Eighty-one provincial heads of the Republican People's Party (CHP) on Thursday gathered to voice support for the party’s chairperson, Özgür Özel, and defend the 2023 congress results.

Gathering in front of the party headquarters in the capital Ankara, the provincial heads made a statement, read out by CHP Ankara Chair Ümit Erkol.

Erkol said that Özel was elected as the party leader by the free will of the delegates at the 38th Ordinary Congress of the CHP, then they focused on the local elections in unity and "became the local power," referring to last year’s local elections where the CHP made significant gains.

He accused the government of politicizing the case and also voiced support for Istanbul’s ousted mayor, Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.

Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to three-year prison sentences for a total of 12 suspects, including Imamoğlu, in an ongoing trial against the CHP over alleged vote buying in the 2023 ordinary congress.

The lawsuit seeks to cancel the party’s 38th Ordinary Congress held on Nov. 4-5, 2023, in which Chairperson Özgür Özel allegedly "bought” supporters to oust Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, his predecessor, in an intraparty election held at the congress.

It also asks to suspend all CHP officials linked to the congress. If the court rules to annul the congress that elected Özel as CHP chair, a trustee would be assigned to administer Türkiye’s oldest political party, who would then call for an extraordinary congress within 45 days.

Several eyewitnesses testified in court about the allegations that delegates were made to vote in exchange for money at the said congress.