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'Autocratic Rule' of Erdogan Cracks as Secular Left Wins Big in Turkey Elections
"You opened the door to the rise of democracy, equality, and freedom," Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu said following his re-election. "You ignited hope at the ballot box."
Apr 01, 2024
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party suffered its worst-ever defeat Sunday when the country's main opposition party scored major wins in municipal elections, including in all five of the nation's largest cities.
With nearly all ballots counted, candidates for the center-left Republican People's Party (CHP) emerged victorious in Istanbul, the capital Ankara, İzmir, Bursa, Adana, and other cities and towns. Turkish media reported CHP victories in 36 of the country's 81 provinces. The right-wing Justice and Development Party (AKP) performed best in the largely rural Anatolian interior.
It was the first time in Erdoğan's 21 years as Turkey's increasingly autocratic president that the AKP suffered such a nationwide electoral defeat.
"My dear Istanbulites, you opened the door to a new future today," incumbent CHP Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu told jubilant supporters during his victory speech following what's likely to be a double-digit win over AKP challenger Murat Kurum. "Starting from tomorrow, Turkey will be a different Turkey. You opened the door to the rise of democracy, equality, and freedom... You ignited hope at the ballot box."
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has dealt the biggest blow in two decades to President Erdogan’s AK Party by winning control of major cities in local elections. Ekrem Imamoglu secured a second term as Istanbul’s mayor ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/fjgsLzuEYg
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 1, 2024
Imamoğlu said that Sunday "marks the end of democratic erosion in Turkey and the resurgence of democracy."
"People oppressed under authoritarian regimes now turn their gaze to Istanbul," he added.
In Ankara—where an ecstatic crowd chanted "Turkey is secular and will remain secular!" and "Tayyip resign!" outside the city hall—CHP Mayor Mansur Yavaş promised his second term would be one of greater inclusion after beating his AKP rival by a stunning 25-point margin.
"Our political views may be different... But now the election is over," he told supporters. "We will... continue to serve 6 million Ankara residents without discrimination."
Erdoğan, meanwhile, acknowledged that the AKP "lost altitude" with Sunday's sweeping losses, vowing, "We will correct our mistakes and redress our shortcomings."
Imamoğlu's reelection was a personal blow to Erdoğan, an Istanbul native who launched his political career as the megacity's mayor in the 1990s. The AKP had set its sights on retaking control of Istanbul and Ankara but came up empty-handed.
Analysts said skyrocketing inflation, the collapsing value of the lira, disaffected Islamist voters, and Imamoğlu's popularity—which transcends the CHP's traditionally secular base—were major factors in Sunday's results.
So was the Gaza genocide. While Turkey is supporting the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, Erdoğan and the AKP have been accused—especially by Islamists—of paying little more than lip service to the cause of Palestinian liberation, while Imamoğlu has said that Turkey should immediately sever trade relations with Israel.
Experts said Imamoğlu's victory puts him, and the CHP, at the center of Turkish politics.
"Imamoglu demonstrated he could reach across the deep socio-political divisions that define Turkey's opposition electorate even without their institutional support," Mert Arslanalp, assistant professor of political science at Istanbul's Boğaziçi University, toldReuters. "This makes him the most politically competitive rival to Erdogan's regime."
In the predominantly Kurdish southeast, the progressive People's Equality and Democratic Party (DEM) won 10 provinces. Election-related violence erupted in parts of the region, including in the village of Ağaçlıdere in the Sur district of Diyarbakır, where DEM polling officer Emin Çelik was killed and around a dozen others were wounded. There were multiple reports of Turkish police violently dispersing Kurds celebrating election wins.
International leftists hailed the big wins by CHP and DEM candidates, with Party of European Socialists president Stefan Löfven cheering what he called "a great victory for democracy and a giant step towards a better future of the Turkish people."
"Erdoğan is losing the local elections in the entire country, leaving room for the opposition to breath and to come back victorious at the next national elections," he added. "We are looking forward to that."
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Violence in Turkey Linked to Nation's Support for US Militarism
Attack on U.S. consulate in Istanbul follows separate attacks elsewhere in the country
Aug 10, 2015
Violence rocked Turkey on Monday, as two women reportedly opened fire on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul, and a series of separate attacks throughout the country left at least eight people dead.
The incidents come amid rising tensions over Turkey's involvement in the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State militants.
On Sunday, the U.S. military announced that six F-16 fighter jets and some 300 personnel had been deployed to Turkey's southern Incirlik Air Base to join the fight against ISIS. Last month, Turkey, which is a member of NATO, conducted aerial strikes against ISIS positions in Syria and agreed to let the U.S.-led coalition use its bases in its war against the militants.
As Reutersreports:
The NATO member has been in a heightened state of alert since starting its "synchronized war on terror" last month, including air strikes against Islamic State fighters in Syria and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq. It has also rounded up hundreds of suspected militants at home.
