I think this message was meant to be read out by You in the nearest video. Nonetheless, it is very respectable of You to share it with us. The strongest tool of democracy is knowledge.
1 month ago | 675
I believe a big reason why the EU especially has kept quiet with regards to the protests currently happening in Turkiye is the russian invasion of Ukraine. Erdogan has maneuvered himself into a position of support for Ukraine, yet proximity and contacts with russia. No one wants to alienate him, as they all prefer to keep him in their camp, and russia is not one to advocate for democratic reforms in any case. It's unfortunate to see the cold calculus of geopolitics in wartime deprive people of the support they need and deserve in the pursuit of their freedom.
1 month ago | 427
This is what awaits Serbia if the current protests fail, a turn to even wider & more open authoritarianism & corruption, like Erdogan after the Gezi protest. I hope the movement in Turkey becomes much wider & succeeds!
1 month ago | 14
Support from Hong Kong, unfortunately we already fell into authoritarianism. May you fare better than we did.
1 month ago | 39
People sometimes like to flirt with the idea of authoritarian rule in their country, but they tend to forget that it is very hard to remove any authoritarian from power. This power change will involve violence and sometimes even more violence...
1 month ago | 63
This message should be for everyone on the planet - whether you live in a democracy or not. Democracy is fragile and once you lose it there’s no easy way to get it back. Good luck to the citizens of Turkey.
1 month ago | 17
Great reading, but it misses a very important point: July 15, 2016. If you want to learn more about how Turkey has come to this day, I highly recommend you to read about what happened after this day. As a Turkish myself, if you ask me, I would divide recent Turkish history into two sections: Pre-2016 and Post-2016
1 month ago (edited) | 160
I hope for the best of the future of Türkiye from Greece. Even though Türkiye is currently in a much worse situation we can see the same effects in Greece, we have a rotting system that even if the powers are separated institutionally, none bothers to fight the system even when that leads to deaths. We have had multiple journalists dying while trying to investigate serious cases tied to governmental corruption like Noor one (the phantom ship transferring tons of pure heroine) or the greek mafia. They all got murdered and we completely gave up, Türkiye has the biggest prison for journalists and they keep dedicated to the vision of fair democracy. I want to express my admiration for your passion and will to resist, I can't see that in my country. I genuinely hope for the best and to be able to see a truly democratic Türkiye rising.
1 month ago (edited) | 65
My prayers go out to you, people of Turkey. It is glorious that your hearts are still full of vigor, voices full of courage. Here, in Russia, any attempts at peaceful country-wide protests have ended in 2022, sadly. I've been to Turkey many times and hope that you will be able to save your lively people and your beautiful country from fascism.
1 month ago | 21
As an Armenian, I’m glad to see dissent against Erdogan. Keep up the good fight Turkey, I hope that monster is kicked out and we can pave a path to peace
1 month ago | 21
I'm happy to know all this, maybe because of proximity and "rivalry" my country informs us of Turkish affairs far more than any other country. Best of luck with your fight from across the Aegean! And don't give up no matter what happens!
1 month ago | 4
As soon as i get home I’ll be writing to my local Canadian MP and the Prime Minister candidates asking them to stand with the turkish people.
1 month ago (edited) | 26
German here; I think I heard these protests being mentioned once by some commentator on YouTube discussing U.S. politics.
1 month ago | 21
Turkish people are so wonderful and Turkey is such a fabulous and vibrant country. You have so much to protect and cherish. Long live the Turkey of its people.
1 month ago | 8
Good luck to your friend Kraut. This strikes a chord with me; I also want to help my country shake off these new authoritarian tendencies. My first step is to finish medical school, then go back home to serve in the US Navy. From there, step 2: ??? Then, Step 3: Profit (save the republic)
1 month ago | 2
This too shall sadly pass. The Iranian protests taught me that hope is nowhere to be found. The days of successful protest or revolution are long gone.
1 month ago | 1
Indonesian here. I have been watching Turkish democracy continously degrading for the last years and it's painful to see even from outside. I pray that your suffering would end as soon as possible. Even worse, I feel that the rest of the world also slowly degrading to authoritarian or fascism. Indonesia's democracy also has been slowly degrading, and recently our last elected president has been plunging us a steep downfall towards authoritarianism hole. We are currently also doing protests, and seeing our protestors harrased and violated just like the early stage of Turkey's protest terrifies me. Hopefully we can still revert this.
1 month ago | 9
Kraut
I was asked by a Turkish friend to share this with you:
Hello,
You will be hearing this message from Kraut, but this script wasn’t written by himself. This script was produced by the collaboration of 2 Turkish users in Kraut’s discord server— and our communication was rendered possible through the use of VPNs, as discord and a lot of other social media platforms are restricted in Turkey.
