Turkish ruler Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Protests are raging against Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After arresting Ekrem Imamoglu, the presidential candidate of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), a mass movement erupted.
Hundreds of thousands are taking part in protests across Turkey, and the movement is boycotting companies perceived close to Erdogan.
Dr Murat Birdal, an economics professor at Istanbul University, spoke to Socialist Worker about who’s protesting and the wider international context.
Q. What is happening is clearly a political crisis for Erdogan. It bears some similarity to the Gezi Park protests in 2013—do you think Erdogan is weaker this time?
We cannot say Erdogan is weaker—in fact, I think that he may be stronger than before. For example, he has a complete grasp on the judiciary, more so than in 2013. In the case of the police, he has an even tighter control there as well.
The crucial difference is that, while Erdogan is stronger than in 2013, the opposition he faces is also much stronger and much more organised.
Q. The CHP seems to be spearheading the protests. Are there independent movements in the protests which could break with its politics?
It is important to point out that the CHP did not start the protests. They started in Istanbul University, organised mainly by socialist students. But it is the strong leadership of the CHP, which can organise these huge rallies, that we have not seen before.
The street movement did not begin with the CHP, and the CHP certainly doesn’t control it entirely. In fact, it is the demands of the students and the streets that have pushed the CHP into taking a more radical stance.
The boycott that is currently happening is not a plan laid out by the CHP. Rather, these moves are the demands voiced by the streets and the CHP has had to stand behind them. If it did not, it would no longer be situated in the movement, and its leadership would not stand or have the power it currently does.
In terms of the protests themselves, there are so many different forces, including the youth movement and socialist parties. These are very organised, but they are a minority. Socialists are mainly initiating the protests, but as the crowds get bigger then remain a small minority.
There are also nationalist groups that are getting stronger. They are not as organised, but they have larger masses and are gaining popularity.
The Kurds are not in the protests for many reasons. But at the last rally in Istanbul, there was a small number of representatives from the Kurdish DEM party.
So there are many people involved in these protests, and it’s not just the CHP.
Q. Do you think the protests could evolve into something bigger?
There is a part of the protests who do not have strong politics. These people will not remain once the immediate demands of the CHP—releasing Imamoglu and some others—are satisfied.
But there are others who have much bigger demands than just the release of some prisoners.
Workers and students have their own problems with high inflation and the wider erosion of liberties.
Every segment of society has different issues, just like during Gezi, and the protests reflect this. There are demands that definitely go beyond Imamoglu’s arrest, but it’s too early to say if these protests will evolve into something else.
One key force is of course the working class. Huge numbers of workers are participating individually because the unions are mostly silent.
There are some small, revolutionary unions, which are participating. But the main labour unions are staying out of the protests because of the control the AKP has over them. We cannot, therefore, talk about a strong labour union opposition to Erdogan.
That is a major weakness of the protests. There is a boycott on-going, and of course this should be supported by a general strike, but there is no support from the labour unions over this. And the CHP of course will not call for a general strike.
Q. The West has remained silent over the protests. Could you explain some of the international context?
The elections in the United States have been a game changer for Erdogan. Trump coming to power has been a huge boost for Erdogan, and also for other European leaders.
European countries, and the US, have strong ties with Erdogan. So they cannot risk speaking out against him.
They cannot risk the relations they have, but also it’s clear that foreign capital does not want democracy in a country. They just want it to be predictable, but there is too much uncertainty in Turkey.
This means international powers and capital do not invest in Turkey, and they also do not defend democracy.
We are also seeing other protests in countries near Turkey. But what is happening here was triggered by an isolated incident of repression—I don’t see it as directly connected to what is happening in Greece or Serbia.
But I think we will see more reactions against authoritarian regimes in the US and Europe, and then these movements could move together. And there is clear solidarity between European and Turkish people.
But Turkish people shouldn’t expect anything for European governments. We have to fight for our democracy ourselves.
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