Protests erupt in Türkiye following Erdoğan’s jailing of rival

By Cemile Cakir

Türkiye

March 23. Since the evening of March 19, millions of people in the major cities of Türkiye — Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and others — have taken to the streets to protest the arrest that morning of Ekrem Imamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul and the biggest electoral challenge to the current president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In some areas, police used tear gas and force against the demonstrators.

In the March 23 primary vote for presidential candidate of the Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi or CHP), nearly 15 million people voted in support of Ekrem Imamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, the largest city in Türkiye. Imamoğlu was officially arrested on March 23, the day of the vote, which was a solidarity and primary election within the CHP.

Following Imamoğlu’s detention, CHP called for massive demonstrations across Türkiye. Protesters included not only CHP members but also supporters from other leftist groups, political parties, communities and university students from all over the country. Demonstrations have continued every night since March 19.

To understand why people took to the streets, we need to look at how President Erdoğan came to power and gradually turned Türkiye into a country ruled by an authoritarian regime. Many opposition parties and political analysts describe Erdoğan’s regime as one of the emerging dictatorships of the modern era, using elections and the judicial system to maintain power.

[Some facts: Türkiye, a country slightly larger in area than Texas, has a population of about 85 million people, of whom 18% or about 16 million inhabit its largest city, Istanbul, which straddles Europe and Asia. It is a member of NATO but is not officially a member of the European Union. Kurdish people form the largest ethnic and linguistic minority — 15 million — including about 3 million in Istanbul, who have been engaged in a struggle with the Turkish rulers.]

Erdoğan’s long-term power grab

Türkiye’s political system used to function as a parliamentary democracy. Members of parliament, prime ministers and presidents had to win elections to gain their posts. To govern, the prime minister would form a cabinet either solely from his party or through a coalition. Türkiye’s political system was designed to keep the separation of powers as the constitution promised.

However, Türkiye’s political system was not functioning perfectly and required significant change, given the frequent political crises, military coups and interventions nearly every decade. Erdoğan took advantage of this need for change to alter the entire political system, reshaping it to serve his political power and agenda.

Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) won the 2002 parliamentary elections and has been in power since then. In the beginning, he and his party presented themselves as liberal, even though his ideology was rooted in radical Islamic conservatism.

Before Erdoğan’s government, Kurdish people’s rights were largely denied, and women who wore headscarves were not allowed to attend universities or work in public service. The progress during negotiations for Türkiye to gain European Union membership and the reduction of the military’s influence in politics initially allowed Erdoğan to appear as a reformist to certain segments of society. Over time, however, his true intentions became clear.

Erdoğan elected president

The first major crackdown was on the Kurdish peace initiative. In late 2012, Erdoğan’s government had begun peace negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to end the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. At first, these negotiations seemed sincere.

Erdoğan’s true goal was to secure the Kurdish party’s support for his plan to change the constitution, shifting Türkiye from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential system — one that would grant him greater power. In 2007 he led a referendum establishing direct election of the president, replacing the parliamentary model.

This referendum victory was the first major step consolidating Erdoğan’s power and moving toward dictatorship. His proposed system lacked any separation of powers. In 2014, Erdoğan won the presidential election and became Türkiye’s 12th president.

He aimed higher, attempting to hold both the presidency and the authority of the prime minister, consolidating all power in his hands.

The negotiations with the Kurdish groups lasted for three years before collapsing.

Erdoğan’s government had negotiated with the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who had been jailed since 1999. Erdoğan ended the peace process after Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-chair of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), publicly declared that his party would not allow Erdoğan to become an all-powerful president.

Crackdown on Kurdish cities, Gezi Park

Following this, the Turkish government launched a brutal crackdown on Kurdish cities, leveling entire neighborhoods, that would cost 1,464 lives, including civilians, and losing 117 soldiers and police officers in the process. Demirtaş – along with HDP co-chair Figen Yuksekdag and thousands of other politicians – activists and journalists, was arrested in the aftermath.

In May 2013, Erdoğan’s government decided to replace Gezi Park — the only green space in the center of Istanbul’s Taksim Square — with a reconstruction of the historic Topçu Military Barracks. This building had stood there a century earlier. When construction crews began uprooting trees, a group of young environmentalists gathered to protect them. In response, police brutally attacked these protesters, sparking widespread outrage.

