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recep tayyip erdogan
Popular Fury Grows in Turkey Against Tyrannical Erdoğan Emboldened by Trump
The imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the far-right president's top political rival, has unleashed a new wave of protests against increasingly autocratic rule.
Mar 24, 2025
International outrage and charges of "viciousness" and "outright autocracy" have followed Sunday's imprisonment of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's top political rival, the popular Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is seen as Erdogan's likeliest opposition challenger in upcoming national elections.
The corruption charges levied against İmamoğlu, a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP), are seen as politically motivated and follow days of sustained protests by opposition voices opposed to Erdoğan's increasingly authoritarian rule.
Tens of thousands marched and clashed with riot police after fresh protests erupted Sunday in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country following the court's actions against İmamoğlu and on Monday, the CHP announced that nearly 15 million people, members and non-members alike, participated in national primaries to support the jailed mayor's candidacy to face off against Erdoğan in the next election.
The non-member vote of more than 13 million, "could indicate," reportsNBC News, "that İmamoğlu, 54, enjoys wide public support beyond the party faithful. The party's chairman said it showed the need for early elections."
Writing for Politico Europe, opinion editor Jamie Dettmer argues that that timing of Erdoğan's targeting of İmamoğlu has everything to do with the return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the international scene.
Erdoğan, Dettmer wrote on Saturday, "has spent years eroding democracy, stifling dissent and purging the country's army and civil service. Now, it looks as though he's chosen this geopolitical moment to bury the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the secular founder of the Republic of Turkey." He continued:
Erdoğan would harbor no worries as to Trump’s disapproval. The two have lavished priase on each other for years, and the Turkish leader has said he supports his American counterpart’s peace initiative in Ukraine—no doubt music to Trump’s ears.
Erdoğan isn't alone among the once embattled autocrats—and would-be autocrats—sniffing the change in the geopolitical air, and reckoning they're on the cusp of a new era, able to erase the rules and norms of old and replace them with ones more to their liking. It's influencing their behavior as they look to each other for inspiration and new ideas for running their respective countries—whether it be weaponizing policies affecting sexual minorities, scapegoating migrants, sharpening attacks on independent media, transforming public broadcasters into government mouthpieces or just closing them down.
Since his arrest on March 19, the ousted mayor has denied all charges against him and urged his supporters to continue protests in the face of the government crackdown.
"I totally believe these are bogus charges," Emre Can Erdogdu, a university student in Istanbul who attended street protests Sunday night, told the New York Times. "We entirely lost our trust in the government."
Erdogdu said he feared for the future of Turkey. "A person who could be the next president is now out of politics. It is not just about Istanbul. It is about all of Turkey."
A Turkish court jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, President Erdogan's main rival, pending trial on corruption charges triggering the country's biggest protests in over a decade https://t.co/7P7PwrjZsi pic.twitter.com/e05k1sERXI
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 24, 2025
Özgür Özel, the CHP chair, said the imprisonment would not dampen the party's prospects, but only further ignite the growing opposition. "Starting from tomorrow morning," he said from Istanbul on Sunday evening, "we will initiate a great struggle by harnessing the power of organization and using this strength for the good sake of all of us."
He called for "all democrats and all those who care the future of Turkey" to come out in sustained protest.
According to the Hürriyet Daily News, over 1,100 people have been arrested since mass protests erupted last week over İmamoğlu's initial arrest. Criticism only grew the court on Sunday stripped him of his position and sent him to prison.
"By arresting his main political rival," said human rights advocate and scholar Kenneth Roth, "Erdoğan shows he is too fearful of losing to risk even a managed election."
Roth said Erdoğan, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, would rather "opt for an electoral charade" than hold free and fair elections.
Turkish protesters demand "freedom" as police fire rubber bullets and pepper spray at crowds rallying for detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.https://t.co/r7gKpPg0YJ pic.twitter.com/HqAL3Z4kay
— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 24, 2025
With Turkish officials set to visit the United States this week to visit with U.S. counterparts, world's richest man Elon Musk, who has taken a seat as a top advisor to Trump, is under fire for blocking accounts of opposition figures in Turkey on his social media platform X.
As Politicoreported over the weekend:
The majority of the suspended accounts were "university-associated activist accounts, basically sharing protest information, locations for students to go," Yusuf Can,coordinator and analyst at the Wilson Center's Middle East Program, told POLITICO. Many of these accounts are "grassroots activists" with their followings in the low tens of thousands, said Can.
Some accounts appear to be suspended only in Turkey and not in the rest of the world. Activist Ömer Faruk Aslan created a second account to avoid censorship. "Yesterday, my account was blocked by a court order because the tweets exceeded 6 million views," he posted.
Last week, Human Rights Watch said that İmamoğlu's arrest, as well as the targeting of other opposition figures, was politically motivated and an assault on the rule of law.
"Ekrem İmamoğlu and others detained should be released from police custody immediately," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director for the group. "The Erdoğan presidency should ensure that the results of the Istanbul municipal elections are respected and that the criminal justice system is not weaponized for political ends."
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Video From 2040 Begs This Question of Gaza Genocide in 2024: 'What Did You Do to Stop It?'
"Yes, we watched hundreds of thousands of children being killed, maimed, and starved—and we just kept watching," one writer said in response to the powerful clip.
Oct 09, 2024
To mark this week's anniversary of Israel's yearlong assault on Gaza—which has killed, maimed, displaced, starved, and sickened millions of Palestinians with no end in sight—Palestine defenders shared a video set in the year 2040 in which children around the world ask their elders, "What were you doing during this genocide?"
The video—which is reportedly linked to the Turkish government—was reposted by prominent international figures including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, and U.S. peace activist Medea Benjamin.
