Erdoan tightens his grip of repression against demonstrations while Europe remains silent

The rubber bullets, water cannons and mass arrests continue to meet protests protesting against the detention of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoans Rival. However, the EU works with caution. “The mayor's arrest is deeply worrying. As a member of the Council of Europe and the candidate countries of the EU, Turkey must respect democratic rights,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.

EU and United Kingdom reactions

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, formerly a human rights lawyer, remained silent on the arrest of Mamolus. Only one of his collaborators has published a disorderly statement, saying that the United Kingdom expects the turkey legal process to be respected.

Turkey hugs for more protests on the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul

Zgr Zel, chief of the principal Opposition Party CHP, was unleashed in Europes Response. “Those who defend democracy at home but empower autocracy in Turkey those who say, give money for the Syrians to be taken care of know that this government will change next year. When everything is said and does, Turkey will remember the silence of its friends more than the voices of its enemies,” Zel told the supporters.

The United Kingdom and the EU depend on Turkey to act as a goalkeeper of Europes, welcoming millions of Syrian refugees in exchange for billions of euros in aid.

Erdoans, two decades, adherence to power, after having defeated the opposition several times in the polls, left European leaders feeling helpless. “Consensus is that it is something that we cannot change, something that we cannot influence from the outside. Brooking Institution.

But Aydntaba insists that Europe always has powerful tools at its disposal. “Of course, Europeans have had and always have a huge lever effect, in particular the economic lever, in particular by the process of turkey membership. But they simply do not want to push.”

The importance of Erdoans for Europe only grows, while European leaders rush to strengthen their defenses against resident and somewhat reliable Russia in the United States. With the second Natos army, Turkey is increasingly considered essential to the security of Europe.

“Turkey is more important than ever at that time of brutal geopolitical realities; it is between two wars. President Erdoan was masterful by playing the West against Russia, and the United States against Europe. It has become an essential average power and not exactly an ally, but certainly not someone you want to cross,” explains Aydntaba.

“Europeans are interested in bringing Turkey closer to European defense plans,” she adds. “Americans also see Turkey as essential to stabilize Syria. Western countries simply do not want to risk postponing Erdoan.”

Additional arrests while Turkey retracts from demonstrations against the mayor of Istanbul imprisoned

EU and Türkiye

Even before the lukewarm reaction of Europe to the arrest of Mamolus and the repression of the demonstrations, the opposition of the turkeys had accused the EU of having abandoned Turkish democracy. Local human rights groups, which are still fighting to defend civil freedoms, claim that the EU has discreetly reduced its funding since Erdoans' electoral victory in 2023.

“There is a visible hesitation among international donors with regard to Turkey,” warns Sinan Gken, representative of Turkey for Sweden Civil rights defenders.

“With regard to bilateral or intergovernmental funding, the refugees dealt with with the EU remain at the heart of relations with turkey with Europe. No one wants to upset this. In fact, no one wants to risk causing Turkey,” adds Gken.

The opposition of turkeys, however, does not show such restraint. Up to two million people went down to the streets of Istanbul last Saturday to protest against the Erdoan and the arrest of Mamolus. The Vice-President of the CHP, Lhan Uzgel, says that with Turkish Breaking Point democracy, he is dismayed by the silence of Europe but remains confident in the resolution of peoples.

“We lose our democracy. Every two days, a businessman, a trade unionist, a student, a journalist, a doctor, an ordinary citizen or an academic is placed in police custody. We are confronted alone with our authoritarian chief,” said Uzgel.

The CHP has promised to continue to mobilize mass manifestations across the country, intensifying its resistance. Erdoan accusing the opposition of betrayal and rebellion, new mass arrests are expected, as well as legal measures against the party itself. Whatever the result of the battle for the democracy of the turkeys, the leaders of the Europes seem intended to remember as passers -by.