Erdogan’s iron grip on Türkiye tightens as opposition leader detained, sparking massive protests.
Erdogan’s authoritarian playbook is getting old and the nation is fighting back.
Good day, spectators,
And in Türkiye, the line between freedom and dictatorship is growing thinner by the day as Erdogan detains Ekrem Imamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor and the de facto leader of Türkiye’s main opposition party. This is important because it isn’t just another Turkish political scandal, it’s an obvious power grab by a regime that’s run out of excuses for its authoritarianism.
stinks of desperation.
To bring you up to speed, a few days ago, Ekrem Imamoğlu’s university diploma was revoked—a convenient move, given that a diploma is required to run for president in Türkiye, right? The next day, Imamoğlu and several of his aides were detained on charges of ‘aiding the PKK’ which you might know as a Kurdish freedom fighting group. Türkiye considers them to be terrorists.
This isn’t about terrorism though. It’s about silencing Erdogan’s biggest political rival. Imamoğlu, the charismatic mayor of Istanbul, is widely seen as the opposition’s best hope to unseat Erdogan in the next election. By targeting him, Erdogan is redefining what is acceptable in politics.
protests rage, media looks away.
The response from the Turkish people has been swift and fierce. Protests have erupted across the country, particularly on university campuses, where young people are leading the charge against Erdogan’s iron grip.
Watch: Students at Istanbul University fight back against Erdogan’s stormtroopers. I LOVE to see this. A people united can never be defeated.
But while the streets of Türkiye grow increasingly angry, our mainstream media remains eerily silent. Western outlets, so quick to champion ‘democracy’ elsewhere, have largely ignored the story. Perhaps they’re too busy applauding the EU’s latest billion-dollar funding for Syria’s Al-Qaeda-linked government or justifying Israel’s genocide in Gaza to care about Erdogan’s crackdown.
Watch: Massive protests in Türkiye last night.
Erdogan’s playbook.
Erdogan’s detention of Imamoğlu is just the latest in a long line of attacks on political opponents. It’s a bitter irony that the man who once rallied against authoritarianism—jailed in the late ’90s for reading a poem critical of Türkiye’s secularism—has become its chief enforcer. After decades of purging the judiciary, neutering the military, and muzzling the media, Erdogan no longer needs to hide his authoritarianism. The system he once fought against now serves him.
And with the US and EU too busy funding its wars and genocides to care about democracy, Erdogan has free rein to tighten his grip.
internet censorship.
As protests spread, the Turkish government has predictably turned to internet censorship. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have been throttled to a crawl, while YouTube videos refuse to load.
But the Turkish people aren’t fooled. They’ve been here before. Since 2014, internet shutdowns have become a regular feature of Erdogan’s rule. And just as they did then, Turks are turning to VPNs to bypass the censorship and keep the resistance alive.
authoritarianism is on the rise.
What’s happening in Türkiye isn’t an isolated incident—it’s part of a global trend. From Modi’s India to Orban’s Hungary and even Italy’s Meloni, strongmen are consolidating power, silencing dissent, and rewriting the rules to stay in charge.
But if there’s one thing we know about the Turkish people, it’s that they don’t back down easily. They’ve fought for their freedoms before, and I am certain they’ll do it again. As the protests grow, one thing remains clear: Erdogan’s days of unchecked power may be numbered.
And on that note, I will let you go for today. Do let me know what you think in the comments and I will respond to as much as I can,
(As always, thanks for reading, and please give this post a ❤️ and restack below.)
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Read more from the spectacle:
The arguments you put forward, ignorant of the corruption and irregularities that have been taking place by the detained people,, are baseless and contain incomplete information. I do not know what portion of the 85 million you mean when you say the nation is fighting back. Your perspective is the same language as Soros theorists.
I no longer find it possible to believe that the lurch to the right in politics across Europe is not somehow correlated or even choreographed. Whatever the influence we desperately need a country to fight back against this trend and replace the incumbent autocrat. It’s what democracy requires to stay healthy. I expect Erdogan is still popular amongst the rural peasantry but this isn’t the demographic that craves democracy especially in a (now) Muslim country so, for the sake of democracy I would ignore its preference and hope that the aspiring President - Ekrem Imamoglu - is allowed to run and preferably win.
I know nothing of Imamoglu but for the sake of openness and representation in the West I say ‘come on Turkey: show us how to hold on to democracy!’