In Turkey, police used rubber bullets to storm the headquarters of the main opposition party.

Attempts to resist were quickly suppressed. Police escorted party leaders from the building, including its chairman Ozgur Ozel, who, according to polls, had a chance to succeed Recep Tayyip Erdogan as president.

On May 21, the Ankara opposition court invalidated the decision of the party congress held in 2023, which elected Ozel to this post. The court reinstated Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as chairman, who said the party was capable of handling the crisis on its own.

In response, Özel said that this was a judicial coup, calling on his supporters to begin a round-the-clock demonstration. He emphasized that we are talking about the fate of democracy and the multi-party system. Thousands of people responded to his call.