The arrest of the opposition leader led to a huge protest in Turkey. According to multiple sources including the BBC and CNN, Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul and the leader of the opposition, was arrested a few days ago, leading to the protests of tens of thousands of protesters across Turkey. The opposition leader —who was also suspended from the post of Mayor — was due to be selected as the 2028 presidential nominee of the Republican People’s Party in a vote this month. The protests in the meantime led to more than 1400 arrests. But it remains unclear whether the political unrest which is increasing day by day will end soon.
Protest movements are not new in Turkey at all. Notably, several protests including the Gezi protests of 2013, one of the largest protests which began in Istanbul over the demolition of a local park, took place earlier. The ongoing protest is the worst unrest the country has seen in more than a decade. The current protest may unsurprisingly continue in the days ahead due to political and other reasons. While Imamoglu says his arrest is politically motivated, the Erdogan government arrested him over corruption allegation, denies Imamoglu’s claim of political motivation behind it and termed the protest “vandalism” and  “street terrorism”. Though the protesters immediately demanded the release of the opposition leader, they have subsequently added several other demands including early elections and warned to continue the ongoing protests.
Pertinently saying, the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, rendered the strongman of Turkey who survived a coup in 2016 and made assertive foreign policies, has improved the country on many grounds in his more than twenty years of rule. While the Eurasian country has recovered from the 2001 economic crisis and improved the economy, it appeared as more than a regional power, modernized its infrastructure and made notable improvements in many other areas under the current regime. But there were also some growing political and other concerns in the Republic of Turkey, which is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and whose democracy has never been completely liberal because of political, historical and other reasons.
Photo credit: https://edition.cnn.com/.
There is the suppression of the opposition, although Turkey provides better political grounds compared to many Middle East and other countries, weak checks and balances in the government and a decline in judicial independence, leading to anger among opposition leaders and others. Notably, there has been a major nationwide crackdown by the government in recent years against several groups including opposition leaders, journalists and actors in Turkey — leading to anger among protesters. Among others, there is also growing youth unemployment and a decline in media freedom. The civic space has been shrinking in Turkey because of the authoritarian policies of the government of the Justice and Development Party.
But addressing the reasonable concerns of protesters is desirable in Turkey. Provided that the opposition leader is arrested merely for political motivation, the release of him can help address the ongoing unrest. Addressing other concerns including the suppression of the opposition and the decline in media freedom will also be helpful for Turkey. But the protesters need to be allowed for peaceful protests without the use of force and talks with them may be helpful.
Amir M Sayem
Chief Editor
Dhaka Opinion Magazine
