ANKARA, April 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Turkey's main opposition party will hold an extraordinary congress on Sunday to re-elect its leader Ozgur Ozel, rallying support as the party weathers the government's crackdown on the country's largest protest movement in years.

Turkey has clamped down on demonstrations triggered by last month's arrest of Istanbul's popular opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, also a member of Ozel's Republican People's Party (CHP).

Nearly 2,000 people have been detained in the unrest following the detention of the man widely considered President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's greatest political challenger, including several hundred students, journalists and young people.

On Thursday authorities briefly detained 11 people, including a leading actor, with prosecutors accusing the suspects of "incitement to hatred and enmity" for relaying calls for a boycott.

"I will talk to party members in the hall but outside, I will be meeting tens or hundreds of thousands" of people, Ozel said, calling for "all citizens, whether they voted for CHP or not" to gather outside the congress hall in Ankara on Sunday.

"Our congress's main demand will be the release of our presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu," added the CHP leader, who has become the face of the protests since the Istanbul mayor's arrest.

The party hopes Sunday's events will help counter further political and judicial pressure, following the dismissal and arrest of seven mayors from its ranks.

- 'Show of force' -

Eren Aksoyoglu, a political communications analyst, said the party will use Sunday's meeting as an opportunity for a "show of force" in the face of the crackdown.

According to Turkish media reports, the authorities are seeking to remove the CHP party's leaders, a year after the opposition's sweeping victory in municipal elections.

"We decided to convene an extraordinary congress on April 6 to block attempts to appoint a trustee" to head the party, Ozel said on March 21.

The party came out on top in the March 2024 municipal elections with nearly 38 percent of the vote across the country. 

In addition to maintaining its lead in large cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, the CHP also made inroads into regions previously considered Erdogan strongholds.

In the days following Imamoglu's arrest, the CHP drew tens of thousands of people into the streets of Istanbul and many other cities to denounce a "coup d'etat".

- 'Tenacious opposition' -

Besides calling people to rally the CHP has managed to put pressure on the authorities by other means, such as the boycott of companies deemed close to the government.

The opposition party called on Turkish people to hold a day-long boycott on purchases last Wednesday in support of the hundreds of students detained since the start of the protests.

That day, many cafes, bars and restaurants in Istanbul and Ankara were deserted as people followed their calls, AFP journalists saw.

"Since Imamoglu's arrest, Ozgur Ozel has given the CHP the image of a party that listens to the street and leads a tenacious opposition," said Aksoyoglu.

"This approach has been successful within the CHP and with voters," the political analyst added.

For Berk Esen, a professor of political science at Istanbul's Sabanci University, Ozel "may not be a very charismatic speaker but he's articulate, precise and very critical of those in power." 

"Ozel is at the head of the CHP but has not yet fully assumed the role of leader," he added. "By pursuing a tenacious opposition to Erdogan, he could strengthen his leadership."