Erdoğan's endgame: outlawing the Turkish opposition

March 23, 2025 2:17 PM

For more than 20 years, Turkey has experienced steady democratic backsliding under the rule of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but the secular Republican People's Party (CHP) founded on the ideals of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk has remained fierce. Following the failed 2016 coup attempt that Erdoğan leveraged to push through a constitutional overhaul centralizing power, social democrat Ekrem İmamoğlu emerged as the opposition's brightest star, winning a 2019 Istanbul mayoral race that authorities first nullified, then watched him win again by an even larger margin. Further gains for the CHP in municipal contests last year amid lingering economic dysfunction gave renewed hope that Erdogan could finally be ousted. That hope faded this week as the government launched an unprecedented crackdown, pressuring the cancellation of İmamoğlu's (required) college diploma, jailing him on corruption charges, and investigating over a hundred others. The shock move, which has sparked mass protests in the streets and widespread censorship, threatens to move Turkey firmly from a "competitive authoritarian" system (where the political landscape is merely biased) towards outright autocracy.
posted by Rhaomi (10 comments total)

Thanks for the post, rhaomi. I don't have much to say and can't bear to 'favorite' it, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who read through all your links with horror.

(And maybe a little hope, about the protests.)
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 3:42 PM on March 23 [3 favorites]

I'm sure 47 and company are busily taking notes. Terrifying.
posted by OHenryPacey at 4:22 PM on March 23 [6 favorites]

Excellent post, Rhaomi.
posted by doctornemo at 4:31 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]

also hanging in the balance: the nascent PKK detente...
Istanbul mayor's arrest throws Turkey's Kurdish peace bid into doubt - "Imamoglu's detention shows that the peace process concerns Turkey as a whole because the ultimate goal was to strengthen democracy, said Ebru Gunay, a DEM [pro-kurdish party] deputy leader."

Gunay said the CHP was now the target of what the pro-Kurdish political movement has experienced for years.

"The government has a concept of terrorism that can be pulled in every direction," she said.

"The threat of (using government-appointed officials as) trustees, repression and arrests is imposed on Kurds, and now it's happening to Turkey's opposition. There is no guarantee that it won't happen to others tomorrow."

earlier...
Pro-Kurdish party says Turkey vague on peace steps after PKK pledge - "The government, DEM and MHP support the peace call, which gives Erdogan a historic opportunity to bring security and development to southeast Turkey and has broad implications for neighbouring Syria and Iraq, where the PKK is now based."
posted by kliuless at 4:32 PM on March 23 [6 favorites]

I'm sure 47 and company are busily taking notes. Terrifying.

Name the country, and it's likely some shit of a person, most likely male, is perking up with all these developments.. "Perhaps.. me?"

Is this a human thing or a billionaire thing
posted by ginger.beef at 6:43 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]

Let's not forget the 2016 Gülenist purge, where thousands of government officials were imprisoned or had to flee, fearing for their lives. We've lost touch, but we knew a couple who came to Canada as refugees. She was a senior judge, he was an engineer. They had to escape on foot via a very remote land border.
posted by scruss at 7:47 PM on March 23 [8 favorites]

What is going on in Turkey right now, as well as the protests in Hungary and Serbia, feels like we are at some sort of tipping point. If there is a strong push to remove Erdoğan, are any outside forces likely to come to his defense?
posted by rednikki at 7:01 AM on March 24 [1 favorite]

Also: again, humanity can't escape the trap of theocracy.
posted by doctornemo at 7:43 AM on March 24 [1 favorite]

are any outside forces likely to come to his defense?

Not familiar enough with Turkish politics to say for certain, but considering Trump had zero problem with abruptly dropping US protection of the Kurds during his first term, and that Erdogan is a fellow strongman in Trump's eyes, there's no way Erdogan wouldn't know the words to say to get Trump to at least consider it.
posted by Rykey at 9:55 AM on March 24 [2 favorites]

Flagged as fantastic. Thanks, Rhaomi.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:42 AM on March 24