Even Abdullah Gul, a former president and one-time close associate of Turkey’s strongman president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says the man and his Justice and Development party (AKP) have gone too far. Twenty-two years into the president’s rule, Gul pointedly reminded him that back in 1999 they had both been jailed for publicly reciting lines from the Islamo-nationalist poet Ziya Gokalp: “The injustices suffered by Recep Tayyip Erdogan and [myself] must not be applied to Ekrem Imamoglu, who was democratically elected by the people.”
But they are being applied. And Mr Erdogan’s Turkey is sliding decisively into autocracy, with a pliant judiciary co-opted, democratic norms abandoned and media muzzled.
Just weeks after the arrest of Mr Imamoglu, Istanbul’s popular mayor, on clearly trumped up charges, protests have swept at least 55 of the 81 provinces. The opposition has pledged to continue them weekly. On the day of March 29th alone, it claims to have mobilised up to 2.2 million people, despite brutal police attacks on demonstrators and over 2,000 arrests. A Konda institute poll records 73 per cent of respondents supporting the protest movement.
But a younger generation will no longer be silent, and is being blooded in protest. It is fearless and displays a humour that testifies to that new confidence.
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In front of the massive 200,000-strong Istanbul rally on March 29th the placards proclaimed “#Reboot the judiciary”, “Together against fascism” or “AKP, one day you will be held accountable.” A young woman student taunted Mr Erdogan over his repeated calls for Turkish women to have “at least three children, to support the nation”. Standing still with arms outstretched, the student, Zeynep, brandished her cardboard sign written in black marker, asking him if he was “sure he wants three more children like her”.
[ Turkey releases 127 people charged with taking part in anti-government protestsOpens in new window ]
Other political rivals to Mr Erdogan have found themselves behind bars: Selahattin Demirtaş, a charismatic Kurdish opposition leader who ran for the presidency, in prison since 2016; Umit Ozdag, leader of the small ultranationalist Victory party, jailed in January on charges that he insulted Mr Erdogan and “incited hatred” with anti-refugee social media posts.
But the legal campaign against Istanbul’s popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, has taken judicial weaponisation – to use a favourite term by Mr Erdogan’s pal Donald Trump – to a new level, what the Council of Europe terms “judicial harassment”.
Mr Imamoglu stands out as one of few politicians who appeal to a broad spectrum of voters, including Kurds, conservatives and secularists, and who can potentially defeat Mr Erdogan’s AKP in the 2028 presidential elections.
He first attracted Mr Erdogan’s attention during the 2019 Istanbul local elections when, as opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate, he narrowly defeated the AKP. Following AKP complaints, the Supreme Electoral Council annulled the election, but a rerun saw Mr Imamoglu win decisively with a 54.22 per cent majority.
Then came charges accusing him of “collectively insulting public officials” as “fools” for annulling the elections, a jail sentence of two years and 7 months, and a ban on running in the 2023 presidential elections.
[ Jailing of Istanbul mayor seen as effort to eliminate threat to reign of ErdoganOpens in new window ]
Between 2019 and 2023, Mr Imamoglu faced more than 90 legal investigations, ranging from “threatening” speech and abuse of office to widely discredited claims of bid rigging for city contracts. These ran from claims that new city minibuses were unsuitable, to allegations that he disrespected the tomb of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror by entering it wearing shoes. When he protested the arrest of a party colleague for alleged links to Kurdish terrorism, he referred to the government as a “dark movement pursuing its own agenda” and “holding batons”. Mr Erdogan sued, demanding one million Turkish liras (€24,000) in moral damages.
Another legal probe for “threatening and targeting individuals involved in counter-terrorism efforts” followed Mr Imamoglu’s complaint over the arrest of a party youth leader for criticising Istanbul’s chief public prosecutor. The investigation was led by the man himself as both prosecutor and “victim”. In a bid to stop him running for the presidency, his university annulled his constitutionally required degree.
Mr Imamoglu’s latest arrest arises from two cases: one alleging corruption, and the other accusing him of collaborating with terrorism, the banned Kurdish PKK, through an electoral alliance with a legal Kurdish party. The charges could mean several more years in prison and disqualification from office.
Mr Erdogan, who pushed through an executive presidency that gave him sweeping powers in a contentious referendum in 2017, is now also trying to circumvent the constitutional ban on a third term. Under existing rules, he could contest another election if parliament calls for elections before this term ends, or his allies could seek a constitutional change. And to make sure his legacy is not undone, he is trying to remove his most credible rival off the pitch.
What he has not reckoned with, however, is a young generation which appears increasingly determined to say No Way to their Turkish Trump.
