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Turkey Opposition Uses Tables, Chairs to Block Police Besieging Headquarters
Riot police walk outside the Istanbul provincial office of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), as CHP supporters gather near the office, after a recent court ruling that ousted the CHP’s Istanbul provincial leadership, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dilara Acikgoz
Turkish opposition lawmakers piled tables and chairs at the entrance of an office at their party’s Istanbul headquarters on Monday to block police and prevent the replacement of a senior official whom a court ordered out last week.
The dramatic footage of the barricade standoff marked the latest chapter in a nearly year-long crackdown on the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), during which hundreds of party members have been arrested and jailed.
Outside the building, hundreds of riot police detained protesters, used pepper spray, and scuffled with leaders of the CHP, which is the main rival of President Tayyip Erdogan.
Last week, an Istanbul court ruled to oust the CHP’s Istanbul provincial head, Ozgur Celik, over alleged irregularities. It ordered that Gursel Tekin, a former CHP deputy chair, should replace Celik on an interim basis.
The CHP rejected the ruling as “null and void,” said Tekin had been expelled from the party, and vowed not to relinquish Celik’s post to anyone.
Nonetheless, Tekin arrived at the CHP headquarters amid the protests on Monday to take up the post. He entered the building with police support after a standoff with party members inside, and told reporters he was not working for the state and pledged to help solve the CHP’s problems.
A few floors above, CHP lawmakers piled the furniture nearly to the top of the door to prevent the entry of the police and Tekin. In a stairwell outside the office, police officers evacuated CHP supporters, after having used some pepper spray to force them out, witnesses said.
“Today, they are not only trying to evacuate the building from CHP (supporters) here, but they are actually attempting to dismantle democracy,” Gokhan Gunaydin, a CHP MP standing behind the barricade, said on a live X broadcast from inside the room.
More than 50 CHP MPs were in the CHP headquarters to dissuade police. Istanbul’s main stock index fell 3 percent on Monday, partly over rising political risk, analysts said.
CRACKDOWN
The crackdown on the CHP is centered mainly on corruption allegations the party denies. It says the legal steps aim to eliminate electoral threats to Erdogan and weaken the opposition – charges the government denies, saying courts are independent.
Istanbul’s CHP Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested in March as part of the sprawling investigation, setting off Turkey‘s largest street protests in a decade and hitting Turkish assets.
Share and bond markets fell again last week after the latest court ruling in Istanbul, which could have implications for a separate ruling expected next week on whether CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel will be stripped of his title.
On Sunday, police barricaded the CHP offices, prompting the party to call on supporters to gather there to oppose the “siege,” after which authorities announced a ban on protests.
Access to major social media websites was restricted in Turkey on Monday, a step taken in the past by the authorities at times of political volatility. Netblocks, a global internet monitor, said access to platforms including X, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and WhatsApp had been curbed.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said disregarding the court ruling amounted to obstruction of justice and that “the state will do what is necessary against any illegal initiative.”
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.