Turkish markets face turmoil after court ruling on opposition leadership

On May 21, 2026, the Ankara Administrative Court of Appeals issued a decision to cancel the 2023 congress of the main opposition party, CHP, effectively removing Özgür Özel from the party leadership and reinstating Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. This ruling caused immediate volatility in Turkish markets, with the Istanbul Stock Exchange falling by over 6%, triggering an automatic trading halt. The banking index declined by 8.63% while five-year credit default swaps rose by 12 basis points to 253. To stabilize the lira, state banks intervened by selling approximately 6 billion dollars in foreign currency, though some market estimates suggested the intervention reached up to 9 billion dollars. Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek convened an emergency meeting of the Financial Stability Council to address the situation. Despite the initial shock, markets showed signs of partial recovery the following morning, with the stock index rising 1.9%. Uncertainty remains high as investors assess whether this political development will have long-term economic consequences.