https://iclfi.org/pubs/wv/1184/turkie
The arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19 has brought great unrest in Türkiye, with President Erdoğan trying to crush any resistance to his authoritarian regime through repression, bans and arrests. İmamoğlu is accused of corruption, bribery and links to terrorist organizations. Also, the University of Istanbul has withdrawn his degree, which is required to be able to run for the country’s presidency.
At the same time, the working masses, who despise Erdoğan’s authoritarian regime, are faced with a devastated economy and constantly increasing cost of living and social inequalities. In the face of miserable working and living conditions, a strike wave has broken out across the country, among them wildcat strikes for better wages in many factories.
Erdoğan—squeezed on the one hand by growing discontent over his hated regime and on the other by the threat İmamoğlu poses to his rule—made a desperate move to crush the opposition. The goal is to get İmamoğlu out of the way, just as he was being nominated the Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate for the next presidential election in 2028.
Since İmamoğlu’s arrest, large demonstrations have been held daily across the country, with the largest in Istanbul drawing 2.2 million people. Students, workers, Kurds and others have taken to the streets in defense of İmamoğlu, calling for his release as well as that of all those arrested, including many leftists. They are also calling for justice and democracy in opposition to Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian regime.
We oppose the repression and authoritarianism and call for the release of İmamoğlu and all those arrested. However, it is essential to understand the source of the increasing authoritarianism. The root of authoritarianism, as well as poverty and misery, lies in the oppression of the country by imperialism, which plays the leading role in the country. So, there is a direct connection between authoritarianism and the increased pressure exerted on Türkiye by the imperialist powers due to its subordinate status. To save its rule, the bourgeoisie, whether under Erdoğan or the Kemalists, marches shoulder to shoulder with foreign capital, smashing the workers and establishing a more or less totalitarian regime. As Trotsky wrote:
“Thus, the feebleness of the national bourgeoisie, the absence of traditions of municipal self-government, the pressure of foreign capitalism and the relatively rapid growth of the proletariat, cut the ground from under any kind of stable democratic regime. The governments of backward, i.e., colonial and semi-colonial countries, by and large assume a Bonapartist or semi-Bonapartist character.”
—“Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay,” 1940
Thus, the struggle against authoritarianism and for democracy needs to be linked with the fight against imperialist subjugation, i.e., it goes hand in hand with the struggle against NATO. But the Kemalists can in no way lead this struggle. They are more openly pro-NATO and pro-imperialist than Erdoğan. For years, they have been the conduit for imperialist oppression, heading regimes as authoritarian as Erdoğan’s.
In order to push forward the struggle against Erdoğan, achieve democracy and advance the interests of Turkish workers, Kurds and the poor, the urgent task for the left today is to forge a proletarian front against U.S. imperialism, which calls the shots. In the course of this fight, the Kemalists will be exposed as an obstacle, to both democracy and the liberation of the country from the imperialist yoke. Down with Erdoğan! Down with NATO!
