TÜRKİYE ORTA ASYA HABER KKUORDİNATÖRÜ

WORLD TURKISH NEWS THE CONVERSATION GOVERNMENT RESISTANCE THAT BROUGHT TURKEY TO THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE The democracy crisis in Türkiye: the intersection of religion, power, and repression The arrest of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19th drew attention to the state of democracy in Türkiye. This event can be considered a potential turning point in the gradual erosion of the country's secular and democratic foundations. Founded in 1923, the Republic of Turkey was established as a secular state under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Secularism was considered essential for modern development because it separated state power structures from religious authorities. However, recent research shows that this separation has weakened since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002. Turkish political researcher Jenny White notes that during the AKP era, Islam ceased to be a private domain and became a tool for the AKP's political legitimacy. In her 2014 book, "Muslim Nationalism and the New Turks," she examines how the AKP promoted a national-religious identity as an alternative to traditional republican secularism. This transformation of secularism in Türkiye coincided with a reshaping of national identity. According to a Brookings Institute study, the Erdoğan government fostered a religious and conservative vision of what it means to be Turkish. This weakened the republican foundations upon which the country was established more than a century ago. Islam, rather than being a private or spiritual domain, has increasingly been integrated into the official state narrative as a tool for political integration and moral legitimacy. This redefinition has had clear consequences: a narrowing of the space for opposition, restrictions on individual freedoms, and the spread of a cultural and religious identity that excludes significant segments of society. Message us for something interesting every day or two. Membership Competitive Authoritarianism Authors such as Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way have developed the term "competitive authoritarianism" to describe a regime where democratic institutions formally exist but are hollowed out by hegemonic government control. In the case of Turkey, various practices contributing to unfair electoral competition have been documented. These include the takeover of the judiciary, control of the media, and the disqualification of opposition candidates. The arrest of İmamoğlu on allegations of corruption and links to terrorism fits this pattern. He had emerged as a strong challenger to AKP hegemony, winning the mayoral elections in Istanbul in 2019 and 2024; Istanbul is a city of great symbolic and political importance. International analysts interpret his arrest as a move to exclude him from national elections. Using the Justice System as a Weapon In recent years, the judicial processes have been repeatedly used in Türkiye to eliminate political opposition. According to Freedom House’s 2024 report, Turkey is classified as an “unfree” country, with declining scores on judicial independence and civil liberties. The detention of over a thousand people, including journalists and protesters, following İmamoğlu’s arrest, has been condemned by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders. In this context, the application of the law is becoming a tool of control. Guillermo O’Donnell has termed this “bureaucratic authoritarianism”: the selective use of the law to eliminate democratic functions while preserving institutional forms. Turkish-born economist and Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu has extensively argued that democratic decline is directly linked to weak institutions and a lack of oversight over executive power. In his 2013 book, “Why Nations Fail,” he argues that inclusive institutions are key to development and stability, while institutions seized by exploitative elites tend to lead to authoritarian or inefficient regimes. The current situation in Türkiye – the increasing centralization of control over the judiciary, media, and electoral system by the executive branch – demonstrates the consequences of this institutional takeover. International Implications Turkey is a case study for understanding the transformation of 21st-century democratic regimes. In their 2019 book, "How Democracies Die," Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt argue that contemporary democracies are not usually overthrown by coups, but rather disappear through the gradual erosion of institutional checks and balances within the system itself. The events in Türkiye illustrate how leaders can weaken secularism and seize power individually within a political model that maintains a democratic facade.