As news of the violence spread, more people flocked to Gezi Park and Taksim Square to join the demonstrations. The protests quickly spread across Türkiye, reaching major cities and small towns as well. For nearly two months, the country was engulfed in demonstrations against Erdoğan’s authoritarian rule.

During the protests, 22 people were killed, over 8,000 were injured and around 3,000 were arrested. Among those arrested was Osman Kavala, a philanthropist who was not even a political figure. He has remained imprisoned ever since. The Gezi protests marked a turning point in Erdoğan’s rule; after suppressing the Gezi protesters, his rule became even more authoritarian. To this day, people continue to be prosecuted for their involvement in the Gezi movement.

2013 corruption scandal

Another key event accelerating Erdoğan’s power monopoly was the Dec. 17–25, 2013, corruption scandal. As a right-wing Islamist politician, Erdoğan had long cooperated with radical Islamist movements. One of the most influential was the Gülen movement, led by Fethullah Gülen. This group helped Erdoğan consolidate power by eliminating secularists from key institutions, including the military, police forces, universities and other public sectors.

Over time, however, the Gülenists sought not only political influence but also economic control, which Erdoğan refused to grant. In retaliation, the Gülenists launched a large-scale corruption investigation targeting Erdoğan and his inner circle. On Dec. 17, 2013, the prosecutors initiated operations that led to the arrest of the sons of several cabinet ministers.

The investigation focused on bribery and illicit financial dealings, particularly involving Riza Sarraf, an Iranian-Turkish businessman who later fled to the U.S. Sarraf had allegedly bribed ministers with millions of dollars to launder Iranian money and bypass U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The scandal exposed deep-rooted corruption in Erdoğan’s government. Leaked audio recordings even revealed Erdoğan instructing his son, Bilal Erdoğan, to remove millions of dollars and euros from their home, fearing an impending raid.

Following these operations, Erdoğan accused the Gülenists of forming a “parallel state” and systematically purged them from key positions. He then changed laws to bring the judiciary under direct government control, effectively ending judicial independence. From that moment on, every judge and prosecutor had to act as an agent of the ruling government.

This crackdown set the stage for an even more dramatic event that would shake Türkiye’s political system to its core at that time.

July 15, 2016, coup attempt

On the evening of July 15, 2016, a faction within the Turkish military took over TRT, the state-owned media organization, and forced a news anchor to read their declaration seizing power. Meanwhile other soldiers blocked the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, and F-16 fighter jets bombed the Turkish parliament in Ankara, the capital city of 5-6 million people.

As the coup unfolded, President Erdoğan, with the help of journalist Hande Fırat from a pro-government media outlet, appeared via FaceTime and called on the public to take to the streets. In response, thousands of his supporters confronted the soldiers, and the coup attempt ultimately failed.

More than 300 people were killed and around 1,500 were injured during the clashes. In the aftermath, Erdoğan launched an unprecedented purge, arresting over 160,000 individuals — including soldiers, judges, prosecutors, university professors, teachers and civil servants. Another 152,000 people were removed from their jobs. While the coup was officially blamed on the Gülenist movement, most of those arrested were leftist activists and Kurdish political figures.

The crackdown extended to the media, with numerous TV and radio channels shut down. More than 3,000 journalists lost their jobs. Erdoğan used the coup attempt as an opportunity to consolidate his power further. He declared a three-month state of emergency, which was repeatedly extended and lasted for two years.

Some regime critics believe that Erdoğan himself orchestrated the coup to justify his ability to apply state power.

2017 Constitutional Referendum

In April 2017, Türkiye held a constitutional referendum in which voters — both in Türkiye and abroad — approved 18 amendments to the Turkish Constitution. The key changes included:

• Replacing the parliamentary system with a presidential system.
• Abolishing the position of Prime Minister.
• Granting the presidency broad executive powers.
• Restructuring the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, effectively placing the judiciary under Erdoğan’s control.

With these changes, Erdoğan gained sweeping executive, legislative and judicial authority, turning Türkiye into a country ruled by one person.

