TURKEY | Over a Million Attend Anti-Government Protest in Istanbul

On Saturday 29 March, a massive demonstration in Maltepe, Istanbul, saw over a million people take to the streets after days of protests and mass arrests.

Even approaching the protest, determined anger was clear on the packed trains, with people chanting throughout the journey. The stations were so crowded that it took me half an hour just to exit the station!

People from all walks of life – students, young workers, and pensioners – participated in the protest. However, it was particularly striking how young the crowd was, reflecting the anger felt by youth about the state of their futures under Erdogan’s regime.

One protester summed up the mood: “Everyone is hungry while one man sits in his palace.”

The demonstration was called by the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), in defence of Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed mayor of Istanbul and Erdogan’s main political rival.

This protest came after a week of protests on university campuses and in the streets, where tens of thousands of students have clashed with the police, facing brutal repression and mass arrests.

The initial spark for the mass protests was the arrest of Imamoglu. However, what brought people to the streets was the constant attacks on democratic rights and worsening living standards. Young people found an outlet to express their anger at a system that prioritises the rich and powerful over ordinary people struggling to get by.

The police response has been ruthless. Thousands of people, including student leaders, protesters, bystanders, journalists, trade unionists, and socialists, have been arrested. Around 2,000 arrests took place over just a few days, with reports of horrendous treatment, including torture, particularly aimed at students. Among those detained was a BBC journalist, who was arrested in a dawn raid and deported back to the UK.

People are angry about the arrest of Imamoglu, which they see as politically motivated. But more than that, they viewed it as an attack on their right to elect and be elected. The cost-of-living crisis is worsening, with brutal austerity policies, and people feel like they are paying the price for one man’s ambitions.

A recent poll shows that 73% of people in Turkey support the protests. This is not surprising, given the attacks on democratic rights, while Erdogan and the ruling elite – alongside the rich – live in luxury.

The paradox of the movement

When Imamoglu was arrested – a day after Istanbul University revoked his diploma – it was thousands of Istanbul University students who organised a protest on campus. Videos of students breaking through police barricades quickly went viral on social media.

The mass anger after the arrest, especially among students, and when it became clear that the protests would spread to other campuses, compelled the CHP leadership to organise an emergency rally outside Istanbul’s city hall in Sarachane. The mass mobilisation against the undemocratic attacks also succeeded, at least for the time being, in stopping Erdogan from appointing a government trustee to replace Imamoglu.

The paradox of the movement is that even though the main driving force was the student movement, the CHP leadership took control. The students and youth put pressure on the CHP leadership and pushed them to take a more ‘activist’ stance than they had initially intended.

The CHP leadership knows that if they don’t take a more combative stance to oppose the attacks, the movement could slip out of their control and potentially shake the very foundations of not just Erdogan’s regime but also capitalism.

Erdogan’s party the AKP and the CHP represent different sections of the capitalist class. The CHP can see the power of the movement and its potential to drive out Erdogan. However, they also defend the interests of Turkish capitalism and want to limit the scope of the movement.

Many students are critical of the CHP, expecting more than just parliamentary manoeuvres or legal routes. They have no trust in the institutions of the state to further their own interests.

Boycotts

One of the demands of the movement is boycotts.

University students have been organising academic boycotts, and in some universities, trade unions have supported this call. A workplace representative at Istanbul University was arrested for organising actions in support of students.

Calls for wider boycotts of companies with close ties to Erdogan’s government are also gaining traction. The CHP leadership, feeling the pressure, has joined in the call for boycotts, targeting companies ranging from a coffee shop chain to TV channels that support the regime.

If sustained over time, such a mass boycott of companies could play an auxiliary role and potentially deepen the splits within the Turkish ruling class.

However, they do not replace the need for independent, mass action by workers and youth.

On 28 March, the Revolutionary Workers’ Unions Confederation (DISK) organised a day of action in workplaces. This was a positive step, as it framed the attacks on democratic rights as a workplace issue.

Under Erdogan’s rule, workers have faced increasingly draconian anti-union laws, making it harder to organise and strike. Dismissals are frequent, and workers’ rights are under constant attack.

Mass trade union action in defence of democratic rights and living standards, as a step towards a general strike, would revitalise the workers’ movement and show who truly runs the country.

Even a national trade union demonstration at this stage, with an appeal to TURK-IS members (the largest trade union confederation in Turkey) and students, would be a step forward in uniting the working class and youth.

TIP

Workers and youth have no common interests with the bosses, who care only about their profits.

There is an urgent need for the trade union and student movements to have a political arm independent of the capitalist class.

The Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP), which currently has more than 40,000 members, had by far the largest contingent at Saturday’s rally, particularly mobilising young people. They have quickly become a pole of attraction for a layer of youth and workers looking for a left alternative to the CHP.

However, the role of TIP cannot be simply just about getting a bigger turnout to these protests or offering uncritical support to the CHP for the sake of unity. It must raise transitional demands to take the movement further, linking the attacks on democratic rights to the need to fight the cost-of-living crisis and the demand for a socialist transformation of society. It should be calling for mass independent action by workers and youth in the fight against Erdogan’s repressive and pro-big business policies.

This would also sharply raise the necessity for a movement independent of pro-capitalist forces and the need for a working-class socialist alternative to Erdogan’s increasingly unpopular regime and the capitalist system itself.

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