Turkey’s main opposition party accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his allies of carrying out a “judicial coup” after riot police stormed CHP headquarters in Ankara on Sunday following a three-day standoff inside the building.

The crisis began after a Turkish appeals court annulled the CHP’s 2023 leadership election, removed party leader Ozgur Ozel and reinstated former chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost to Erdogan in Turkey’s 2023 presidential election, and a much weaker opponent to Erdogan than Ozel.

Ozel refused to recognize the ruling and remained inside party headquarters with supporters. Turkish media reported police later entered the building using tear gas, shields and plastic bullets while forcing their way floor by floor through the headquarters.

“This is a judicial coup,” Ozel said during the standoff, accusing Erdogan’s government of trying to remove the opposition through the courts after failing to defeat it politically.

The CHP, founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is Turkey’s main secular opposition party and is currently led by Ozgur Ozel. The party emerged as Erdogan’s strongest political challenge after major victories in the 2024 municipal elections.

After police entered the building, Ozel and supporters marched toward the Turkish parliament in Ankara. “CHP is in the streets from now on,” he declared, raising the question going forward of whether Erdogan’s opponents can still freely organize and compete for power in Turkey.