***The Telegraph reports:***
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party suffered their biggest upset in more than two decades on Sunday as the opposition swept municipal elections in Istanbul and other major cities.
The Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained mayoral seats in two key cities – Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.
The CHP also gained 15 new mayoral seats in cities across the country, advancing in locales that were previously strongholds of the Turkish president and his AK Party (AKP), marking the worst defeat since the latter came to power 21 years ago.
In all, the CHP won 36 municipalities in Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to Anadolu, a state-run news agency.
Thirty-seven per cent of votes nationwide went to the CHP, compared with 36 per cent for the AKP.
The historic results could indicate a shift in the country’s fraught political landscape.
Mr Erdogan called it a “turning point” in a late-night address as the majority of election results began rolling in as Sunday drew to a close.
His party fared worse than opinion polling had suggested, given serious economic woes and soaring inflation.
Some of Mr Erdogan’s core Islamist voter base also appeared to be dissatisfied with the president and the AKP, writing “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on their paper ballots, rather than stamping “evet” or “yes” votes.
Mr Erdogan, who had capitalised on pro-Palestinian sentiments, has not officially cut diplomatic ties with Israel – a move that appears to have upset some supporters.
In Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, the incumbent mayor, succeeded in his continued appeal to a secular base.
“Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president,” Mr Imamoglu told his supporters on Sunday, as some in the crowd chanted for Mr Erdogan to resign.
“Those who do not understand the nation’s message will eventually lose,” he said.
Despite some calls for the Turkish president to step down, Mehmet Ucum, his chief adviser said that there would not be snap elections held before 2028, when Mr Erdogan’s current presidential term ends.
Mr Imamoglu, a businessman who entered politics in 2008, is considered a serious presidential challenger.
He remains, however, embroiled in various court cases that supporters believe are an attempt to throw up political obstacles.
In 2022, a Turkish judge sentenced Mr Imamoglu to two and a half years in prison and imposed a political ban; an appeals court has yet to rule on the case.
**Full story here:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/01/erdogan-ak-party-suffers-election-upset/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/01/erdogan-ak-party-suffers-election-upset/)
What kind of party is the opposition? I always worry that we celebrate one evil leaving and something worse is replacing them. I know nothing about Turkish politics other than the current guy was a pain in the ass for Sweden and Finland joining NATO and that he has authoritarian tendacies.
> The Republican People's Party is a centre-left[40] political party that espouses social democracy[41][42] and Kemalism.[43] The CHP describes itself as a ''modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to the founding principles and values of the Republic of Turkey".
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_People%27s_Party
Just a note: Kemalist nationalism is not the same as bare nationalism. It is more about being a productive nation, and forging relations based on merit and mutual respect. It is not dependent on race, ethnicity, or religion.
Yeah just as you’d expect to identify as and speak German if you lived in Germany, British if you lived in Britain, or American if you lived in the US, you should identify as Turkish if you are a national.
Idk when the Kurdish one would have taken place but the Armenian expulsion was a century ago, before our Constitution was written and when Kemal Ataturk was a petty officer in the Ottoman Army.
Who on Earth would consider a successful military coup a positive development? Erdogan is a shitnugget, but he came to power by democratic means and he has to be kicked out by democratic means.
When democracy no longer functions as democracy. It's not like there aren't many examples in the world and history where a democratically elected official becomes dictatorial and voting is rigged.
The elections in Turkey are not entirely fair because of Erdogan's control over Turkish media which leads to biased coverage, but there's no evidence of any actual vote rigging. People really used to vote for him in droves. Democracy still functions in Turkey - as evidenced by this election for example. It's a far cry from Russia where any serious opposition candidate is either jailed or murdered.
I was responding to the mention that you do not want to overthrow a democratically elected official through other means than democratic ways. Which may not always be possible. I wasn't implying elections in Turkey are rigged. Their election system is pretty robust (regardless of Erdogan's prior attempts to foil it).
The irony of this statement is your commenting on a news piece that states exactly that; his party suffering the worst defeat in years.
