These Turkish UvA students are worried: “Afraid that friends will be injured”
For days now, there have been massive demonstrations in Turkey against the arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul. The politician is seen as the most important challenger of President Erdogan and is suspected of fraud and corruption, among other things. According to critics, however, this is a politically motivated prosecution. These Turkish UvA students fear for democracy in their homeland.
“I am very concerned, even though this is nothing new. The Turkish regime has been working to undermine democracy for years,” says 21-year-old political science student Ege (his surname is known by the editorial board). Ege moved to Amsterdam three and a half years ago to study, but still visits his family in Turkey several times a year. He therefore follows recent developments closely.
He refers to the Gezi Park protests of 2013, when millions of people from Turkey took to the streets to demonstrate against the Erdogan regime. “That was a turning point for the country. Even then, Erdogan demonised the demonstrators, labelled them as terrorists and used excessive police force. So the fact that the protests are being dealt with so harshly now is not surprising.” Over 1100 demonstrators have been arrested in the past few days.
Frightening
According to Ege, the arrest of Imamoglu is a way for the government to further consolidate its power. “Erdogan often makes things very difficult for the opposition, but having the opposition leader arrested is a huge, new step. Imamoglu is his biggest challenger, so his arrest is very frightening.”
He is convinced that this is politically motivated persecution. “The charges are superficial and vague. I think it is a government tactic to use extremely complicated legal jargon so that the public cannot properly understand whether the charges are true. Imamoglu is a prominent, charismatic figure, and he has a real chance of beating Erdogan. That is why the government is trying to frighten other opposition candidates in this way.”
Nevertheless, Ege remains hopeful that Turkish democracy is strong enough to recover. “We have a strong democratic history. People are taking to the streets in huge numbers, and they do not accept this. We have a strong opposition, and although the democratic institutions have been damaged, I continue to hope that our politicians can recover from this.”
Dictatorial
Bilge (not their real name) is a 22-year-old Turkish PPLE student at the University of Amsterdam and is also very concerned. “I spend most of the day checking the latest news from friends and family in Turkey,” they say. “Imamoglu’s arrest is totally unjust and completely eliminates Erdogan’s political opposition. There is no evidence whatsoever for the charges, and many other Turkish politicians who have demonstrably been involved in corruption scandals have never been punished for them. So it is clear that this is an arrest based on political grounds.”
Bilge is pessimistic about Turkey’s near future. “I fear that under Erdogan we will only become more fascistic and dictatorial. Yet the huge protests give me hope for the long term. Maybe the people of Turkey are finally waking up.” At the moment, they believe the protest movement is not yet large enough to really make a difference, but that could change. “With the protests in 2013, we came very close to a really big change, but in the years since, Turkey has only declined. The economy is in a very bad state, even Erdogan’s supporters are now being affected. People who have to live on a pension or the minimum wage are living below the poverty line. If they now join the protests, we can really achieve something.”
Bilge has family and friends in all of Turkey’s major cities who are experiencing the protests up close. “I come from a marginalised family, some of whose members are in political trouble. For example, they are being fired from their jobs for no good reason, solely based on their ethnicity. I fear that their freedom will only deteriorate further. I also have many friends who, unlike my family, actively participate in the protests. I am afraid they will be injured or arrested. These kinds of protests have often gotten out of hand. People are wrongfully arrested, go to prison and are never seen again. As far as I know, no one I know has been arrested yet, but I am afraid that will not last.”
