SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Will Turkey Hand Erdogan Authoritarian Rule With Referendum Vote?
Polls show the public is split ahead of historic vote, but the government's crackdown on dissent has silenced the opposition
Apr 14, 2017
Turkish citizens head to the polls on Sunday to vote on a historic referendum that could potentially cement autocratic rule in the nation, consolidating power for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
If the referendum passes, "it will abolish the office of prime minister, enabling the president to centralize all state bureaucracy under his control and also to appoint cabinet ministers," AFP reports. Erdogan would also "control the judiciary" and essentially "rule by decree," Foreign Policy in Focus columnist Conn Hallinan further noted.
There is little disagreement on how pivotal that change could be. AP observed that the vote "could change the course of [Turkey's] history," while AFP reported that referendum is being regarded "as a crossroads in the modern history of the country that will affect not just the shape of its political system but also its relations with the West."
The vote is taking place against the backdrop of a widespread crackdown on dissent, with tens of thousands of people arrested under the ongoing State of Emergency declared by Erdogan after last summer's failed coup attempt.
Recent polling has shown that the public is split. According to AFP, "A poll by the Konda group showed 'Yes' ahead at 51.5 percent but the Sonar group has projected a 'No' vote of 51.2 percent, and with other polling companies producing different figures the outcome remains uncertain."
But observers note that surveys could be misleading, given the climate of fear and repression. "[P]redictions cannot be trusted," Turkish author and activist Elif Shafak wrote Friday. "The truth is, many people in Turkey have two opinions: a public opinion and a private opinion. Out of fear, many citizens refuse to share their private opinions with pollsters."
On Thursday, four United Nations special rapporteurs criticized the Turkish government, issuing a statement warning that the security crackdown "had undermined the chance for informed debate on the referendum. They said a state of emergency imposed after the abortive putsch had been used to justify repressive measures that might well intensify if Erdogan's powers are enhanced," Reuters reported.
Hallinan also recently outlined how Erdogan has "stacked the deck" for the vote:
Using last summer's failed coup as a shield, he's declared a state of emergency, fired 130,000 government employees, jailed 45,000 people--including opposition members of parliament--and closed down 176 media outlets. The opposition Republican People's Party says it's been harassed by death threats from referendum supporters and arrests by the police.
Meanwhile he's deliberately picked fights with Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands to help whip up a storm of nationalism, and he charges that his opponents are "acting in concert with terrorists." Selahattin Demirtas, a member of parliament and co-chair of the Kurdish-dominated People's Democratic Party, the third largest political formation in Turkey, is under arrest and faces 143 years in prison. Over 70 Kurdish mayors are behind bars.
Erdogan's AKP government, Shafak further noted, "is supported by the far-right and Euro-skeptic MHP (the Nationalist Movement party). Together they form the largest bloc in the parliament."
"The opposition is fragmented, disorganized," she added, noting that it includes the secularist CHP (the Republican People's party), the Kurdish community, and Turkish conservative leader Meral Aksener.
"But the staunchest opponents of the AKP-MHP bloc are ordinary Turkish citizens," Shafak said: "Students, professionals, artists, minorities, and especially feminists. The women's movement in Turkey is going through a transformation and revival. This is not a coincidence. When societies slide into authoritarianism, ultranationalism and fanaticism, women have much more to lose than men. Women have been holding anti-AKP rallies. They organize campaigns on social media, writing hayir (no) with their bodies, urging everyone to hang purple cloth from their windows and balconies as a sign of support for gender equality."
If the referendum passes, the changes will take effect with the next general elections, which are slated for 2019.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Turkish citizens head to the polls on Sunday to vote on a historic referendum that could potentially cement autocratic rule in the nation, consolidating power for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
If the referendum passes, "it will abolish the office of prime minister, enabling the president to centralize all state bureaucracy under his control and also to appoint cabinet ministers," AFP reports. Erdogan would also "control the judiciary" and essentially "rule by decree," Foreign Policy in Focus columnist Conn Hallinan further noted.
There is little disagreement on how pivotal that change could be. AP observed that the vote "could change the course of [Turkey's] history," while AFP reported that referendum is being regarded "as a crossroads in the modern history of the country that will affect not just the shape of its political system but also its relations with the West."
The vote is taking place against the backdrop of a widespread crackdown on dissent, with tens of thousands of people arrested under the ongoing State of Emergency declared by Erdogan after last summer's failed coup attempt.
Recent polling has shown that the public is split. According to AFP, "A poll by the Konda group showed 'Yes' ahead at 51.5 percent but the Sonar group has projected a 'No' vote of 51.2 percent, and with other polling companies producing different figures the outcome remains uncertain."
But observers note that surveys could be misleading, given the climate of fear and repression. "[P]redictions cannot be trusted," Turkish author and activist Elif Shafak wrote Friday. "The truth is, many people in Turkey have two opinions: a public opinion and a private opinion. Out of fear, many citizens refuse to share their private opinions with pollsters."
On Thursday, four United Nations special rapporteurs criticized the Turkish government, issuing a statement warning that the security crackdown "had undermined the chance for informed debate on the referendum. They said a state of emergency imposed after the abortive putsch had been used to justify repressive measures that might well intensify if Erdogan's powers are enhanced," Reuters reported.
