Turkish Supreme Court allows extraordinary MHP congress

ANKARA (AA) – Just weeks after dissident members of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) were blocked from holding an extraordinary congress, Turkey’s Supreme Court Tuesday confirmed their bid to convene a congress that might lead to new party leadership.

The Supreme Court upheld an Ankara civil court decision green-lighting the congress, reversing a court that had overruled the decision on May 13.

After the party won just 40 seats in parliament in last November’s general elections, MHP Deputy Umit Ozdag and former MPs Koray Aydin, Meral Aksener, and Sinan Ogan have pushed for the ouster of Devlet Bahceli, who has led the party since 1997.

On May 15, based on earlier court rulings, Turkish police prevented dissident party members from holding an extraordinary congress in the capital Ankara.