Turkey’s Democratic Opposition Under Attack
Since 2019, crackdown on the opposion has gradually expanded from attempts to reverse electoral outcomes to lawfare against Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, opposition-led municipalities and, ultimately, the elected leadership of Turkey’s main opposition party.
What began with an electoral reversal attempt in Istanbul has widened into a broader pattern of legal harassment and lawfare aimed at preventing the opposition from consolidating itself as a real governing alternative.
This is not ordinary politics. It is a cumulative strategy to block a governing alternative.
Istanbul changes hands
What happened: In 2019, Ekrem Imamoglu won the Istanbul mayoral election, ending 25 years of AKP rule in Turkey’s largest and most politically important city.
The rerun: The Supreme Election Council annulled only the mayoral ballot, even though several ballots were cast in the same envelopes. Claims such as irregularities in ballot box committees and voter records were used politically to justify the rerun, but they were not proven through judicial process in a way that could justify reversing the outcome.
Why it matters: the attempt to reverse the result did not weaken Imamoglu; it turned him into a national democratic figure.
How does this panel work?
Select your country of residence and send a prepared e-mail to the Members of the European Parliament elected from that country, in their own language.
This is a direct civic action asking European representatives to defend democratic pluralism and fair political competition in Turkey.
- Select your country
- See the MEPs
- Open the e-mail prepared in the MEP’s language
- Do not forget to add your full name at the end of the e-mail body!
- Review and send