Power to the powerful, contempt for the weak: in replicating this rule of Turkish politics, the opposition CHP differs in no way from Erdoğan’s AKP. Indeed, in persecuting all critics of the Turkish state, the Islamists are simply re-enacting the republican legacy.
Pessimism derives from pessimus, the Latin for ‘the worst’. In the days leading up to Turkey’s general and presidential elections on 28 May 2023, I tried to avoid pessimistes. I belonged to the ranks of those who believed optimus was fast approaching: a rebirth of parliamentary democracy, a return to human rights and reason, and, most importantly, a firm goodbye to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his bootlickers.
But now, three months later, I’m convinced that those who betted against Turkey’s autocrat in those hopeful days mostly did so out of cold calculation, not principle. Polls claimed the president was losing power, after all. Something mightier was in the making, a savvy new alliance preparing to grab power. Only losers would bid for a loser. Switching sides from the AK Party to the opposition alliance was a prerequisite for survival – a winner’s move that had little to do with ethics or political principles….
After the truth-shower 