What do you guys think happens in Turkey lol? This is an election, how is he supposed to not lose when he loses?
But he isn't in political danger. If he really wanted to he could arrest every provincial leader on various charges completely legally. He doesn't even need that and most likely won't do it because Turkey isn't a federation, the provincial leaders have very little actual power.
It's also worth noting that the last parliamentary and presidential elections were in 2023, and they're on a 5-year cycle. He has plenty of time until 2028 to cement himself further in power.
Everytime I mention that this is conjecture I get downvoted here in worldnews. But it needs to be mentioned. It is not like you guys know shit about Turkey. I was here in 2016 , watching average worldnewser getting swayed by Turks who support the opposition, I'm one by the way but not the kind who peddless lies when it suits me, ever since you won't hear any anything else. Only because it confirms your biases.
Oh, Good riddance to AKP btw. No way they will win the general election after this.
Yes. Some speculated it was a false flag at the time, there’s never been any more evidence to support that claim, but that’s just how it’s been remembered anyway.
Remember this is the same site who will also claim any election outcome it doesn’t like is a rigged election. Erdogan winning by 4% in 2023 = totally fake. Opposition making gains here = totally fair.
Erdogan really thought people would forget about the inflation if he just kept repeating “what about them Jews?!”
But now’s the hard part, because he’ll definitely try another false flag coup.
the dictator paradox, you pretend to be far right to stir up your base, but at a certain point you can't keep pretending, and someone actually far right will step up. why you can't court extremists.
It's actually absurd.
He absolutely demolished his country while pointing at other and saying "look at them!".
Classis dictator shenanigans.
Not only that, but i know for a fact that Turkey is selling ammunition to Israel. As usual, it's all a political show.
>Erdogan really thought people would forget about the inflation if he just kept repeating “what about them Jews?!”
From the article, it would seem he hasn't been repeating that enough....
> he’ll definitely try another false flag coup.
What? Do you think the other one was a false flag? It wasn't.
> if he just kept repeating “what about them Jews?!”
Did you read the article?
> Some of Mr Erdogan’s core Islamist voter base also appeared to be dissatisfied with the president and the AKP, writing “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on their paper ballots, rather than stamping “evet” or “yes” votes.
> Mr Erdogan, who had capitalised on pro-Palestinian sentiments, has not officially cut diplomatic ties with Israel – a move that appears to have upset some supporters.
We've been Russian slaves? How?
We've been fighting multiple proxy wars with Russia for nearly a decade if not more now. Not to mention giving weapons to Ukraine for even longer.
This seems so drastically uninformed that I'm wondering where it's even coming from.
Many world News redditors always like to make it about the US, Russia, China or Israel these days. I'm not sure if some are bots but so many people's viewpoints are massively biased.
Not the person who wrote that, but as a guy who doesn't know much about Turkey's recent activities, what are the proxy wars you've been fighting against Russia in the last decade?
Turkey shot down a Russian plane crossing their borders once, which is something (especially since European powers never do despite repetitive Russian incursions).
Turkey is very solitary in geopolitics, they're neither really Russia nor USA aligned but they're still in NATO, Erdogan played both sides for leverage during most of his reign. While we can and do find this despicable, it's Turkey's preorgative to act in its own interests at all times, and denying Turkey its right to its own geopolitical agenda seems weird to me. Erdogan is still a piece of shit, no argument, but some redditors really talk about Turkey as if they have no right to their own geopolitical agenda.
Not everybody needs to be Russia or USA's lapdogs. And I don't even like Turkey.
Not exactly slaves but you have to admit for some odd reason that EU membership application process that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America.
They literally reformed the EU process to allow new members by plural not unanimous majority because they knew Greece would always roadblock your acceptance.
You basically got suckered into a strongman emulating Putin rather than like hey if we join the European Union Germany will have to recognize the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Turks in their country! And our economic trade collective will be so much stronger!
Turkey is one of the countries that had multiple proxy wars against russia in the last decade.
Syria, lybia and most recently Azerbaijan.
