ANKARA, September 8. /TASS/. The police have cordoned off the Istanbul office of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) ahead of the arrival of the government-appointed interim office head.

According to live broadcasts from the site, traffic in the adjacent streets is blocked, with protesters now and then clashing with the police.

On September 2, a court dismissed the head of the CHP regional office in Istanbul Ozgur Celik and members of the board as a preventive measure. An interim board led by Gursel Tekin, a high-ranking CHP official, was appointed instead. The court annulled the results of the 2023 convention of the CHP Istanbul arm, which elected its leaders. Following the court ruling, the party expelled Tekin while Celik refused to step down. These developments only aggravated the crisis.

According to Halk TV, the police are trying to help Tekin enter the party office, which is surrounded by hundreds of CHP activists and officials while Tekin is talking to reporters. Earlier, minor clashes with the police were reported. The police had to use tear gas several times.

CHP activists slam the court ruling as erroneous and accuse the authorities of seeking to crack down on the opposition and create a de facto single-party system in the country. Many consider Tekin’s appointment as an interim party office head as a step toward introducing external control of the party office. Meanwhile, the authorities insist that court rulings be respected and call for refraining from provocative actions and violations of public order.

The court decision to appoint the office’s interim leadership is an intermediate solution. The suit was lodged based on reported violations during the party convention which elected the leadership of the Istanbul office.