The leader of Turkey's main opposition party on Sunday called for early elections to be held "at the latest in November", laying down the gauntlet to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is grappling with widespread protests.
In an attempt at galvanising its supporters the CHP party held an extraordinary congress in Ankara to re-elect its leader Ozgur Ozel, who ran unopposed and won an overwhelming 1,171 votes out of 1,276.
The congress comes as Turkey has clamped down on the country's largest demonstrations in years, triggered by last month's arrest of Istanbul's popular opposition mayor and the CHP's presidential candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu.
"In November at the latest, you will come to confront our candidate," Ozel said, addressing Erdogan, hailing his party's campaign against the Turkish president as "the greatest motion of no-confidence in history".
"We will defy you, we want our candidate at our sides," Ozel added. "We invite you to once again appeal to the will of the people."
Nearly 1,900 people have been detained in the unrest following the detention of the man widely considered Erdogan's greatest political challenger, including several hundred students, journalists and young people.
Ozel has become the face of the protests and the party hopes Sunday's rally will help counter further political and judicial pressure, following the dismissal and arrest of seven mayors from its ranks.
'Show of force'
Eren Aksoyoglu, a political communications analyst, said by gathering crowds in the face of the government crackdown, the congress is an opportunity for a "show of force".
"This congress is an opportunity to show our solidarity with the mayor of Istanbul and the arrested students," CHP party member Safi Karayalcin told AFP.
"The mayor of Istanbul is unjustly in prison, as are the other arrested mayors and city council members. There is no justice left in Turkey," said Mustafa Arslan, a party member from Diyarbakir, in the southeast.
According to Turkish media reports, the authorities are seeking to remove the CHP party's leaders, a year after the opposition's sweeping victory in municipal elections.
The party came out on top in the March 2024 municipal elections with nearly 38 percent of the vote across the country.
In addition to maintaining its lead in large cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, the CHP also made inroads into regions previously considered Erdogan strongholds.
In the days following Imamoglu's arrest, the CHP drew tens of thousands of people into the streets of Istanbul and many other cities to denounce a "coup d'etat".
'Tenacious opposition'
Empowered by his re-election at the top of the party, Ozel called for the demonstrations to continue.
"We will hold a rally in Samsun next Sunday, and then on May 19 in Izmir... and a night rally every Wednesday evening in a district of Istanbul," he said.
The party's campaign calling for the release of Istanbul's mayor has gathered seven million signatures, he said, adding that the aim is to collect at least as many signatures as half of Turkey's 61.4 million voters.
"Since Imamoglu's arrest, Ozgur Ozel has given the CHP the image of a party that listens to the street and leads a tenacious opposition," said Aksoyoglu.
"This approach has been successful within the CHP and with voters," the political analyst added.
For Berk Esen, a professor of political science at Istanbul's Sabanci University, Ozel "may not be a very charismatic speaker but he's articulate, precise and very critical of those in power."
"Ozel is at the head of the CHP but has not yet fully assumed the role of leader," he added. "By pursuing a tenacious opposition to Erdogan, he could strengthen his leadership."
(AFP)
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