ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court on Thursday issued a ruling that effectively removed the head of the country’s main opposition party by annulling a 2023 congress that elected him.
The move deals a serious blow to the beleaguered Republican People’s Party, or CHP, as it struggles under waves of legal cases targeting its members and elected officials.
An appeals court in Turkey’s capital Ankara declared the CHP congress that picked Ozgur Ozel as chairman to be null, ordering that he should be replaced by his predecessor, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Last year, a lower court ruled against claims of irregularities and misconduct surrounding Ozel’s election but Thursday’s decision overturned the original verdict.
The ruling led to frantic meetings at the CHP’s Ankara headquarters, further threatening the opposition’s chances of unseating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after more than two decades in office. Large crowds gathered outside the office block and police erected barriers.
The next presidential election is due in 2028 but Erdogan can call for an early vote. His main challenger, the CHP mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, has been imprisoned since March last year and is currently on trial on corruption charges.
The appeals court's decision suspends Ozel and members of the party’s executive board from their duties. They will be “provisionally” replaced by Kilicdaroglu and those who held office before the November 2023 congress.
In comments to broadcaster TV100, Kilicdaroglu called for party members to remain calm. “Our party is a very large party and it will solve its own problems internally,” he said. The 77-year-old was removed following a 13-year tenure as leader, during which the CHP failed to win any national elections.
Ozel, meanwhile, attempted to rally supporters.
“I am not promising you a path to power through a rose garden,” he posted on X following the ruling. “I am promising you the ability to endure suffering but never surrender. I am promising you honor, dignity, courage and struggle!”
The CHP is expected to challenge Thursday’s ruling in the Supreme Court in the coming days.
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek, who oversaw several cases against the CHP in his former role as Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, described the court’s ruling as one that “reinforces our citizens’ trust in democracy.”
Many observers have said that the legal cases against the CHP — mostly centered on corruption allegations — are politically motivated and aimed at neutralizing the party ahead of the next election. The government, however, insists that Turkey’s courts are impartial and act independently of political pressure.
Erdogan has ruled Turkey, first as prime minister and then as president, since 2003. His electoral record suffered a serious blow in 2019 when the CHP seized control of several major cities in local elections. In Istanbul, Imamoglu emerged as a popular and charismatic figure that many felt could successfully topple Erdogan.
FILE - Republican People's Party or (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel gestures to party members during his speech during a CHP convention, in Ankara, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)
FILE - Turkish CHP party leader and Nation Alliance's presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, center, joins legislators elected to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as they attend their first parliamentary session, in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Ali Unal, File)
SEATTLE (AP) — For all the growth in American soccer over the past quarter-century, the U.S. men's national team remains stagnant.
Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie fared no better at the World Cup in 2022 and 2026 than Tim Howard, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore did in 2010 and 2014.
“We want to be able to go and compete with some of the best in the world and we just still have that next step to come,” Pulisic said after Monday night's error-filled 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16.
For all the billions of dollars invested with the goal of boosting the national team into the world's elite, the Americans remain soccer plebians.
After reaching the semifinals of the first World Cup in 1930, the U.S. didn't even qualify between 1950 and 1990. Since then, the Americans were eliminated in the round of 16 in 1994, 2010, 2014, 2022 and this year, failed to advance past their group in 1990, 1998 and 2006, and flopped in qualifying for 2018.
“It’s not like you are in a rocket and you improve and you grow. ... It’s not linear," U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.
The U.S. won three games in a World Cup for the first time, beating Paraguay, Australia and Bosnia-Herzegovina while losing to Turkey and Belgium. The Americans benefited as host, a seeded team that didn't face a top-10 nation before the Red Devils.
By the next World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (with three games in South America), Pulisic, McKennie and Adams will be 31.
Folarin Balogun led the U.S. team with three goals, looking like a top striker, and gained worldwide notoriety when his red card suspension for awkwardly landing on an opponent’s ankle was lifted after a phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump. A former Arsenal youth player, the 25-year-old striker is entering the fourth season of a five-year contract with French club Monaco and could be set for a move to a bigger club.
Malik Tillman became the first player since France's Bernard Genghini in 1982 to have two free kick goals in a World Cup. The 24-year-old midfielder is entering the second season of a five-year contract with German club Bayer Leverkusen. He had a difficult 2025-26, getting dropped from the starting lineup between late March and the season’s final match.
Pochettino said he will speak with the U.S. Soccer Federation after a rest period to discuss whether it wants him to stay beyond the expiration of his contract this summer and whether he wants to commit to a four-year cycle.
“We had positive conversations with Mauricio before the World Cup about the future. We agreed we would continue those conversations following a chance to rest and reflect post World Cup,” the U.S. Soccer Federation said in a statement Tuesday. “We have a great deal of respect and gratitude for Mauricio, his staff and everyone part of the program. We have shared excitement about our potential and also shared clarity about the amount of work at all levels still required to achieve our ambition.”
The Argentine took over from Gregg Berhalter in late 2024 after first-round elimination at the Copa America. His first year included failures to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Nations League.
“We were in a mess,” he said. “I’ve seen this team show that we can play football. We can play soccer. We can compete. That we need keep improving — a lot of young players with a lot potential and future.”
Goalkeeper has gone from the United States' biggest strength from 1990 through 2014 to a huge weakness in the past decade and appears to be at its weakest since the 1980s.
Long gone are the days when Tony Meola, Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan inspired confidence.
Zack Steffen and Matt Turner both failed to establish themselves with big European teams. Matt Freese, who supplanted Turner as the first-choice starter last year, gifted a goal in the loss to Belgium that will be replayed on blooper reels.
Gabriel Slonina, Chris Brady, Patrick Schulte, Diego Kochen and Roman Celentano, who head the next generation, have the next cycle to establish themselves as possible No. 1s.
Central defense also is a concern. Crystal Palace's Chris Richards is the only American playing at a top club and his World Cup partner, Tim Ream, at 38 became the oldest U.S. player at any World Cup.
With the expansion of the field to 48 nations, including six from North and Central America and the Caribbean, World Cup qualifying is not likely to be challenging for CONCACAF's powers: Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
All three were eliminated in the round of 16 after Curaçao, Haiti and Panama were eliminated with last-place finishes in their groups.
Unless the U.S. shows vast improvement, it will not be seeded for the 2030 World Cup and likely will face a world power in the first round.
Next up are fall friendlies, followed in November by the 2027 CONCACAF Nations League matches and next year by a possible Nations League final four and a Gold Cup.
See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
United States' Tyler Adams celebrates after Malik Tillman scored their first goal from a free kick during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between the United States and Belgium in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
United States' Weston McKennie (8) reacts during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between the United States and Belgium in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino walks off the pitch after losing to Belgium in their World Cup round of 16 soccer match in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
United States' Christian Pulisic (10) reacts after Belgium scored a goal during the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between the United States and Belgium in Seattle, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
