A list of strongmen leaders running pseudo-democracies to justify their autocratic rule usually includes Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He has expanded the power of his presidency and increasingly curbed human rights and suppressed the media. His government uses financial and other leverage over media owners to influence coverage of politically sensitive issues. Turkey has more journalists in prison than any other country, including China and Egypt.
Recent elections, however, indicate democracy is far from dead. In a general election in March, Erdogan's party lost the mayorship of the country's two major cities: Ankara, the capital, and Istanbul, the largest city and centre of the country. The loss of Istanbul was particularly grating for Erdogan, his home town and the place he started his political career when he served as mayor. He exploited a close vote to obtain a rerun, perhaps assuming the people would come to their senses this time around. No such luck. The rerun was held on Saturday and the winner once again was the opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. This time convincingly.
The importance of this election is hard to overestimate. One Turkish journalist (who was fortunate enough not to be in jail) predicted, “If İmamoğlu wins again, there’s going to be a chain of serious changes in Turkish politics. It will be interpreted as the beginning of a decline for AKP and for Erdoğan as well.” We can only cross our fingers.
Earlier in Edogan's rule, he was considered the major hope for Islamic democracy. He reduced the powers of the intelligence agencies and initiated an effort to improve democracy and human rights. However, he has since sunk deeper and deeper into authoritarian ways.
The victory of the new mayor restores prospects for a fully democratic Turkey. Imamoğlu focused his campaign on uniting Istanbul's divided peoples and spoke about defending democracy including the integrity of future elections. I wish the Mayor-elect, and Turkish democracy, the best of luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment