• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, June 4, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Smelling Danger, Erdogan Likens Opposition March To Coup

Abdullah Ayasun by Abdullah Ayasun
06/26/17
in Featured, Middle East
Smelling Danger, Erdogan Likens Opposition March To Coup

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In a sign of brewing anxiety over the potential political ramifications of a 250-mile long protest march by Turkey’s main opposition party from Ankara to Istanbul, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likened the march to a bloody coup attempt of last year, threatened protesters with steep legal measures.

“What is the difference between you and July 15 [coup plotters]? They had their F-16s, you are walking during day and then having rest at caravans at nights,” he said.

“What is being done is not legal. It is well known what happened to the July 15 putschists,” President Erdogan said in a not-too-subtle threatening tone against the protesters who are marching to Istanbul to demand freedom to a recently imprisoned lawmaker from Republican People’s Party (CHP).

President Erdogan’s depiction of marching protesters as a new breed of putschists signals a possible intervention to stop the nationwide marches.

Erdogan Sees Seeds of Social Upheaval

Since Gezi protests in 2013, there had been no mass public protest that would prove politically threatening and alarming for Mr. Erdogan. Regarding street protests, he more or less felt secure and unassailed. But a 250-mile long protest march by thousands from Ankara to Istanbul has sent rippling echoes through the capital, with the president feeling the need to step into scotch the embers of an emerging social mobilization by the opposition.

His threatening language is a testimony to an underlying fear of another Gezi-like uprising, which could rupture Turkey’s politics and even trigger waves of social upheaval and violence.

He was simply aghast at the level of support and the scope of the march. To arrest any political fallout preemptively, Mr. Erdogan warned the marchers over legal consequences of their protest.

“Roads do not wear down by walking. If they think they can get justice with this method, it is impossible. Wandering around with ‘Justice’ banners does not bring justice,” President Erdogan said at a gathering at the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly on Saturday. “Do not be surprised if judiciary summons you,” the president said in a warning, hinting possible legal action against the marchers.

After the imprisonment of a senior lawmaker, CHP Chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu launched a march to protest the steady erosion of socio-political space for government opponents, the purge of public workers and arrests of politicians.

The protest march, which entered it’s 3rd day on Saturday, has reinvigorated a dispirited opposition whose influence on shaping policy making in Parliament is literally nonexistent under the state of emergency. The government runs the country with decrees, which have the full force of law, enables the ruling party to evade legal and legislative oversights.

“By trampling on constitutional law, calling people to streets would bring no good,” Mr. Erdogan said, castigating the opposition party.

At a separate speech during an iftar dinner with media bosses same day, the president intensified his belligerent rhetoric. He also decried over media coverage of political affairs over the past years, excoriated media editors for spreading disinformation detrimental to the image of the country.

He expounded at great length over how media should run its business, how journalism should be practiced in Turkey. His portrayal of himself as a victim of the press runs counter to the reality given his firm stranglehold on media.

Regarding CHP-led protest, which animated a public-spirited fervor and fresh mobilization within the ranks of opposition, President Erdogan said the protest unjustly shows as if things were bad in Turkey, as if there is no freedom.

While the idea of streets-led politics met with enthusiasm among the activist base of the secular opposition, it met with trepidation and bewilderment in the government. When CHP leader, in the absence of any other viable option in a gutted political landscape, chose streets as a form of political action, the president swiftly rebuffed.

Justice must be sought at courts, he said, not on roads. Nobody is untouchable in the face of justice, the president proclaimed, dismissing uproar over the imprisonment of a lawmaker.

President’s equation of the march with a bloody coup last year came as befuddling. He shattered any doubt that the government would remain respectful until the completion of the march, signaling a possible intervention.

The president portrayed the march as illegal and said if protesters are able to walk, it is only because the government allows them to do so. In a stark reminder and warning, he said if the protesters block TEM, E-5, the main highways that connect Istanbul to Anatolia, during the march, then the situation would be slipped out of control, necessitating a government interference.

“If you say, we would occupy TEM, E-5 [highways,] then the situation turns to another July 15. We would never allow that.”

********

This article was possible thanks to your donations. Please keep supporting us here.

ShareTweet
Abdullah Ayasun

Abdullah Ayasun

Staff Writer

Related Posts

Syrian rescuers and civilians search for victims and survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building, in the rebel-held northern countryside of Syria's Idlib province on the border with Turkey, early on February 6, 2023. Syrian rescuers (White Helmets) and civilians search for victims and survivors amid the rubble of a collapsed building
World

Quake Kills Over 1,200 Across Turkey, Syria

by Staff Writer
February 6, 2023
Greek Immigration Minister Notis Mitarachi
Refugees

Greece Denies Turkey Claims Over Six Migrants Killed at Sea

by Staff Writer
September 14, 2022
anti femicide group
Democracy at Risk

Anti-Femicide Group Goes on Trial in Turkey, Faces Risk of Closure

by Staff Writer
June 1, 2022
The Club Netflix
Lifestyle

Netflix Series Helps Heal Wounds of Turkey’s Jews

by Staff Writer
March 19, 2022
AFP photographer arrested
Media Freedom

Turkish Reporters Demand Protection After Violent Arrest

by Staff Writer
June 29, 2021
Erdogan Threatens to Open Europe Gates for Refugees
Featured

Turkey’s Latest Crackdown Spells Dangerous New Normal for Human Rights Defenders

by Anders L. Pettersson
October 26, 2021
Next Post
Turkish TV Reporters Briefly Detained During FM’s Visit To Saudi Arabia

Turkish TV Reporters Briefly Detained During FM's Visit To Saudi Arabia

Turkish Journalist, Imprisoned For 11 Months, Is In Critical Condition

Turkish Journalist, Imprisoned For 11 Months, Is In Critical Condition

Please login to join discussion

Recommended

A man holds US, Taiwan flags

US and Taiwan Ink Trade Deal as China Issues Warning

June 2, 2023
Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

May 26, 2023
Customers queue to enter a re-opened Zara clothes shop

EU Targets Fast Fashion in Push for Durable Goods

May 23, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

May 16, 2023

Opinion

Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Folly 

April 24, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post