The clip shows the world commemorating Gaza in ceremonies, museums, and films, with kids asking their grandparents questions like, "What were you doing during this genocide?" and "Did you just watch it?" as the elders hang their heads in shame at images of slain and suffering Palestinian children.
The video ends with a message that fades from, "The genocide committed by Israel is killing Palestinians" to, "The genocide committed by Israel is killing humanity."
Benjamin called the video "haunting." Husam Zomlot, Palestine's ambassador to the United Kingdom, hailed it as "powerful." British author Jonathan Cook lamented that "yes, we watched hundreds of thousands of children being killed, maimed, and starved—and we just kept watching."
Varoufakis posted: "'Where were you,' they will be asking us, 'when this was happening? What did you do to stop it?'"
Erdoğan included a lengthy message with the video as he shared it on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
"Israel's long-standing policy of genocide, occupation, and invasion must now come to an end," he wrote. "It should not be forgotten that Israel will sooner or later pay the price for this genocide that it has been carrying out for a year and is still continuing."
"Just as [Nazi leader Adolf] Hitler was stopped by the common alliance of humanity, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his murder network will be stopped in the same way," Erdoğan continued. "A world in which no account is held for the Gaza genocide will ever find peace."
He added that Turkey "will continue to stand against the Israeli government, no matter what the cost, and call on the world to take this honorable stance."
Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel's Gaza onslaught. The country officially supports the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. In 2024, the Turkish government halted direct trade with Israel over its invasion of Rafah, although commerce continued via third countries including Greece.
However, the Turkish government has also been criticized for not doing enough to support Palestine despite its scathing anti-Israel rhetoric. Some critics also noted the hypocrisy of Turkey vocally condemning Israel's genocide in Gaza while denying the 1915-17 Turkish genocide against Armenians in the disintegrating Ottoman Empire.
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'Autocratic Rule' of Erdogan Cracks as Secular Left Wins Big in Turkey Elections
"You opened the door to the rise of democracy, equality, and freedom," Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu said following his re-election. "You ignited hope at the ballot box."
Apr 01, 2024
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party suffered its worst-ever defeat Sunday when the country's main opposition party scored major wins in municipal elections, including in all five of the nation's largest cities.
With nearly all ballots counted, candidates for the center-left Republican People's Party (CHP) emerged victorious in Istanbul, the capital Ankara, İzmir, Bursa, Adana, and other cities and towns. Turkish media reported CHP victories in 36 of the country's 81 provinces. The right-wing Justice and Development Party (AKP) performed best in the largely rural Anatolian interior.
It was the first time in Erdoğan's 21 years as Turkey's increasingly autocratic president that the AKP suffered such a nationwide electoral defeat.
"My dear Istanbulites, you opened the door to a new future today," incumbent CHP Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu told jubilant supporters during his victory speech following what's likely to be a double-digit win over AKP challenger Murat Kurum. "Starting from tomorrow, Turkey will be a different Turkey. You opened the door to the rise of democracy, equality, and freedom... You ignited hope at the ballot box."
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has dealt the biggest blow in two decades to President Erdogan’s AK Party by winning control of major cities in local elections. Ekrem Imamoglu secured a second term as Istanbul’s mayor ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/fjgsLzuEYg
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 1, 2024
Imamoğlu said that Sunday "marks the end of democratic erosion in Turkey and the resurgence of democracy."
"People oppressed under authoritarian regimes now turn their gaze to Istanbul," he added.
In Ankara—where an ecstatic crowd chanted "Turkey is secular and will remain secular!" and "Tayyip resign!" outside the city hall—CHP Mayor Mansur Yavaş promised his second term would be one of greater inclusion after beating his AKP rival by a stunning 25-point margin.
"Our political views may be different... But now the election is over," he told supporters. "We will... continue to serve 6 million Ankara residents without discrimination."
Erdoğan, meanwhile, acknowledged that the AKP "lost altitude" with Sunday's sweeping losses, vowing, "We will correct our mistakes and redress our shortcomings."
Imamoğlu's reelection was a personal blow to Erdoğan, an Istanbul native who launched his political career as the megacity's mayor in the 1990s. The AKP had set its sights on retaking control of Istanbul and Ankara but came up empty-handed.
Analysts said skyrocketing inflation, the collapsing value of the lira, disaffected Islamist voters, and Imamoğlu's popularity—which transcends the CHP's traditionally secular base—were major factors in Sunday's results.
So was the Gaza genocide. While Turkey is supporting the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, Erdoğan and the AKP have been accused—especially by Islamists—of paying little more than lip service to the cause of Palestinian liberation, while Imamoğlu has said that Turkey should immediately sever trade relations with Israel.
Experts said Imamoğlu's victory puts him, and the CHP, at the center of Turkish politics.
"Imamoglu demonstrated he could reach across the deep socio-political divisions that define Turkey's opposition electorate even without their institutional support," Mert Arslanalp, assistant professor of political science at Istanbul's Boğaziçi University, toldReuters. "This makes him the most politically competitive rival to Erdogan's regime."
In the predominantly Kurdish southeast, the progressive People's Equality and Democratic Party (DEM) won 10 provinces. Election-related violence erupted in parts of the region, including in the village of Ağaçlıdere in the Sur district of Diyarbakır, where DEM polling officer Emin Çelik was killed and around a dozen others were wounded. There were multiple reports of Turkish police violently dispersing Kurds celebrating election wins.
International leftists hailed the big wins by CHP and DEM candidates, with Party of European Socialists president Stefan Löfven cheering what he called "a great victory for democracy and a giant step towards a better future of the Turkish people."
"Erdoğan is losing the local elections in the entire country, leaving room for the opposition to breath and to come back victorious at the next national elections," he added. "We are looking forward to that."
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