The arrest of Istanbul’s popular mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, on March 19 has set off a chain of events, the outcome of which will determine Turkey’s future as a democracy.   

Istanbul plays a key role in Turkish politics, and having failed twice (in 2019 and 2024) to retain Istanbul in the hands of the AKP (Justice and Development Party) by fair means, Turkey’s President Erdogan resorts to foul means. Unlike his fellow autocrat, Vladimir Putin, who prefers poison and defenestration to handle opposition, Erdogan prefers imprisonment. 

According to a Council of Europe (CoE) report from 2023, a third of all the prisoners in the CoE’s 46 member states are held in Turkey. Turkish prisons struggle with an over-capacity rate of 20 percent. According to the Turkish daily Birgün, Turkey plans to construct 11 new jails this year, bringing the total number to 414.   

Several instruments already exist to suppress dissent in Turkey. The golden oldie is insulting the president. Already in 2006, when Prime Minister Erdogan had earned around $90,000 for suing publishers and authors for “violating his rights and freedoms.”  

In 2022, there were 7,712 cases involving insults to Erdogan and the state, and in 2023, 6,879 were charged.  

In February, a Turkish farmer was indicted for “statements that insulted and attacked the honor, dignity, and reputation of the president” for criticizing tomato prices. In August last year, a young woman was arrested and held in custody after a remark in a street interview criticizing an Instagram ban. It is no wonder that an atmosphere of fear prevails in Turkey, and people........

© The National Interest