2018 and 2023 presidential elections

After securing absolute power, Erdoğan ran for re-election in 2018 and won against CHP’s candidate, Muharrem İnce. In the 2023 presidential election, many opposition figures argued that a third term would violate the Constitution.

In the first round, Erdoğan, backed by his far-right coalition — the Republic Alliance, which included MHP, HÜDA-PAR and BBP — failed to secure the required 50% majority. This led to a runoff election against Kemal Kılıcdaroglu, the candidate of the Nation Alliance, also known as the Table of Six, which included CHP, IYI Party, DEVA Party, Gelecek Party and Saadet Party.

On May 28, 2023, Erdoğan won the second round with 52.18% of the vote. However, many believe that electoral fraud played a role, especially in rural areas and regions affected by the Feb. 6, 2023, earthquake, where vote manipulation was suspected.

Losing mayoral elections in big cities

Although Erdoğan won two consecutive presidential elections, he began losing mayoral races — particularly in major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Adana and Mersin. This posed a serious problem for him, as these cities have large municipal budgets that have long been used to benefit his close allies and far-right Islamic foundations. Loss of these financial resources was a setback.

His first major defeat came in March 2019, when Ekrem Imamoğlu, the candidate of the Nation Alliance (CHP & IYI Party), won the Istanbul mayoral election. However, the election was controversially annulled, and a new election was held on June 23, 2019. This time, Imamoğlu won by an even larger margin — defeating the AKP candidate by 800,000 votes.

Around the same time, Mansur Yavas, another opposition candidate, won the Ankara mayoral election, marking a significant decline in Erdoğan’s political dominance.

By the 2024 local elections, the decline had deepened. CHP secured 37% of the vote, winning key cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Antalya. Meanwhile HDP (now known as DEM Party) won in Kurdish-majority cities.

Facing these losses, Erdoğan resorted to familiar tactics — arresting opposition mayors on false charges and appointing government trustees in their place. While this practice had become common in Kurdish cities like Diyarbakir, Mardin, and Van, implementing it in Istanbul was bound to create a crisis.

Ekrem Imamoğlu’s arrest 

With CHP gaining political momentum, it called for early presidential elections, nominating Ekrem Imamoğlu as its candidate. Erdoğan, fearing the threat, was to use the judiciary to eliminate his strongest opponent. The crackdown began with the October 30, 2024, arrest of Ahmet Özer, the Kurdish CHP mayor of Esenyurt, who was removed and replaced with a government-appointed trustee.

Then this March 18, Istanbul University annulled Imamoğlu’s degree, citing irregularities: Loss of the degree bars him from running for president. The timing of this decision, just days before the opposition was set to nominate him, raised suspicions of political interference. (Ironically, many believe that Erdoğan’s university diploma is fake. His alleged graduation diploma from Marmara University is dated 1981, yet the university was founded later.)

The next day, March 19, Imamoğlu was arrested along with over 100 others on corruption and terrorism-related charges, including alleged ties to the PKK.

The CHP leaders called Imamoğlu’s arrest a “civilian coup” and urged nationwide protests. Istanbul’s Governor Davut Gul then imposed a four-day ban on demonstrations. Protests across Türkiye have continued despite government restrictions. Imamoğlu was sent to Silivri Prison, and shortly after, Sisli Mayor Resul Emrah Sahan was also arrested and replaced with a trustee.

Why is Erdoğan cracking down?

Polls indicate that Imamoğlu could defeat Erdoğan in a presidential election. If Erdoğan were to lose, he would risk being prosecuted for corruption. Throughout his rule, he has accumulated immense wealth — not just for himself but also for his family and close associates. Under his leadership:

• Türkiye became a haven for organized crime and drug trafficking.
• The richest people became wealthier, while the poor suffered greater hardship.
• He used the judiciary as a tool against opponents, imprisoning journalists and suppressing independent media.
• He reshaped the education system, placing Islamic ideology at its core.
• He dismantled public health care, forcing people to rely on expensive private hospitals.
• He alienated Türkiye from its neighbors and played a role in Syria’s destruction.

Now, fearing the inevitable downfall, Erdoğan is desperately clinging to power. However, the mass protests sweeping Türkiye reveal that real power lies with the people.