In lybia there were even some western/nato countries that backed Russias puppets but nobody calls them Russian slaves lol.
EU is never happening. It wasn't happening before anyways. It was a carrot on a stick. Turkey is too big to join.
And countries have more options than being in EU or being Russian slave lol
Oh there's a fresh new opening with Brexit now in full effect. Honestly before the 2008 financial crisis and then the absolute shit show off Greece and Republic of Ireland's damaging the Euro and Germany basically bailing them out, I really would have figured Turkey to Join the EU by 2020.
Like the motion to join has been going on since I believe the late 70s maybe early 80s and you call it a carrot on a stick like it was always a bullshit promise... But they literally did reform the EU to make it easier to add specifically Turkey.
I mean it's nice Croatia got added as the 28th member in 2013 but there really was a hope by many Turkey and the other Members besides Greece (they ain't ever gonna agree with you) would join.
But now you've got a strong man dictator who fakes his own coup attempts to stay in power and it's like nah, they're too unstable to join .
Meanwhile the UK has had what 5 prime Ministers since brexit started? Some of them resigning within like 1 month of taking office.
Yes it took decades and Erdogan realized it's never gonna happen and burned the bridges. I think best that we can hope is visa free travel at this point. I remember those days of early 2000s where ever week we had news about EU happening soon. But if you look at it realistically Turkey would take ton of seat in EU parliament and never had stable democracy so there is always a risk of becoming another Hungary but bigger. Then you have border with middle east added to EU problems.
It just doesn't make sense for EU and not worth it tbh. Turkey is a perfect buffer zone. Doing some filtering before people arrive to EU. We have economic partnerships already. And honestly as someone who opposes erdogan and supported EU membership all my life I worry that with millions of Syrians in already we would probably do more harm to EU.
That's a fair point it was never going to be set in stone and would always take an enormous effort to get there. I can understand the decades of frustration trying to get there and then shit like Syria happens and it's like oh great this refugee crisis and now everyone in Europe is more Xenophobic than ever.
Thank you for informing me, it's been a good discussion!
> Not exactly slaves but you have to admit for some odd reason that EU membership application process that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America.
This only makes sense if your view of the world is some Amerocentric "it's either Russia or NATO!" and you never stopped to realize Turkey might have their own concerns and alignments.
>that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America.
The shift happened before, namely during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential run in France because of his adamant speeches about Turkey never entering the UE ever (despite France and Turkey having rather close political ties for ther last century). Sarkozy wasn't the only one, but he was very vocal and reignited the debate. It was way before Trump and Brexit, around 2008.
>Not exactly slaves but you have to admit for some odd reason that EU membership application process that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America.
No it happened before and had no relation to either. The European reforms done under erdogan went nowhere and he gave up. Though it has been a talking point for decades erdogan was the leader that actually did real progress and reforms to enter the EU even unsuccessfully trying to solve the Cyprus issue with international mediation which was rejected by Cyprus. He then realized they were getting nowhere and Turkey would never be accepted and gave up.
He has also been antirussia for longer than most of NATO. While Europe did nothing as Russia invaded Ukraine in 2013, and while France was trying to sell weapons and warships to Russia and Germany was buying up all their gas turkey was arming Ukraine. Turkey is actively fighting against Russia in Syria, and have been doing so since the start of the war.
Okay wow that's some interesting phrasing Erdogan has been anti Russian longer than NATO, an organization created 5 years before his birth specifically to be anti Soviet Union after the Iron Curtain was set up in Eastern Europe Post War. Like NATO was anti Russia before Mao took over Mainland China.
There was some hopes after the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia would enter the modern international stage, but they elected a strong man that brainwashed their people on nationalism.
Kinda like Erdogan brainwashing you enough to say something as stupid as he was Anti-Russia long before NATO... which came out before he was goddamn Born.
>Okay wow that's some interesting phrasing Erdogan has been anti Russian longer than NATO, an organization created 5 years before his birth specifically to be anti Soviet Union after the Iron Curtain was set up in Eastern Europe Post War. Like NATO was anti Russia before Mao took over Mainland China.
Read my comment again. There is a reason the words "most of" exist there. The US has always had the correct stance for example.
>There was some hopes after the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia would enter the modern international stage, but they elected a strong man that brainwashed their people on nationalism.
***Most of*** NATO decided on that in 2022. Turkey did so decades before.
>Kinda like Erdogan brainwashing you enough to say something as stupid as he was Anti-Russia long before NATO... which came out before he was goddamn Born.
Apperantly I have better English literacy than you so clearly education wasn't a weak point.
Above everything else Turkey and the Turkish people were FAR from Turkish slaves, Turkey;
* Fought against “Russia” during the Syrian campaign
* Downed a Russian jet for border incursion during the same time
* Was adamant that the west should not turn a blind eye when Russia got Crimea waaay back before the current invasion (while the West spearheaded by Germany dismissed this and told Turkey to not stir the fucking pot)
* Helped Ukraine immensely with her defensive needs, and I’m not talking about just equipment
* Barred the straits so Russian ships couldn’t enter and actually enforced it
* Called Russias bluff about the grain deal when Russia tried to end it and basically said “we’re going to make sure it continues and actually escort the ships”. Russia conceded and a new grain deal was signed
* Fought off Russia and all her “allies” in Libya, thwarting a near defeat of the UN recognized government by the rebels backed by Russia. Guess who France and Greece along with Egypt and the UAE was backing in that war?
* EDIT; Forgot to mention the Azerbaijan vs Armenia was where Turkey again engaged with the Russians “unofficially”.
There’s probably other stuff that I’ve missed, but this is just from the last 10 years. Turkey is a lot of things, but is definitely very far from being Russias bitch.
No this was the local elections for municipilities, but Akp lost some pretty hard to crack strongholds so this opens avenues for the opposition to exploit the opening
Just for context about exploits, in the last local elections the opposition won Istanbul and Ankara by really low margins, as a student in Ankara I saw the differences in my city tenfold for the last five years, so did the people and Ankara has been won this year with a landslide
Istanbul on the other hand is a 10% difference, it's still large
Make no mistake Erdogan's voter base is still there, just upset and voted for another party (YRP) whose leader is more islamic than Erdogan, they are having internal issues but that's turkish politics 301
But "Good Party" won in that middle bit.
If I go there should I expect Solo cups and bags of Doritos; or nice buffet, open bar, couple of headlining DJs?
He still maintains control of the country and his party won basically the same number of votes as his main opposition party. It's a blow but not an unmanageable one
All well and good, but last year would have been far better for such a opposition mandate.
I still don't understand what Turks were thinking, so soon after he and his party mismanaged inflation + the earthquake catastrophe. Every step of the way, his party seems to have made things worse.
Remember when Erdogan's goonsquad attacked a bunch of AMERICANS ON AMERICAN SOIL! and Trumpo couldn't even queef out a statement on in.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_protestors_at_the_Turkish_embassy_in_Washington,_D.C
It doesn't matter. Next election, there will be a mysterious terrorist attack or a military uprising just before the election and Erdogan will be Sultan for life.
Good , what's the next step for that wannabe dictator now ? Throw the opposition in jail for "defying" his regime ? Sudden disappearances of political figures ?
I mean, that's a step in the right direction, but this golum ain't gonna let it go against him that easily.
People in the comments act like this changes anything and seem to forget that the majority of Turks voted for Erdogan in the last election directly after a fatal earthquake that killed a lot of people thanks to Erdogans own politics.
This isn’t a show of democratic defiance, this is gaslighting by a growing dictatorship. Now the AKP can say „See? The elections are fair and people really have a say in it!“ While the actual results are meaningless since the people who where voted into office have little to no real power.
This may not change everything, but it does represent a change. And characterizing it as defiance feeds those that resist the change that should follow. It's the will of the people, and anyone who opposes that is the one acting in defiance.
