"What we are seeing today is the justified anger of the young generation, whose future has been ripped away from them as a result of prolonged authoritarianism and persistent poverty," explains Turkish political scientist Begum Uzun, who teaches at MEF University in Istanbul and is also a co-coordinator at the Istanbul Youth Research Center.

Protesters in Turkey have once again taken to the streets to fight for their rights. But this is not something new. In recent years there have been various turning points, ones that surprised people but somehow didn't shock them. The rule of law keeps being chipped away in Turkey so that when these things happen, many people simply think, "it can't get any worse than this." Then it does.

The arrest of the mayor of Istanbul, one of the biggest cities in Europe, is just the latest in a series of authoritarian moves. Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu had a good chance of mounting a successful challenge against long-time rival Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the next presidential elections. Erdogan has been in power for more than two decades in various positions.

"What the regime is doing against Ekrem Imamoglu goes beyond anything we have seen before," said Berk........

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