Turkish opposition struggles to find its voice against might of Erdogan campaign
THE streets of Kadiköy, one of Istanbul’s most liberal districts, echo with the laughter of young couples, the clink of beer glasses and a one-word warning: dictatorship.
“I don’t want to live in a dictatorship. I don’t want sharia law. I don’t want to have to wear the headscarf. I don’t want my country to become like Iran or Iraq,” said Tuana Okay, 18, a student with a purple streak in her hair.
Like many Turks, Ms Okay is anxious about the referendum on Apr 16, when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is asking his citizens to approve sweeping constitutional changes that would vastly increase his power.
A disparate coalition of opponents – from Marxist students to renegade nationalists, Kurdish activists to Turkey’s once-dominant Republican People’s Party (CHP) – are campaigning against the president’s Yes campaign.
But in the increasingly authoritarian climate that has gripped the country since a failed coup attempt last summer, Mr Erdoğan’s opposition say they are facing a state-sponsored campaign of intimidation, harassment and occasionally violence.
The leaders of Turkey’s third-largest political party are in prison alongside dozens of journalists who have criticised Mr Erdoğan. The government’s Yes message echoes each day in the state media and supportive private outlets while the No camp struggles to get on TV. And while the president criss- crosses the country, opponents say they are often refused meeting spaces and rally permits.
“We are fighting this referendum in the face of oppressive policies,” said Barış Yarkadaş, a CHP MP. “We spend most of our effort just to be heard. But the things we are facing today are just a trailer of what will come if Erdoğan gets his desired presidential system.”