The most likely challenger on June 24 is the
CHP’s candidate Muharrem İnce who will have an uphill battle.
The answer is no. It is not only within Europe that defects in European liberal democracy are aiding the rise of rightwing populism.
The question remains whether the next
elections will be free and fair. In light of Turkey’s recent political
development, this is highly unlikely: the end of democracy sometimes comes not
with a coup but with a vote.
The rise of
authoritarianism in Turkey has gone hand in hand with a
de-institutionalization, in favour of what many call the “one man regime”. How
long can that last?
Elections do not equal democracy. Snap elections give opposition
parties no time to recuperate, to groom candidates or to build a base of
support.
Will the European adventure that has
continued for years with both sides escalating the tension and turning their
backs on each other, finally end?
In
Turkey the Islamist right garners support in rural areas by promoting social
welfare and subsidy programmes. The left needs to put farmers and workers at
the centre of class-based struggle.
Turkey’s military offensive in Afrin is also an example
of how refugees are instrumentalized to gain domestic support for foreign
policy ambitions.
From the Counter-Terrorism Division in Ankara, Turkey... The
story’s named by others, but filled by women who resist the war. We live in a
story whose title reads ‘unidentified’.
Syrian ‘guests’ in Turkey have been used not
only as political tools for foreign ambitions, but also for reinforcing the
conservative and Islamist ideology promoted by Erdogan’s AKP.
