Turkey: new wave of arrests of opposition members
The Turkish government is continuing its crackdown against the main opposition party CHP: 126 people were detained in a major police operation against the city administration of Izmir, a CHP stronghold, on Tuesday. There have been several such waves of arrests since the removal from office and imprisonment of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March. Commentators analyse Ankara's actions and their consequences.
Systematic elimination
President Erdoğan wants to ensure that the CHP cannot govern in any municipality, T24 comments:
“Everyone can now see that the operation against İmamoğlu on 19 March was not only aimed at 'eliminating the strongest competitor', but at institutionally weakening the main opposition party, which has started to attract the attention and praise of the public with the 2024 local elections. This operation aims to bring the country to a point where elections lose their significance. The government is trying to portray the CHP as 'corrupt' (crackdown on municipalities), internally divided (discussions around the party congress) and unable to govern (making citizen services impossible by cutting municipal budgets).”
Enormous economic impact
The less democracy there is, the greater the crisis will be, warns Birgün:
“The political uncertainty is having an impact on the financial markets: The exchange rate is rising, inflation is increasing, investors are taking a wait-and-see approach. ... Inflation has the effect of a tax: citizens with a fixed income get poorer and poorer. Foreign capital withdraws if it sees a political risk. Domestic investors turn to interest rates or safe havens rather than production. As a result, fewer new jobs are created and existing jobs are jeopardised. In particular young people, women and people with a low level of education fall into the unemployment trap.”