Hallinan also recently outlined how Erdogan has "stacked the deck" for the vote:
Using last summer's failed coup as a shield, he's declared a state of emergency, fired 130,000 government employees, jailed 45,000 people--including opposition members of parliament--and closed down 176 media outlets. The opposition Republican People's Party says it's been harassed by death threats from referendum supporters and arrests by the police.
Meanwhile he's deliberately picked fights with Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands to help whip up a storm of nationalism, and he charges that his opponents are "acting in concert with terrorists." Selahattin Demirtas, a member of parliament and co-chair of the Kurdish-dominated People's Democratic Party, the third largest political formation in Turkey, is under arrest and faces 143 years in prison. Over 70 Kurdish mayors are behind bars.
Erdogan's AKP government, Shafak further noted, "is supported by the far-right and Euro-skeptic MHP (the Nationalist Movement party). Together they form the largest bloc in the parliament."
"The opposition is fragmented, disorganized," she added, noting that it includes the secularist CHP (the Republican People's party), the Kurdish community, and Turkish conservative leader Meral Aksener.
"But the staunchest opponents of the AKP-MHP bloc are ordinary Turkish citizens," Shafak said: "Students, professionals, artists, minorities, and especially feminists. The women's movement in Turkey is going through a transformation and revival. This is not a coincidence. When societies slide into authoritarianism, ultranationalism and fanaticism, women have much more to lose than men. Women have been holding anti-AKP rallies. They organize campaigns on social media, writing hayir (no) with their bodies, urging everyone to hang purple cloth from their windows and balconies as a sign of support for gender equality."
If the referendum passes, the changes will take effect with the next general elections, which are slated for 2019.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Turkish citizens head to the polls on Sunday to vote on a historic referendum that could potentially cement autocratic rule in the nation, consolidating power for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
If the referendum passes, "it will abolish the office of prime minister, enabling the president to centralize all state bureaucracy under his control and also to appoint cabinet ministers," AFP reports. Erdogan would also "control the judiciary" and essentially "rule by decree," Foreign Policy in Focus columnist Conn Hallinan further noted.
There is little disagreement on how pivotal that change could be. AP observed that the vote "could change the course of [Turkey's] history," while AFP reported that referendum is being regarded "as a crossroads in the modern history of the country that will affect not just the shape of its political system but also its relations with the West."
The vote is taking place against the backdrop of a widespread crackdown on dissent, with tens of thousands of people arrested under the ongoing State of Emergency declared by Erdogan after last summer's failed coup attempt.
Recent polling has shown that the public is split. According to AFP, "A poll by the Konda group showed 'Yes' ahead at 51.5 percent but the Sonar group has projected a 'No' vote of 51.2 percent, and with other polling companies producing different figures the outcome remains uncertain."
But observers note that surveys could be misleading, given the climate of fear and repression. "[P]redictions cannot be trusted," Turkish author and activist Elif Shafak wrote Friday. "The truth is, many people in Turkey have two opinions: a public opinion and a private opinion. Out of fear, many citizens refuse to share their private opinions with pollsters."
On Thursday, four United Nations special rapporteurs criticized the Turkish government, issuing a statement warning that the security crackdown "had undermined the chance for informed debate on the referendum. They said a state of emergency imposed after the abortive putsch had been used to justify repressive measures that might well intensify if Erdogan's powers are enhanced," Reuters reported.
Hallinan also recently outlined how Erdogan has "stacked the deck" for the vote:
Using last summer's failed coup as a shield, he's declared a state of emergency, fired 130,000 government employees, jailed 45,000 people--including opposition members of parliament--and closed down 176 media outlets. The opposition Republican People's Party says it's been harassed by death threats from referendum supporters and arrests by the police.
Meanwhile he's deliberately picked fights with Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands to help whip up a storm of nationalism, and he charges that his opponents are "acting in concert with terrorists." Selahattin Demirtas, a member of parliament and co-chair of the Kurdish-dominated People's Democratic Party, the third largest political formation in Turkey, is under arrest and faces 143 years in prison. Over 70 Kurdish mayors are behind bars.
Erdogan's AKP government, Shafak further noted, "is supported by the far-right and Euro-skeptic MHP (the Nationalist Movement party). Together they form the largest bloc in the parliament."
"The opposition is fragmented, disorganized," she added, noting that it includes the secularist CHP (the Republican People's party), the Kurdish community, and Turkish conservative leader Meral Aksener.
"But the staunchest opponents of the AKP-MHP bloc are ordinary Turkish citizens," Shafak said: "Students, professionals, artists, minorities, and especially feminists. The women's movement in Turkey is going through a transformation and revival. This is not a coincidence. When societies slide into authoritarianism, ultranationalism and fanaticism, women have much more to lose than men. Women have been holding anti-AKP rallies. They organize campaigns on social media, writing hayir (no) with their bodies, urging everyone to hang purple cloth from their windows and balconies as a sign of support for gender equality."
If the referendum passes, the changes will take effect with the next general elections, which are slated for 2019.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.