ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Sunday re-elected Ozgur Ozel as the party chairman at an extraordinary congress in Ankara. “CHP chairman Ozgur Ozel was re-elected as chairman with 1,171 valid votes,” the opposition ANKA media outlet said. During the congress, Ozel renewed his call for early elections in Turkey “in November at the latest,” with CHP having picked popular jailed politician Ekrem Imamoglu, sacked mayor of Istanbul, as its presidential candidate. Imamoglu’s arrest has sparked Turkey’s worst unrest in a decade, with tens of thousands flocking to the streets of Istanbul and many other Turkish cities to condemn his arrest. The unrest led to an ensuing crackdown from Turkish authorities who have detained nearly 2,000 people in connection with the protests. The re-election of Ozel is also important as the Turkish government, dominated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), reportedly sought to appoint a trustee over the CHP after questioning the validity of the 38th CHP congress which elected Ozel as chairman. In February, Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that if proper evidence was provided, the congress would be annulled and Ozel’s chairmanship would be invalidated.
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