21.05.2026 18:21
After the Ankara Regional Court of Appeals annulled the CHP's 38th Ordinary Congress and the Istanbul Provincial Congress dated October 8, 2023, on the grounds of absolute nullity, the trusteeship role carried out by Gürsel Tekin in the Istanbul organization has officially ended. With the court's decision to revert to the pre-congress administrative structure, Gülsüm Hale Özcömert Coşkun has been appointed as the CHP Istanbul Provincial Chair.
A verdict has been reached in the lawsuit regarding the 38th Ordinary Convention of the CHP, held on November 4-5, 2023, where Özgür Özel was elected as the party's general chair.
"38TH CONVENTION VOID DUE TO ABSOLUTE NULLITY"
The 36th Civil Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Appeals accepted the appeals of Hatip Karaaslan, Levent Çelik, Kamile Bahar Önal, and Yılmaz Özkanat, overturning the decision of the Ankara 42nd Civil Court of First Instance dated October 24, 2025.
The chamber jointly evaluated evidence, witness statements, and official documents from the files of the Ankara 3rd Civil Court of First Instance, the Ankara 26th Criminal Court of First Instance, and related civil and criminal cases in Istanbul. In its ruling, it stated that both the CHP 38th Ordinary Convention of November 4-5, 2023, and the CHP Istanbul Provincial Congress of October 8, 2023, were 'void due to absolute nullity for violating the mandatory provisions of the law'.
DECISION FOR KILIÇDAROĞLU AND FORMER MANAGEMENT TO 'CONTINUE THEIR DUTIES'
The court ruled to annul the CHP's 38th Ordinary Elective Convention retroactively from its date and, due to the convention being deemed null, also annulled all subsequent ordinary and extraordinary conventions and the decisions made therein. The decision ordered a return to the situation prior to the November 4-5, 2023 convention, stipulating that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the general chair before the convention, and the party bodies 'continue their duties unchanged'.
GÜRSEL TEKİN'S TRUSTEE DUTIES TERMINATED
Similarly, due to the annulment of the CHP Istanbul Provincial Congress, it was decided that the former provincial chair and provincial bodies would continue their duties. With this ruling, Gürsel Tekin's role as trustee ended, and Gülsüm Hale Özcömert Coşkun was appointed as the Istanbul Provincial Chair. Coşkun had been serving as acting provincial chair after former Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu received a political ban.