Turkish riot police surround protesters to make arrests during an unauthorized demonstration organized on the eve of the NATO leaders' summit, in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7, 2026. (Credit: Illustrative photo Efekan Akyuz/Reuters)
The Turkish government continued its crackdown on the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, on Saturday, detaining dozens of people in Ankara’s CHP-run Çankaya district, local media reported.
Authorities detained 27 people in early morning raids, out of 36 individuals targeted by arrest warrants issued by the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office, according to media reports. Prosecutors accused the suspects of forming or belonging to a criminal organization, corruption and bid-rigging in public tenders. The warrants also targeted Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner.
The arrests came as Turkey’s oldest political party faced a deepening crisis after a court removed its elected chairman, Özgür Özel, and reinstated his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
Critics viewed the Ankara court’s decision to annul the CHP’s 2023 leadership election over allegations of vote-buying as the latest attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to weaken his political opponents. Following Saturday’s raids, Özel, who was traveling in southern Turkey, called on party members to gather outside Çankaya City Hall in a show of solidarity.
Authorities have arrested hundreds of CHP officials in corruption investigations, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, whom many consider Erdoğan’s strongest political rival. Pressure on the CHP has intensified since the party defeated Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in the 2024 local elections.
By late June, authorities had jailed at least 26 CHP mayors on corruption-related charges. After İmamoğlu’s arrest, Özel helped mobilize Turkey’s largest street protests in more than a decade, boosting the party’s standing in opinion polls.
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