Police, protesters scuffle outside opposition's Istanbul HQ

Riot police scuffled with protesters, including lawmakers, at the Istanbul branch of Turkey's main opposition CHP party where a state-appointed trustee entered by force Monday after its elected leadership was removed.

During the confrontations, riot police used tear gas to try to break up the crowd of several hundred people who gathered late Sunday as thousands of police set up barricades around the Istanbul provincial headquarters of the Republican People's Party (CHP).

The protesters had hoped to prevent the court-appointed administrator from entering the building.

But Gursel Tekin, a former senior CHP member, managed to force his way in during the afternoon with the help of a column of riot police, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.

Police could be seen detaining at least a dozen people, he and another correspondent said.

The CHP, which won a huge victory over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP in the 2024 local elections and is rising in the polls, has come under increasing pressure from a growing number of legal probes alleging graft, which critics say are politically motivated.

The pressure began in earnest in March with the jailing of Istanbul's popular and powerful mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, seen as the sole candidate with a realistic chance at beating Erdogan at the ballot box.

Last week's court decision ousted CHP's Istanbul leader Ozgur Celik and his leadership team on grounds of alleged irregularities in the party congress that elected him, in a move that sent the stock market plunging 5.5 percent.

Analysts said the move was a "rehearsal" for a much bigger one against the overall CHP leadership to try to hobble it as an opposition force.

An almost identical lawsuit against the CHP's national leadership is being played out at an Ankara court, whose next hearing is Monday.

If successful, it could unseat party leader Ozgur Ozel.

- 'Justice non-existent' -

Outside the building, several protesters -- none of whom were willing to use their full names -- expressed growing frustration but said they would never give up.

"Justice, rights, the rule of law –- none of that exists anymore. Even MPs can't enter the building and the provincial chairman has been replaced by a trustee: this is against democracy," said a 49-year-old woman called Canan.

"But we will never, ever give up our struggle."

Another called Huseyin said there was a growing crackdown on freedom.

"Turkey is a country where freedoms are increasingly being curtailed, it is becoming unlivable," the 48-year-old lawyer told AFP, saying the existence of rules had become "meaningless".

"It feels like our room to breathe is being restricted," he said, while insisting they would not give up.

"If we had lost hope, we wouldn't be here.

Late Sunday, Istanbul governor Davut Gul slapped a wide-ranging ban on all protests until Wednesday night in six districts, saying any move to prevent Tekin from taking up his responsibilities "would result in criminal charges".

The ban also prohibits the issuing of any "press releases", signature campaigns or putting up banners and posters linked to the CHP move.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya warned the security forces would act "resolutely" to prevent any disorder.

As police set up barricades late Sunday, access to social media platforms and messaging apps was severely restricted, according to several internet watchdogs such as EngelliWeb and Turkey's Freedom of Expression Association IFOD.

"Following the police blockade of the CHP Istanbul Provincial Headquarters, social media platforms and messaging applications whose bandwidth was throttled/slowed down as of 2345 (2045 GMT) on September 7 include X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal," IFOD said.

Late on Sunday, residents of the Cihangir district could be heard banging pots and pans in a public sign of discontent over the move against CHP.

Tekin's agreement to take the Istanbul position sparked deep anger within the CHP, which expelled him from the party as a result, Ozel said.

The party also filed a legal challenge to the ruling.

It also filed a last-minute legal document transferring the address of Istanbul provincial headquarters to another building 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the west, saying the building which the trustee had just entered would from now one be used as Ozel's Istanbul office, BirGun newspaper said.