The fascist regime has taken yet another major step in its effort to suppress society, crush all opposition, and eliminate every form of resistance. On March 18, the diploma of Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was annulled. The next day, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor launched two separate investigations on charges of “corruption” and “terrorism,” leading to the detention of 108 people. Among those detained were the mayors of Beylikdüzü and Şişli, as well as advisors and journalists. After four days in custody, İmamoğlu, the other mayors, and his advisors were arrested. İmamoğlu was removed from office by the Ministry of Interior, and a trustee (kayyum) was appointed to run the Şişli municipality. This move marks the most critical and severe blow yet among the countless authoritarian measures taken by the fascist regime that came to power in 2016 on its path to absolute rule.

It’s very clear that the regime wants to secure its existence by using state power in an unlimited and unlawful way. Everyone –from ordinary citizens to broad sections of society– knows very well that the real motivation behind this operation is not “corruption” or “terrorism,” but rather the elimination of İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s strongest potential presidential rival, and the intimidation of the opposition. Despite all its efforts, the regime cannot overcome the deep crisis it is trapped in. The main cause of this impasse is the worsening economic situation, which shows no signs of reversing. The austerity program led by Mehmet Şimşek has severely impoverished workers, while high interest rates have deepened economic stagnation. Rising poverty, the growing despair among younger generations, the regime’s entanglement with criminal gangs, femicides, environmental destruction, and animal killings are all fueling social anger. With his support base eroding further, Erdoğan knows he cannot win a fair election against İmamoğlu. What’s more, legally, Erdoğan is not even eligible to run for another term. Even if that hurdle is somehow overcome, the current conditions mean Erdoğan won’t be able to manipulate the outcome as he did before. This is exactly why the regime has moved quickly to eliminate İmamoğlu before any possible primary legitimizes his candidacy, and before an election date is even set. The goal is clear: neutralize İmamoğlu and suppress the CHP.

Due to its fragile structure, this regime has always felt the need to present itself as legitimate through elections and the ballot box. For this reason –and because it hasn’t managed to completely crush half of society– it has been forced to allow elections. However, it has never hesitated to resort to every form of fraud and to use the full power of the state without limits. All elections under this regime have taken place under extraordinary conditions. Still, it hasn’t always been able to shape the elections as it desired or secure the outcomes it wanted. In particular, it suffered a major defeat in the local elections of March 31, 2024. Because of this loss and the overall context described earlier, the regime now sees the electoral mechanism as a threat and aims to abolish it in practice through a new wave of repression. Its goal is to eliminate all strong opposition candidates, appoint trustees to the CHP, and crush all social opposition. Indeed, on the third day of İmamoğlu’s detention (Friday, March 21), the regime attempted to appoint a trustee to the CHP. For now, this move seems to have been fended off with the announcement of a party congress. That same evening, the leadership of the Istanbul Bar Association –known for its stance on democratic rights and freedoms– was removed from office. Under such conditions, who can seriously believe that this regime will take democratic steps toward resolving the Kurdish question?

The regime’s mass support is steadily eroding, and under these conditions, it can only move forward through sheer force and repression. As public backing diminishes, the regime is using state power, the judiciary, and the media without restraint and in increasingly crude ways. Regime-affiliated hitmen disguised as journalists openly announce the time and place of operations on television, shamelessly issue threats, and try to intimidate society. Things have become so serious for the regime that it launched the operation against İmamoğlu during the workweek, without regard for the devastating consequences it could have on the economy. Regime circles are desperate to appoint a trustee (kayyum) to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) as soon as possible and seize control of its vast resources. In fact, there are plans to install trustees in district municipalities in Istanbul and in other major cities currently governed by the CHP. They aim to use these municipal resources to stop and reverse the erosion of support within their base. In their minds, they envision a scenario where social opposition is violently suppressed, elections are rendered meaningless, and the regime consolidates its absolute power by feeding its base with crumbs, nationalist rhetoric, and fantasies of an imperial “Greater Turkey.” The regime sees the current international political climate as favorable–an era in which far-right movements are on the rise, bourgeois politics is shifting to the right, and democratic rights are increasingly ignored.

