The situation is hardening: is the Turkish opposition in danger of splitting
The Turkish authorities are trying to split the largest opposition party, the CHP, ahead of the presidential elections in 2028, experts tell Izvestia. On the night of September 8, protests by supporters of the political force have already taken place in Istanbul after the court's decision to change the local leadership. In the spring, the city was also gripped by large-scale unrest. Since March 2025, several criminal cases have been opened against the members and leaders of the RNP — they are suspected of corruption schemes. Similar political events are affecting the country's economy, including the tourism industry. The PCT urged travelers to trust only reliable information. Whether the unrest can escalate into a political crisis in Turkey is in the Izvestia article.
Protests in Istanbul — latest news
On the night of September 8, protests by supporters of the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) took place in Istanbul, which escalated into clashes with the police. Residents took to the streets after the court's decision to change the local leadership and after the police blocked the headquarters of the party in Istanbul.
On September 2, the city Court annulled the results of the RNP's 2023 regional congress and dismissed the head of the RNP's Istanbul branch, Ozgur Celik, appointing an interim administration instead. The management of the party temporarily passed to Gursel Tekin. The decision was justified by the fact that Celik allegedly bribed delegates at that congress to be elected chairman.
Amid the unrest, according to local media, the Istanbul authorities imposed a three-day ban on public events in the central districts of the city. Instagram Facebook, Telegram, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook have been blocked in Turkey (the last three belong to Meta, a company whose activities are considered extremist and banned in Russia). Internet failures are also reported.
Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc announced the launch of an investigation into the mass protests in the city. "The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into the events that took place in front of the regional office of the Republican People's Party, including those who shared provocative posts on social media," Hurriyet quoted the minister as saying.
In general, rallies have been a frequent occurrence in Turkey lately. Protests also broke out in March, when criminal cases were opened against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main opponent. At that time, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his press secretary Murat Ongun and about 100 employees of the mayor's office were detained. Imamoglu was accused of bribery and links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in Turkey. As a result, according to a number of media reports, more than half a million people took to the streets of Istanbul on the night of March 23. In July, Ekrem Imamoglu was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
In addition, at the same time, Turkish police officers detained the mayors of three major cities — Adana, Antalya and Adiyaman. They are also being investigated for corruption in the administrations. In general, the media reports that since March 2025, the RNP has faced a lot of criminal cases against its members and local leaders under similar articles. At the moment, the number of RNP members and supporters involved in corruption cases exceeds 350, more than 100 of them are in custody.
How will the political situation in Turkey develop?
Now the Turkish authorities want to achieve a split within the opposition, experts believe.
"The authorities did this not to appoint a new head of the opposition party, but to create contradictions within it so that they could not participate in the next elections as a single structure," Turkish political analyst Iqbal Durre tells Izvestia.
However, the party has its own plan: they are going to quickly hold a congress again and elect the same head, preventing the authorities from dividing and weakening themselves, expert Yashar Niyazbayev tells Izvestia. So, the current events, most likely, on the contrary, consolidate the opposition among themselves, which will only strengthen the RNP.
The opposition considers the decision to dismiss Ozgur Celik as preparation for a larger event — the cancellation of the results of the general congress, also held in 2023, which was won by the current leader of the CHP, Ozgur Ozel.
The reason may be the same alleged bribery of deputies, but this time, respectively, during the election of the leader of the RNP. The trial in this case will take place on September 15. At the same time, the party will discuss its future at an extraordinary congress on September 21, if the court in Ankara suspends Ozel. The RNP members intend to reconfirm his leadership rights in order to eliminate the grounds for considering possible violations.
— If the court cancels Ozel's chairmanship on the 15th and returns the chair to the previous chairman (Kemal Kilicdaroglu), then the crisis will only escalate. It is quite possible that there will be serious clashes," Yashar Niyazbayev, an expert on Turkey, tells Izvestia.
Nevertheless, such situations affect the country's economy in one way or another.
— Each such action of the authorities greatly affects the economic situation of the country. The bank has to spend huge amounts of its reserves, and this is a completely unacceptable luxury for Turkey," Niyazbayev emphasizes.
Earlier, Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the CHP of trying to collapse the national economy. The party called on the population to organize a boycott of companies associated with the ruling elite. They created a blacklist of businesses that included bookstores, coffee shops, furniture manufacturers, media corporations, tour operators, and bookmakers.
Inflation has been steadily rising in Turkey for a long time: the ENAG group of independent economists reported a 3.75% increase in the consumer price index in July, and prices have increased by a staggering 65.15% over the past year. According to Bloomberg Economics, in order to support the national currency, the country's central bank had to sell over $25 billion of its foreign exchange reserves.
Of course, the economy is largely kept afloat by tourism. Despite the difficult situation, Turkey's revenues from this article increased by 8.3% in 2024 compared to a year earlier, to $61 billion. However, in the first six months of 2025, tourism revenues amounted to only $25.8 billion.
In the spring, the Russian Foreign Ministry recommended refraining from crowded places in Istanbul amid political protests.
"In connection with the protests in Istanbul, we recommend that you be careful and avoid crowded places if possible," the ministry said in a message on social media.
The recent rallies did not affect tourist demand, as Istanbul serves as both a tourist and transit destination, Dmitry Gorin, vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT), tells Izvestia.
— Long-term observations over the past 20 years indicate that rallies and protest movements do not affect tourism as such. The only recommendation to tourists is not to participate in these rallies and avoid crowded places. Since this happens locally in certain places and does not disrupt logistics for tourism, it does not have any impact," Gorin tells Izvestia.
The PCT also recommends that tourists trust only reliable information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Development.
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