracy," said Özel, who vowed to challenge the ruling in the courts and with Turkey's supreme election council (YSK). Justice Minister Akin Gürlek insisted the ruling "reinforces our citizens' trust in democracy". Until Gürlek was appointed justice minister by President Erdoğan earlier this year, he was the chief prosecutor in Istanbul who spearheaded investigations targeting the opposition, and the city's highly popular mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu in particular. Imamoğlu, who is still considered Erdoğan's biggest political rival, has been in jail for over a year and it was Gürlek who accused him of corruption offences which command more than 2,000 years behind bars. The supreme election council was meeting on Friday to hear the opposition party's obje