Undoubtedly, this situation was not reached in a single day. Since its establishment in 2016, the regime has entrenched itself through numerous large and small-scale coups, institutionalizing its rule on constitutional foundations–without encountering real resistance from the opposition led by the CHP. In fact, it was the CHP that gave the regime breathing room at its weakest moment. As will be remembered, after the regime suffered a major defeat in the March 31 elections (2024) and its popular support started to erode, it felt vulnerable in the face of growing social opposition. Worsening problems such as unemployment and poverty began to mobilize discontented masses into action, exposing the regime’s fragility and questioning its legitimacy. It was precisely at this critical juncture that the CHP and its leader Özgür Özel came to the regime’s rescue with their talk of “normalization.” Meetings with Erdoğan and Bahçeli, and the accompanying discourse on normalization and softening, caused the social opposition to lose its momentum and ultimately strengthened the regime’s hand. Under the banner of normalization, the CHP pacified masses that were exhausted by authoritarianism and energized by the March 31 results, while the regime seized the opportunity to launch fresh attacks across all fronts. Since then, government-appointed trustees (kayyum) have been imposed on many Kurdish municipalities and also on municipalities won through the “Urban Consensus” between the CHP and other forces. The police have responded with violence against everyone–from textile workers in Antep to Polonez workers, from villagers defending nature to animal rights activists. Journalists, socialists, trade unionists, and even ordinary citizens criticizing the regime in street interviews have been detained and imprisoned.

Following the detention of İmamoğlu, the Istanbul Governor’s Office banned all demonstrations, marches, and public gatherings across the city from March 19 to 23. Metro stations providing access to the city center were shut down, and main roads were blocked with police barricades. Access to social media platforms –including WhatsApp, which is widely used for communication– was restricted, though people managed to connect via VPN. A de facto state of emergency was declared. Yet despite all bans and this de facto martial law, working people –especially university students– took to the streets.

It was clear that the regime was counting on the CHP leadership’s traditionally passive stance and its rhetoric of “if we take to the streets, it will provoke tensions and the government will use it.” It relied heavily on the CHP’s electoral-focused politics. Indeed, while the detention operations were still ongoing, the CHP leadership continued to talk about legal processes, higher courts, administrative appeals, and the ballot box. On March 19, they merely called for people to gather in front of local CHP offices. However, this passive stance demoralized opposition supporters and only fueled their anger further. Undoubtedly, the most critical turning point came when Istanbul University students broke through police barricades despite repression and violence. The calls to action from socialist parties and organizations, the wave of resistance spreading across universities, and the spontaneous march of thousands of people from the police headquarters on Vatan Avenue to Istanbul City Hall to protest the detentions –all of this radically shifted the public mood. As the protests spread across the country, the CHP leadership was ultimately forced to call people to gather in front of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality that evening.

From the very first day, it was no coincidence that comments like “the people are organizing the CHP” spread on social media. It wasn’t the CHP leadership that mobilized the working masses into action–it was the grassroots anger and desire to fight that pushed the CHP leadership to take bolder steps. The speech given by Özgür Özel on the evening of March 19 in front of Istanbul City Hall was repeatedly interrupted by chants of “Özgür, call the people to the streets!”–a clear reflection of this reality. On the second day of the operation, the protests not only spread to more cities but also grew larger and more determined. As the anger of workers, women, and students spilled into the streets, the CHP leadership was forced to call for protests starting from the second day. The reason was simple: the people’s resistance had already gone beyond the party’s passive stance. With its trustee intervention, the regime aimed to turn the CHP into nothing more than a symbolic party and to imprison anyone who dared raise their voice.

The protests, which are spreading even to smaller towns and growing in size, gaining a passionate and militant character, are an expression of the dissatisfaction and outrage that has been building up in society for years. Worsening poverty, the erosion of freedoms, the violent suppression of even the slightest dissent, the regime’s blatant disregard for people and nature, its deep-rooted decay, the endless arrogance of the dictator and his caricatures, and the constant humiliation of opposition masses have pushed society to the breaking point. The operation targeting İmamoğlu –where even diplomas and elections have lost their meaning–triggered an explosion of this accumulated anger. A widespread sense of injustice dominates large sections of society. This regime deems everything it does as legitimate and rightful, while branding anything the opposition does as “crime” or “terrorism.” On one hand, negotiations are being held with Öcalan regarding the Kurdish question; on the other hand, the CHP, which formed the “Urban Consensus” alliance with the DEM Party (Kurdish party) for the municipal elections, is being accused of “collaborating with terrorism.” İmamoğlu himself is being accused of founding a criminal organization.

