Roving Periscope: Turkiye’s Erdogan finds his nemesis in Istanbul Mayor
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the powerful Mayor of Istanbul (1994-98) before he became Turkey’s Prime Minister (2003-14) and then President (2014…). Increasingly, he became Islamist, then Pan-Islamist, and even tried to resurrect the Ottoman Empire which died in 1924, and, in 2022, unite non-Arab Muslims—including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia—to challenge the hegemony of Saudi Arabia in the Islamic world.
Now he is facing the most serious challenge in his political life from another Istanbul Mayor, Ikrem Imamoglu, who has just been elected Turkish Opposition Presidential candidate—from behind the bars where Erdogan put him in recently on various charges.
More than 15 million Turkish people voted to elect Imamoglu on Sunday amid ongoing massive protests against Erdogan across the country, the media reported on Monday. They voted for the jailed Mayor in a presidential primary organized by main opposition outfit CHP, founded by Mustafa Kemal “Ataturk”, the founder of modern Turkey, which Erdogan renamed as Turkiye.
In a sign of growing national support, the party announced that an estimated 1.7 million CHP members were joined by 13 million non-party members in supporting Imamoglu to become its official candidate for the next presidential election, which is due to take place in 2028—but Erdogan is trying to hold mid-term polls to continue in his office without completing the second term—after which he would have to retire, constitutionally.
Mass protests broke out since Imamoglu, widely seen as the top challenger of President Erdogan, was detained on Wednesday last week. On Sunday, he was formally jailed, exacerbating the unrest.
Erdogan’s critics insist that it was the looming primary that triggered the arrest. People turned out in such large numbers that voting was extended by three and a half hours. His government has denied that the arrest of Imamoglu was politically motivated, claiming that Turkiye’s courts are independent.
Imamoglu was ordered officially jailed by an Istanbul court early on Sunday, pending trial on alleged corruption charges following last week’s detention, which triggered mass protests across the country. A separate anti-terrorism charge was dismissed by the court. He denied all the allegations and has called for more nationwide protests. In response, the government has ordered the closure of hundreds of social media accounts, including those of the media, on the X platform.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s opposition, galvanized by widescale protests over the jailing of Istanbul’s mayor, is hoping to keep the momentum going in part by calling for a boycott of TV stations and businesses it says are “ignoring the moment”.
Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the jailed mayor’s Republican People’s Party (CHP), stood atop a bus before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Istanbul late on Sunday and urged people to boycott entities he said were profiting from them while supporting the government.
The vast majority of Turkish mainstream media is seen as pro-government and the big channels have shown little footage of the nationwide demonstrations.
Ozel also accused advertisers on the channels of catering to opposition voters while “serving (Erdogan’s) palace”, and vowed to soon name them alongside the targeted media owners.
“This is not just about not watching their channels – whoever buys their products is complicit,” he said.
Sunday’s court decision to remove Imamoglu from office and to jail him pending trial has inflamed the protesters, who see the moves as politically motivated and anti-democratic, charges the government denies.
The mayor’s jailing caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures and the removal of other elected officials from office, in what critics say is a government attempt to hurt their election prospects.
Mainstream broadcasters and newspapers have become strongly supportive of Erdogan’s government after years of state legal and financial pressure, corporate acquisitions and self-censorship, the media reported.
While the big channels have largely avoided showing protests, the few independent and opposition stations have had almost non-stop coverage.
The broadcasting watchdog RTUK said in a post on social media platform X on Saturday that stations airing live coverage of protests could have their licences revoked for “biased” broadcasts. Some channels then cut away from coverage of police clashes with the protesters.
Separately, X banned access to hundreds of accounts last week after a request from Turkish authorities but said it objected to the court rulings.
Reporters Without Borders, a free speech advocate, ranked Turkey 158th of 180 countries in its 2024 press freedom index. It said some 90% of media was under government influence, prompting Turks to turn more to opposition or independent news outlets.
Ozel urged supporters to use their purchasing power to bring some businesses “to their knees.”
“If they run a restaurant chain but refuse to see this crowd, they won’t sell food here. Either they acknowledge us, or they sink,” he said.
