Turkish People are Fighting Back for the Future of Imamoğlu and Istanbul

By Zeynep Aktan

Protests erupt in support of Ekrem Imamoğlu and the CHP opposition party. Photograph: Flickr

Every society has red lines; Erdoğan might have just crossed Turkey’s by arresting Istanbul Mayor from the strongest opposition party, CHP, Ekrem Imamoğlu. Imamoğlu was picked up from his house by a convoy of police vehicles on the 19th of March on terrorism and corruption charges. The bust was followed by internet slow down and a social media closure in major cities. No worries though, thankfully most people had VPN downloaded from the last Instagram ban. 

The allegations against Imamoğlu included bribing the mayoral candidate of DEM party, pro-Kurdish political party in Turkey, with over 100 million Turkish liras, around 2 million GBP, to drop out of the race; rigging a tender; establishing and managing a criminal organisation; unlawfully recording personal data; and taking bribes. 

The charges pushed every single button disposable to a prosecutor. Viewed alongside the revocation of Imamoğlu’s university diploma the day prior, what may have been an attempt at a corruption trial quickly turned into a takedown of the most popular opposition candidate who had indicated he was going to run for the next presidential election. Now, even if Imamoğlu is acquitted, the lack of a university diploma would legally prohibit him from running.  

Most of Imamoğlu’s case was hidden behind the government veil, until his initial testimony and financial statements were leaked. The juxtaposition of such disregard of Imamoğlu’s privacy and the opaque prosecution process was noticed by the public. Furthermore, the leaked documents revealed that the allegations were based upon “anonymous witness” statements; witnesses one can’t verify or counter. 

Though the news cycle is turning at lightning speed, Imamoğlu is currently imprisoned for corruption charges, with the terror related charges dropped. This development could be viewed as AKP backtracking after public backlash from appointing a trustee, as is customary when terror charges are the reason for the dismissal of an elected official. As Imamoğlu has been benched for corruption charges, the mayoral position will be filled from within the city council. 

What might come of the rest of the charges are unknown, but with the sheer volume of accusations, the government strategy seems to be to throw everything all at once to find one thing that sticks. After the arrest, student-led protests have spread all throughout the nation as well to the Turkish diaspora. Istanbul, Saraçhane, where the municipality is located, has been the major political rally and protest site, with hundreds gathered day and night since the arrest. 

If one were to ask, why are the people on the streets, day and night getting pepper sprayed, hosed down, occasionally beaten, the answer has very little to do with Imamoğlu himself; it’s the fear of democracy and justice slipping away. A system that can take away the mayor of Istanbul’s university diploma and elected seat without providing concrete evidence inspires a fear that the next day, it could be someone else, and that someone could very well be you. 

It is no wonder that the majority of the protesters are university aged young adults who grew up knowing no other government and only a decline in the economy. Though Imamoğlu was the last drop, the grievances were a boiling pot from the start. The vigour of the protests reveal a deep-rooted unhappiness and hopelessness of the public, especially the youth. With immigration numbers rising each year, young people find life in their home country unlivable; economic conditions, corruption, lack of job opportunities, constant wind-whirl of political conflict, lack of social progress are all amongst the reasons. The arrest of photojournalists for their presence in Saraçhane and Erdoğan’s recent photo-op reduce the hope that the government is hearing the public and understand why they are protesting. It has also caught public attention that only footage from the protests are coming from social media and independent news sources as mainstream media turns a blind eye. 

For anyone looking in from the outside, they should not be fooled into thinking every protestor is risking their wellbeing for Imamoğlu, but must understand that the protestors are a reflection of the frustration with just how hard life is for the average Turkish person. These are not protests for a person, but for a change in the system. Party lines are no longer dividing the public as a new nationalistic but party-less young group is emerging, even repurposing the wolf sign that used to only belong to the nationalistic far-right. Once the dust settles down, what awaits Turkey, will be a discussion of early election. The hope is for an administration that restores the independence of judiciary and cleanses the system of partisanship motivated governing decisions. 

It is crucial to remember, politics is rarely fueled by altruism. Considering Imamoğlu’s alleged shady dealings were first reported from within his own party, a more dynamic and complex web of interests might be behind his arrest. With changing balances within the country and CHP, the public should be cautious of each political actor who stands to gain from the recent developments. It would be very unfortunate to exchange one skewed system for another that is equally skewed, just in the opposite direction.

Photograph: Flickr