Demands and Discontent: Protests in Turkey
Recent protests raise many questions about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's future in Turkey. While leading Turkey for 22 years, as both Prime Minister and President, his rule has been characterized as repressive, criticized for lacking checks and balances, and called out for sidelining opponents. However, with the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular opposition candidate and mayor of Istanbul, large anti-government protests erupted throughout the country.
The protests include Imamoglu’s supporters and other groups generally dissatisfied with Erdogan’s authoritarian role, or disillusioned with government corruption and ineffectiveness. Erdogan condemned the demonstrations as a “movement of violence,” despite most of them being peaceful. Still, dozens of police officers were injured, and more than 2,000 people, including several journalists and photojournalists covering the protests, were detained.
Imamoglu, a member of the center-left-pro-secularist Republican People’s Party (CHP), is viewed as posing the most serious electoral challenge to Erdogan. In 2024, Imamoglu won 51.4% of the vote in the March municipal elections. Now, likely due to the crackdown on opposition that began earlier this year in Turkey, Imamoglu is detained on corruption charges, along with a suspicion of supporting an outlawed Kurdish organization, with the government denying any influence over the judicial decision. Along with Imamoglu, some 100 others connected to the mayor, and thus the opposition, were detained.
European leaders, including the CHP party leader Ozgur Ozel praised the protests, and condemned the arrest of Imamoglu as “the greatest motion of censure in history.” With Imamoglu detained, the pharmacist-turned-politician Ozel poses another potential threat to Erdogan’s rule. As the face of the protests, and a longtime opponent of Erdogan, Ozel will likely be the “best placed” for the job. While Erdogan has served his two terms as permitted under the constitution, the loophole of amending the Constitution, or simply calling an early election is not out of the question. He’d need a majority in Parliament, however, and while the government is packed with loyalists, the protests have called major attention to the adversaries of the regime.
The demonstrations illustrate the complicated political battleground in Turkey, the growing divide between the secularists and the more devout, and the strengthening dissatisfaction of younger generations towards authoritarian regimes who find value in rallying around a cause and a charismatic leader. While the demonstrations are large, and the opposition popular, Erdogan holds most of the cards in his hands. However, Ozel’s popularity, and the anger surrounding Imamoglu’s arrest makes Erdogan an unlikable figure, inside and outside of Turkey. And if more become discontent, a third term for Erdogan appears off the table.