Turkey shows the world how to challenge an insensitive leader

• By ECE Temelkuran / The Guardian

After 22 years of capture of power, the seizure of all state institutions and severe oppression aimed at reshaping Turkish citizens in Islamofascist servants, Turkey goes up against the authoritarianism of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans. In the cities of the country, including the bastions of the regimes, demonstrations continue during last week.

The mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglus detention on false accusations of galvanized corruption the people; In a few days, the demonstrations have evolved in something greater a national riot demanding democracy, dignity and freedom. The demonstrations reminded most of the gezi uprising in 2013, but this time, the young people who, in our opinion, had lost all hope for the future under Erdogan and during the serious economic crisis went down to the street, risking unlimited police violence by attending public rallies which are now banished.

One of the slogans adorning the signs has perfectly encapsulated the feeling: if we burn, you will burn with us. While the demonstrations were in line with political humor, everyone knows that what is happening is not a joke: the country is at a political point without return. The matrix is ​​sunk. Either Erdogan will withdraw or other. What it could be possibly is an intimidating perspective. However, the determination of peoples to break the wall of fear is unprecedented, and this time, unlike the uprising of Gezi, the main opposition party is to welcome political action or at least to try.

Imamoglu is not only the mayor of the largest city in Türkiye, but also, with its general popularity, Erdogans only credible rival. Just before his detention on dubious allegations made by the financial corruption of the regime, being a leader in a criminal organization and collaborating with the Imamoglu terrorist organizations was about to announce his candidacy for the next presidential elections.

Several opinion polls have indicated that his support would probably go beyond the Erdogans during this election, which should be held in 2028. Sources close to Erdogan said that the plan was to stop and discredit the imamoglu and appoint a government trustee to the main opposition party. This has been Modus Operandi for years. Several mayors of the social democratic opposition parties and the Kurdish party have been placed in police custody, and the arrest of Imamoglus has been planned. In his last video before his detention, while dressed, Imamoglu calmly said that he would remain resolved for the inhabitants of Turkey.

Taking his words as a call for action, hundreds of thousands have filled the squares of cities since the first night. The main opposition party, witnessing the magnitude of the demonstrations, transformed its primaries for the candidacy for the presidential election into a mass political action, inviting all citizens to vote in favor of the Imamoglu to demonstrate to the regime which supports for him extends far beyond the policy of the parties. Nearly 15 million people voted for Imamoglu, guaranteeing his official opposition candidate post.

The particularities of this story could be confusing. The link of lies and tips used by an authoritarian chief can be difficult to follow. However, what's going on in Türkiye has important lessons for democracies around the world.

Over the past decade, as we have seen in several European countries and the United States, holding the line by lining up centist political parties has not been effective, and a street-style street policy, which could be inspiring, does not adequately thwart the rising tide of fascism. Repeat, fail again that strategies have been exhausted in recent years, the most recent example being the United States. Obviously, the conventional political parties that the Democrats of the United States and the Social Democrats in Europe failed to exploit the political and moral indignation of the masses, that leaders like Erdogan or the American president Donald Trump induce. Political energy arising from street policy is too unpredictable to be adopted by conventional political parties and the masses, with their juvenile enthusiasm, hesitate to align themselves with worn political institutions. So what is the solution?

Progressive opposition parties at the old school resemble shipwrecks that they are decaying structures. They have lost everything that has been vital in them in the past five decades after having aligned neoliberal hegemony, which has broken its organic ties with the progressive sectors of society. They are highly bureaucratized and, therefore, paralyzed giants unable to follow the agility of the extreme right. What is happening in Türkiye at the moment is the schooling of energy and the screens around this sinking, breathing in life by transforming the wreck into a reef. For days, young leaders have been spending speeches during important party meetings, continuously merchanting the guidelines for collaborative action. As far as possible, they ensure that their indignation extends beyond the arrest of the Imamoglus. Their presence irrevocably modifies the spirit of the political movement and advances the social democratic party towards life. Throughout this process, young people learn to sail in the slow giant while the giant adapts to become agile and courageous enough to counter the ruthless tactics of the diet.

Not only for Turkey, but also soon for Europe and beyond, the central question of saving the democracy of the rise of authoritarianism would be the following: will the young energy of the masses be authorized to transform it into a living organism? Whoever is robust enough to challenge the historical tide leaning against authoritarianism? Turkey, in the coming days, would answer this question.

Ece Temelkuran is a Turkish journalist and political commentator, and author of How to lose a country: the 7 stages of democracy at dictatorship.