Politics Turkey: Youth challenge Erdogan - large-scale demonstration on Saturday
There is no end in sight to the protests in Turkey against the imprisonment of popular opposition politician Ekrem Imamoglu, despite the police crackdown.
27.03.2025, 04:07
SDA
One week after the demonstrations began, the opposition called for an expansion of the nationwide protests and announced a major rally in Istanbul on Saturday. Thousands of people once again took to the streets on Wednesday for the eighth evening in a row - despite bans on demonstrations in Istanbul, Izmir and Ankara, among other places.
The protests were triggered a week ago by the arrest of Istanbul mayor Imamoglu, who has since been deposed. However, the protest goes far beyond this - and is increasingly aimed directly at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Hundreds of thousands have protested - mostly peacefully - against him and his government.
Imamoglu is seen as potentially the most promising challenger to Erdogan in the presidential election scheduled for 2028 and was put forward as a candidate by the largest opposition party, the CHP. He was arrested on March 19 on charges of corruption and terrorism and was removed as mayor of the metropolis of Istanbul on Sunday.
Imamoglu, who according to the opposition is being held in solitary confinement in Silivri high-security prison near Istanbul and is said to be in good health, denies all allegations and accuses the government of trying to use the investigations to politically silence him.
Protests are mainly supported by young people
On Wednesday, many protesters again demanded the resignation of Erdogan's government. CHP leader Özgür Özel told the British broadcaster BBC that the protests would continue until either early presidential elections were called or Imamoglu was released from prison. "In every city we come to, we will hold the biggest rallies in their history."
The demonstration planned for Saturday in Istanbul will launch the party's campaign to ensure that Imamoglu is elected as the country's next president in the 2028 elections, Özel said. Imamoglu had been arrested to prevent him from becoming the next president of Turkey.
The protests are being supported by young people in particular. Students at several universities have begun boycotting lectures, according to Turkish media reports. Many are organizing their decentralized protest via Telegram groups.
Students were among the first to take to the streets - at Istanbul University, for example. One day before his arrest, the university board had revoked Imamoglu's university degree, which he had obtained at the university in 1994 - such a degree is a prerequisite for running for president.
Much frustration at the universities
Frustration has been building up at the country's universities for years. Many students are hopeless: like the majority of the Turkish population, they have been hit hard by inflation. Many graduates are unable to find well-paid jobs. Many complain about the increasingly poor quality of research and teaching at the numerous new universities founded by the government. Since 2018, Erdogan has also been appointing university rectors, which has repeatedly sparked protests. The government is generally accused of favoritism, which massively undermines equal opportunities.
There is also another crisis: the Turkish lira has lost a lot of value in recent years. In 2020, one euro was worth seven lira, today it is just under 41. Rents have risen sharply, and not just in the metropolis of Istanbul. Inflation in the country was just under 40 percent in February. Highly qualified specialists have been leaving Turkey for years - including doctors and academics. In addition to the economic crisis, Erdogan's conservative cultural policy is also causing discontent - many young people feel alienated by it.
However, the protesters also include many older people whose pensions have been eaten up by inflation. They know Turkey without Erdogan, many of the young protesters do not. Erdogan has ruled the country since 2003, first as prime minister and now as president. "Can you spend your life with just one man?" is one of the slogans you see again and again at the demonstrations.
Police crack down on demonstrators
The protests are described by Erdogan as a "violent movement" instigated by the opposition and have been banned in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. The police are cracking down on protesters, sometimes brutally. There are casualties - exact figures on injured demonstrators are not published, but the police speak of more than 100 injured officers. According to the Turkish Interior Ministry, more than 1,400 people have already been arrested, of whom almost 1,000 remain in custody. Several journalists are among those arrested.
Most of those arrested in the past few days are between 20 and 25 years old, a lawyer from the Istanbul CHD law firm told the German Press Agency. But there were also minors among them. In contrast to the evening demonstrations, participants in protests at universities or schools were only arrested afterwards during house raids for violations of the ban on assembly.
Political scientist: "This will be a long battle"
In 2013, many young people took to the streets in Turkey. The government had the largely peaceful Gezi protests, which were critical of the government, brutally crushed. At the time, they were initially directed against a construction project in Istanbul's Gezi Park and later against the authoritarian policies of then Prime Minister and current President Erdogan.
Back then, people protested out of hope, now they took to the streets out of desperation, says political scientist Berk Esen, professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul. Back then, the AKP still had the majority of voters behind it. However, unlike back then, Erdogan can no longer be stopped by violence in the state.
In a joint article with political scientist Sebnem Gumuscu in the "Journal of Democracy", they write in summary: "For Erdogan's autocratic escalation to succeed, the regime would have to paralyze the leadership of the CHP and force the Turkish people to give up their democratic capacity to act. But one thing is clear: this will be a long struggle."
