Emma Bouvin: Not the first time a legal process affects successful critics to Erdogan

On the last day before the presidential election in Turkey in the spring of 2023, I was almost overrun by mayor Ekrem Imamoglus campaign bus. The crowd that had gathered to listen to him when he campaigned in central Istanbul for opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu was so massive that the bus hardly had any room to drive on.

54-year-old Imamoglu is Turkey’s The strongest shining star In the politician sky, which has also become increasingly darker in recent years. He became Istanbul’s mayor in 2019, against all odds – the AKP government party, which is led by President Erdogan, screamed election fraud and managed to get a re -election. As Imamoglu won by even a larger margin.

Without the mayor, who is an enthusiastic speaker and a strong critic to the president and his increasingly authoritarian focus, Kilicdaroglu probably could not challenge Erdogan in the last election. Already then, two years ago, most Turks hoped who want to see a change most in the 2028 election – when Imamoglu was expected to stand.

On Sunday he was voted forward to the opposition party CHP’s presidential candidate, just as expected, because he was the only one who candidated. It was less expected that he would be chosen with over 15 million votes, of which only 1.6 million came from the party’s members.

Around the entire Turkey, people went and voted in quickly arranged election stations to show their sympathy with the imprisoned mayor. Then they continued to demonstrate.

This is not the first time a legal process is affecting successful critics of Erdogan, nor the first time for Imamoglu.

This is not first The time a legal process affects successful critics to Erdogan and not for the first time for Imamoglu. In 2022, he was convicted of slander Erdogan’s allies and was prohibited from acting politically. The judgment has not yet entered into force, as it is appealed to higher instances.

Turkey are sometimes described as a democracy And that is true in some respects, but that is not the whole truth. Erdogan is elected, a majority chose him, but the opposition is limited in many different ways. For example, they find it difficult to appear in the media, which is predominantly governed by the government party and their supporters are constantly threatened with reprisals. The courts are politicized. This is the reason for getting assessors believes that the process that has now begun against Imamoglu is fair or even relevant.

How the continuation is coming To look is decided by the front for all two things: how hard Turkish riot police are defeating the popular protests and how CHP handles its presidential candidate if the pressure increases.

One thing is clear anyway. President Erdogan has no desire whatsoever to risk being run over by Imamoglus’s campaign bus.