As some of you may know, there are nationwide protests ongoing right now in Turkey. You may have also seen footage of cops using excessive violence, rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray, as well as making use of the water cannons of riot control vehicles against mostly student protesters. As it currently stands, more than 1,000 protestors have been detained since the start of these protests. What sparked these protests was the detention and arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor and the opposition’s leading contender for the 2028 presidential elections. This move essentially prevents İmamoğlu from running against Erdoğan. In the eyes of many, this serves a turning point in Turkey’s descent into full autocracy.
However, it would be naive to suggest that the detention of Ekrem İmamoğlu is the sole reason of the people taking it to the streets. The AKP, the ruling party, has been in power since 2002 and over this more than 20 year long period the Turkish political system has been undergoing a gradual transformation towards authoritarianism. Turkey remains one of the worst jailers of journalists, the government continues to suppress protests and harass civil society groups.
One might argue that the 2013 Gezi Park protests marked a turning point in Erdoğan’s approach to the opposition. Previously he had presented himself as a more moderate leader, or at least maintained that appearance. After the Gezi protests, he started escalating his crackdown on dissent. Following his election as president in 2014, he openly disregarded the constitutional constraints, ruling as a de facto party leader despite the presidency’s nonpartisan status under the legal framework at the time. And in 2017, the country formally transitioned to what we call a one-man regime. We call it that since this regime entirely abolished the separation of powers and rendered parliament functionally irrelevant, though elections have continued to function within a legal framework that preserved a veneer of legitimacy.
Now, with the detention and arrest of İmamoğlu, the mask of legitimacy has been formally discarded. The fascistic Erdoğan administration’s ambitions likely will not stop at eliminating İmamoğlu. The action appears poised to launch a broader crackdown on The Republican People’s Party (CHP), which may face systematic marginalization— as seen by the recently launched investigation against Ankara’s mayor Mansur Yavaş of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who is also considered a potential challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 2028 presidential election.
For us Turkish people, it is clear as day that İmamoğlu’s detention was a politically charged move to neutralize an opposition figure and ensure Erdoğan’s fascistic, authoritarian regime remains unchallenged. In a country that arrests its political rivals, elections are nothing more than a ritualistic performance to uphold the appearance of a democracy. In this new era of authoritarianism in Turkey, even the semblance of democratic competition may soon be systematically eradicated. And much like in the 2013 Gezi Protest, we may pay a heavy price for challenging the AKP rule and failing to rid ourselves of their parasitic hold over this country.
Whilst all of this is happening, we have yet to hear a word of condemnation from the EU and the U.S. While comparisons of the Turkish situation to Russia may seem apt, it is much closer to home of many within the West. This is not just our story, but yours as well. Europeans have already seen Orban and the change in Hungary, and the recent wave of Trumpism in the US. This recent escalation by Erdogan is not isolated by any means. What happens here, will most likely follow elsewhere unless people get the courage to fight back. People should fight back. Institutions should fight back. Countries should fight back. This, dear viewers, is where you come in. It is easy to despair when looking at this situation, but you can write to your representatives and demand them to condemn the dictatorial regime of Erdoğan and demand them to sanction the AKP regime. You can also stay informed by following these accounts:
x.com/imamoglu_int
x.com/rojdaaltintas
x.com/YusufCan_EN
x.com/solcugazeteD
x.com/hazardost
Now, some of you might’ve noticed that we used the term fascistic to describe Erdoğan and his regime. There is a lot of academic debate regarding what exactly fascism is, but we’d like to provide a simpler answer to this debate: the answer is this. This is what fascism is. The reason why us, Turkish people, don’t simply call the Erdoğan regime authoritarian, but rather fascist is that because even before all of this he was an authoritarian. The word “authoritarian” at this point does no justice to describe his dictatorial regime. From the regime’s authoritarianism, its militarism, its characterization by a dictatorial figure, and its tendency to disappear political rivals, there is no term more apt than fascist to describe the AKP regime.
A misconception one might have is that this is a CHP-led movement. This is simply not true. From communists and socialists to democrats, liberals, nationalists to even libertarians, many have joined this fight. This is a people’s led movement. We’d like to end this video with a slogan used during the nationwide protests: “shoulder to shoulder against fascism.” There is a long road ahead of us, we don’t know if we’re going to be successful. We don’t know if there is a light at the end of this tunnel, but what we do know is that we must continue resisting against fascism, shoulder to shoulder.
Thank you for listening.
1 month ago | [YT] | 4,294