One of the assailants in Monday's attack on the U.S. consulate was reportedly wounded and detained. Turkey's Dogan news agency said the injured woman was 51 years old and had served prison time for being a suspected member of the far-leftist Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), described by Reuters as "virulently anti-American and...listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey."
Al Jazeera Americanotes that DHKP-C also claimed responsibility for a 2013 suicide attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, which killed a Turkish security guard.
Overnight from Sunday into Monday, a separate attack took place on the other side of the city. According to the BBC:
In the other attack in Istanbul, on a police station in the district of Sultanbeyli, a car bomb was detonated, injuring 10 people, including three police officers.
Two suspected militants were killed in ensuing clashes with police and an injured police officer died later in hospital.
Also Monday, according to the Guardian:
In Turkey's south-eastern Sirnak province, four police officers were killed when their armored vehicle was hit by roadside explosives in the town of Silopi.
A soldier was also killed when Kurdish militants opened fire on a military helicopter in a separate attack in Sirnak, the military said in a statement. Security sources said at least seven other soldiers were wounded in the attack, which came as the helicopter took off.
Turkey's Anadolu Agency adds that a remote-controlled roadside bomb was used in that incident and that the Sirnak Governor's Office has vowed to launch a "large-scale operation... to find the perpetrators of this terrorist attack."
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There Are No Human Rights on a Dead Planet
Apr 20, 2014
Last week, I spoke at the International Association of Democratic Lawyers congress in Brussels. In the audience there were over 500 hundred progressive lawyers from over 50 countries. Many of these lawyers focus on human rights issues. I called on the lawyers attending the congress to join me in campaigning for environmental protection and protecting environmental human rights defenders. Below is a summary of my remarks.
Work is getting tougher and tougher for lawyers worldwide, especially those working on human rights issues, including the lawyers representing environmentalists. We at Greenpeace can confirm this based on our work around the world and in our collaboration with big and small NGOs and individual activists fighting on the frontlines, and on the coalface, of environment destruction.
According to the Global Witness report released during the Congress, at least 908 people were killed in 35 countries protecting rights to land and the environment between 2002 and 2013. Moreover, 2012 was the worst year so far to be an environmental defender, with 147 killings - nearly three times more than in 2002. Impunity for these crimes is rife: only 10 perpetrators are known to have been convicted between 2002 and 2013 - just over one per cent of the overall incidence of killings. The problem is particularly acute in Latin America and South East Asia. Brazil is the most dangerous place to defend rights to land and the environment, with 448 killings, followed by Honduras (109) and the Philippines (67).
The sad reality is that being an environmental activist is also deadly. Thanks to people like Billy Kyte of Global Witness for exposing the very scary fact 2 activists protecting rights to land and environment are killed per week.
Our own experiences for example in Istanbul's Gezi Park and in the Russian Arctic last year made me realize how difficult it is to be a peaceful protestor in the current political and legal climate. It takes an incredibly committed individual to stand up against the all powerful - whether they are governments or oil companies - when those individuals have their security put on the line in order to protect all of our rights. The 28 Greenpeace activists and two freelance journalists who faced piracy charges following their peaceful protest in the Russian arctic had no chance of receiving a fair trial. Luckily, the Arctic 30, as we call them, had their freedom secured by the millions around the world who stood up and took action to defend them. But most Human Rights defenders are not so lucky.
Environmental campaigners are under attack. Indigenous communities fighting to save their own homes, are too under attack. Governments and corporations are increasingly putting them under immense pressure. Some are being charged with terrorism and piracy, and jailed, silenced and even killed. Their fundamental rights and freedoms are being violated-- freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of association - even the right to life itself. As we meet today, Greenpeace worldwide is facing about 72 million euros in damages claims and our activists collectively face decades of jail-time as a result of peaceful campaign efforts aimed at exposing environmental problems. Corporations are seeking court orders to permanently stop protests.
We need vigorous action fighting public backlash and regressive laws. We need the support of human rights lawyers in strategically defending environmental activists and NGOs from government and corporate attacks. I urge human rights lawyers to be creative and fearless in defending environmental activists from injustice.
Let's break down the artificial barriers that have so long separated the human rights, environmental, and development communities. We face common threats. But there are common solutions.
Sharon Burrows of the ITUC, in a meeting with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, noticed that the he was a bit unsure why she was even there because the topic of the conversation was climate change. She said to him, you might be wondering why as a trade unionist I'm so concerned about the climate. That's because 'there are no jobs, decent or indecent, on a dead planet.' As my good friend, Richard Harvey, one of the organisers of this Congress, rightly points out; there are no human rights on a dead planet. So to bring it home, there are no lawyers or clients on a dead planet either.
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