ANKARA (Reuters) -A Turkish court is expected to announce a verdict on Friday that could lead to the removal of the main opposition party leader Ozgur Ozel, in a case seen as a test of the country’s shaky balance between democracy and autocracy.

If the court annuls the outcome of proceedings in a 2023 annual congress of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), that would mean the ouster of Ozel, 51, its combative leader.

Ozel has risen to prominence since the March detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his party’s presidential candidate and the main political rival of President Tayyip Erdogan.

The centrist CHP, which denies the charges against it, is level with Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted, conservative AK party (AKP) in most polls.

If the court cancels the congress and ousts Ozel, it co

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