Everything is banned, including the Turkish girl band, Manifest, which means ‘protest’ in French and protests were so banned that the women's volleyball team canceled their championship ceremony this week.
But they’re the Sultans of the Net, you say? The internet was also banned. Guilt by association.
In this week’s recap:
CHP digs in ahead of Congress trial
Ankara curbs Syria threats
Peace process updates
Domestic and diplomatic wraps
Diyanet chief submits to board’s will
Also from us this week:
Gönül Tol on Turkey’s autocratic slide, peace talks and Syria policy on Recap radio
Daniel Thorpe reports from Monday’s clashes at CHP’s Istanbul headquarters
Tomorrow: Emily Rice Johnson details the market reactions to political turmoil and today’s rate decision in Economy recap
Next week: Wolfgango Piccoli joins our podcast to discuss how all of the above affects Turkey’s economic outlook.
Join the livestream here Tuesday at 0900 UTC / 1100 TRT.
In normal times, riot police don’t pepper spray elected officials point-blank in the face.
These are, in fact, extraordinary times and call for “extreme measures”, MEI’s Gönül Tol said on our podcast, where she argued Turkey’s main opposition party cannot rely on “traditional democratic tools” if it hopes to resist the ongoing judicial crackdown on party functions.
The CHP marked its 102nd anniversary this week amid existential threats to its leadership, which may be nullified in a trial Monday.
What happened: Alleged bribery in the party’s 2023 Congress could see CHP chair Özgür Özel replaced by his less popular predecessor Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as soon as today, according to reports that warn a decision may come any time.
After all, the decision to nullify CHP’s Istanbul provincial leadership on similar charges came by surprise last week. As recap readers know, riot police clashed with protesters Monday to make way for a court-appointed trustee, Gürsel Tekin, to enter the party’s Istanbul headquarters in Sarıyer.
Since then, the CHP has deployed a ‘moving target’ strategy that involves changing the address of their Istanbul headquarters to stall a full trustee takeover. Özel has reiterated he does not recognize the lower court decision on the Istanbul leadership, telling the Financial Times: “Erdoğan is playing a dirty game, we can also play . . . that game.”
In response Monday, Pres. Erdoğan said: “To claim that you don’t recognize judicial rulings is an affront to the rule of law. Such irresponsibility cannot be tolerated. We will never allow the streets to be thrown into chaos.”
For his part, the trustee Tekin (who seems to have a vendetta with some CHP members) issued headquarters entry rights to 31 people.
What comes next: The court decision on the CHP Congress may be postponed, but there are many scenarios in which Özel keeps or loses his position, which he seeks to fortify or retake with an extraordinary congress on Sep. 21. A separate provincial congress is planned for Istanbul on Sep. 24 with the same logic.
Still, the main discussion point in Ankara is whether or not either congress will be held, as both DW Türkçe and T24 report sources close to Kılıçdaroğlu said he may take over the party next week and delay internal party elections.
In sum, uncertainty remains high unless you take MHP chair Devlet Bahçeli’s words as gospel:
“The CHP is headed for disaster,” he told Hürriyet in a print interview. “The court's decision regarding the Istanbul Provincial Congress should influence the case being heard in Ankara concerning the General [Congress], and it should lead to a similar outcome.”
What it means: Speaking to Turkey recap this morning, Soli Özel, a fellow at Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, said the CHP has undergone a significant transformation since the 2019 double-election victory of (currently jailed) Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.
The 2024 local election victories deepened this “revitalization” he said, adding: “The political order is under an all-out assault and the only institution left that can resist that assault – given the fact that all our other institutions have caved in – is the CHP.”
As the government attempts to weaken the opposition and render future elections less competitive, Özel said “this degree of illegality is really not sustainable.”
“When a power-holder resorts to violence … and it is unable to actually generate consent, that power is no longer legitimate,” Özel told Turkey recap. “My hunch is sooner or later this will not work.”
Bet on the wrong force: Ankara curbs Syria threats
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