Turkish riot police fired tear gas and used water cannons on Tuesday to disperse a rally in the coastal city of Izmir called by ousted opposition leader Ozgur Ozel. Ozel was removed from his position as chair of the country's main opposition party following a court order last week.

The appeals court nullified Ozel's election as party chair in 2023, suspending him and members of the executive board. The ruling said he should be replaced by his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who led the party for 13 years but never won any national elections.

Before the rally began, the governorate ordered the closure of Izmir's central Cumhuriyet Square and deployed a large number of riot police with water cannon trucks to break up the flag-waving crowd. Protesters chanted, "President Ozgur, free Turkey!" in scenes broadcast live on TV.

The demonstration was moved to a nearby location, where it continued peacefully. Ozel addressed his supporters from a bus and spoke about the tens of thousands of participants in Izmir, a city considered a stronghold of the secular opposition.

The protests in Izmir came just days after police stormed the headquarters of Turkey's main opposition CHP party to take control of the building. Police used tear gas and removed journalists from the building in Ankara, marking a violent end to a standoff between CHP members and its new court-appointed leadership.

The court ruling was the latest in a string of moves against the CHP, which scored a major political win over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AKP party in the 2024 local elections.

Source: www.dw.com