At this point, it’s important to emphasize that the student youth are not standing up for İmamoğlu’s political future, but for their own. Unemployment, economic hardship, lack of prospects, repression and violence are suffocating society and deeply affecting younger generations. Being pushed out of the production process–and essentially out of life itself–not being recognized or respected, and facing a future full of uncertainty are all driving a growing wave of depression among youth. We know that all these factors are fueling a deep reservoir of anger. It is this reality–and the reaction and rage accumulated over years–that lies behind the energy and morale that young people are now bringing to society through their actions.

It is abundantly clear that the regime did not expect a wave of protests of this scale that would push the CHP leadership forward. It must be underlined: this protest wave is not a movement fully organized or led by the CHP leadership. It is a movement involving CHP grassroots supporters, socialist parties and organizations, student youth, and broad opposition masses. Therefore, these protests are not merely CHP actions reacting against the political purge of İmamoğlu. The true driving force behind these actions is the entire process we’ve described above. These are the cries of NO from broad segments of society in response to the fascist regime, to its boundless arbitrariness, to the suffocation of all democratic rights, to injustice, to the worsening poverty that afflicts more people every day, to the misery imposed on pensioners, and to the plundering of nature! For this reason, dismissing or standing aside from this mass movement cannot be considered a revolutionary stance. We also know that certain socialist circles speak of mass mobilization while, at the same time, paralyze themselves with inaction under the excuse that “ideal conditions for protest” have not yet materialized!

Undoubtedly, it is crucial for the socialist movement to participate in this wave of protests from the perspective of the working class’s independent political struggle. The socialist movement must also mobilize the trade unions and bring broader sections of the working class into this protest wave. A portion of workers who previously voted for the AKP/MHP are now discontent, as the regime’s injustice has become glaringly obvious, and these operations are expected to negatively affect the economy and deepen poverty even further.

We want to underline one essential point: when socialists defend democracy and stand up for democratic rights and freedoms, this does not mean supporting bourgeois democracy or limiting ourselves to that framework. It is a fact that capitalism –having reached its historical limits and now decaying at every level– is producing authoritarianism and fascism on a global scale. Bourgeois democracy, having long since become an empty shell, has raised the flag of surrender. However, this does not mean that the struggle for democracy or the defense of democratic rights is meaningless. On the contrary, these struggles must be approached from a perspective that goes beyond capitalism. Working people all over the world want freedom–but they also want a stable life, a secure job, and safety for themselves and their families. It is the duty of socialists to show that such demands cannot be fulfilled under capitalism. There are no safe harbors in this system because capitalism itself creates chaos and drives society into deep instability. The fight for democratic rights cannot be separated from the struggle against unemployment, low wages, deepening poverty, injustice, femicides, or the destruction of nature. Workers who do not fight for democratic rights, who do not try to expand their union rights, who do not defend the right to strike–cannot be part of the broader social struggle, nor can they be drawn into the fight for socialism. The socialist movement must be able to connect workers’ economic and democratic demands –and all the problems of daily life– from an anti-capitalist perspective. It must give them content that breaks with the existing order. Unfortunately, Marxism’s transitional demands strategy is often forgotten. Yet this strategy is key–it links the simplest demands to the most complex ones, driving the struggle forward along an anti-capitalist path.

There are countless factors that will determine how far this wave of mobilization will go and where it might stop. Without a doubt, the regime will move to crush this movement before it grows any further. It will try to force the CHP leadership to retreat, isolate the socialists, and intimidate the masses back into silence and submission. However, the people now see clearly that even bourgeois law no longer functions under this regime–that not even the most basic rights, including the right to vote and be elected, are protected anymore. For this movement to succeed, the wave of protests must grow broader, draw in more sectors of society, and gain an organized, determined, and conscious character. Only then will it be possible to prevent the CHP leadership from backing down.

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