{"id":14823,"date":"2026-09-21T12:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/?post_type=kreisky_event&#038;p=14823"},"modified":"2026-09-21T12:54:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:54:47","slug":"shaping-turkeys-democratic-future-episode-2-the-battle-for-turkeys-opposition","status":"publish","type":"kreisky_event","link":"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/veranstaltung\/shaping-turkeys-democratic-future-episode-2the-battle-for-turkeys-opposition","title":{"rendered":"Shaping Turkey\u2019s Democratic Future \u2013 Episode 2: THE BATTLE FOR TURKEY\u2019S OPPOSITION"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Turkey has been a multiparty democracy since 1945, but its democratic development has been repeatedly disrupted by military interventions and the suppression of political opposition. Since Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, Turkey\u2019s political system has undergone a profound transformation, accompanied by increasing restrictions on press freedom, human rights and political opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CHP\u2019s landslide victory in the 2024 local elections raised hopes that voters could still shift the political balance through the ballot box. Yet the subsequent arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu, Erdo\u011fan\u2019s most prominent political challenger, and increasing judicial pressure on the CHP \u2013 such as the removal of the party leadership by court ruling \u2013 highlight that the regime is prepared to overturn electoral defeat and reshape the political landscape through a judiciary that serves its interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The panel will discuss, amongst other questions: Is Turkey crossing the line from electoral democracy towards outright authoritarianism? How much resistance can Turkish society and the opposition mobilise? Can a divided opposition mount a credible democratic challenge? And how resilient is Erdo\u011fan\u2019s increasingly personalised system of power? Finally, what can the EU, European political parties and civil society do to support democratic institutions and Turkey\u2019s parliamentary opposition \u2013 and help preserve the possibility of genuine political competition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Participants:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Berk Esen,<\/strong> Sabanci University<br><strong>G\u00f6rkem Yaz,<\/strong> MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Centre<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Presenters:<\/strong><br><strong>Cengiz G\u00fcnay<\/strong>, <a>Austrian Institute for International Affairs<\/a> \u2013 oiip<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In cooperation with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oiip.ac.at\/\">Austrian Institute for International Affairs<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Turkey has been in a multiparty democracy since 1945, but its democratic development has repeatedly been interrupted by military interventions and the suppression of political opposition. Since Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, Turkey\u2019s political system has undergone a profound transformation, accompanied by growing restrictions on press freedom, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":14828,"template":"","format":[],"meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"schwerpunkt":[],"class_list":["post-14823","kreisky_event","type-kreisky_event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shaping Turkey\u2019s Democratic Future - Episode 2:THE BATTLE FOR TURKEY&#039;S OPPOSITION - Kreisky Forum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kreisky-forum.org\/en\/event\/shaping-turkeys-democratic-future-episode-2-the-battle-for-turkeys-opposition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shaping Turkey\u2019s Democratic Future - Episode 2:THE BATTLE FOR TURKEY&#039;S OPPOSITION - Kreisky Forum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Turkey has been in a multiparty democracy since 1945, but its democratic development has repeatedly been interrupted by military interventions and the suppression of political opposition. 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