An appeals court in Turkey declared the 2023 leadership election for the Republican People's Party (CHP) invalid, nullifying the leadership posts of its top officials, including party leader Ozgur Ozel, the BBC reported on May 22. Ozel is widely seen as a reformer more capable of organizing the opposition into a competitive position against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ahead of the 2028 national elections. The CHP vowed to fight the ruling with the AKP-dominated Supreme Elections Council (YSK).

The court ruled that unsuccessful presidential candidate and former CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu was now the party chief. Turkey's stock market slid following the decision. Kilicdaroglu is unpopular within the party after unsuccessful attempts to oust Recep Tayyip Erdogan, particularly in 2023, when he ran against Erdogan for president and lost in the second round. Ozel was brought in in part to revitalize the CHP, the country's oldest political party and steward of the center-left and secular values in the increasingly Islamicizing country. Turkey has also detained popular former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on charges of corruption, which many outside observers believe are politically motivated. Imamoglu is widely seen as a viable challenger to Erdogan, who is term-limited in 2028.