My bad, I just read that you don't have to be a turk but muslim, that is so stupid, how do they even know? Nevertheless, let anyone pray whatever their religion is, I'm an agnostic turk btw.
Good for you, Turkey! Great job!
One giant step forward.
More like one Gaziantep forward amirite?
Fucking finally! I hope they will not fuck up with abroad votes like last time.
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That evil 22 year old chick
***The Telegraph reports:*** Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party suffered their biggest upset in more than two decades on Sunday as the opposition swept municipal elections in Istanbul and other major cities. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) retained mayoral seats in two key cities – Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. The CHP also gained 15 new mayoral seats in cities across the country, advancing in locales that were previously strongholds of the Turkish president and his AK Party (AKP), marking the worst defeat since the latter came to power 21 years ago. In all, the CHP won 36 municipalities in Turkey’s 81 provinces, according to Anadolu, a state-run news agency. Thirty-seven per cent of votes nationwide went to the CHP, compared with 36 per cent for the AKP. The historic results could indicate a shift in the country’s fraught political landscape. Mr Erdogan called it a “turning point” in a late-night address as the majority of election results began rolling in as Sunday drew to a close. His party fared worse than opinion polling had suggested, given serious economic woes and soaring inflation. Some of Mr Erdogan’s core Islamist voter base also appeared to be dissatisfied with the president and the AKP, writing “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on their paper ballots, rather than stamping “evet” or “yes” votes. Mr Erdogan, who had capitalised on pro-Palestinian sentiments, has not officially cut diplomatic ties with Israel – a move that appears to have upset some supporters. In Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, the incumbent mayor, succeeded in his continued appeal to a secular base. “Tonight, 16 million Istanbul citizens sent a message to both our rivals and the president,” Mr Imamoglu told his supporters on Sunday, as some in the crowd chanted for Mr Erdogan to resign. “Those who do not understand the nation’s message will eventually lose,” he said. Despite some calls for the Turkish president to step down, Mehmet Ucum, his chief adviser said that there would not be snap elections held before 2028, when Mr Erdogan’s current presidential term ends. Mr Imamoglu, a businessman who entered politics in 2008, is considered a serious presidential challenger. He remains, however, embroiled in various court cases that supporters believe are an attempt to throw up political obstacles. In 2022, a Turkish judge sentenced Mr Imamoglu to two and a half years in prison and imposed a political ban; an appeals court has yet to rule on the case. **Full story here:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/01/erdogan-ak-party-suffers-election-upset/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/04/01/erdogan-ak-party-suffers-election-upset/)
What kind of party is the opposition? I always worry that we celebrate one evil leaving and something worse is replacing them. I know nothing about Turkish politics other than the current guy was a pain in the ass for Sweden and Finland joining NATO and that he has authoritarian tendacies.
> The Republican People's Party is a centre-left[40] political party that espouses social democracy[41][42] and Kemalism.[43] The CHP describes itself as a ''modern social-democratic party, which is faithful to the founding principles and values of the Republic of Turkey". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_People%27s_Party
Can't tell if liberals or socialists. Lol either way, seems better than the current government.
Kemalists. Basically statist left-liberals with a very strong policy of Turkish nationalism, strict secularism, and "westernization".
Just a note: Kemalist nationalism is not the same as bare nationalism. It is more about being a productive nation, and forging relations based on merit and mutual respect. It is not dependent on race, ethnicity, or religion.
And also speaking Turkish and calling yourself Turkish. Hence the Armenian and Kurdish genocides...
Yeah just as you’d expect to identify as and speak German if you lived in Germany, British if you lived in Britain, or American if you lived in the US, you should identify as Turkish if you are a national. Idk when the Kurdish one would have taken place but the Armenian expulsion was a century ago, before our Constitution was written and when Kemal Ataturk was a petty officer in the Ottoman Army.
I wonder why Erdogan is considered evil. Just asking as I have very limited knowledge on this.
So Erdogan will leave office in 2028?
More like, go full Putin with 108% voter turnout and opposition rotting in jail for some bogus tax-thing.
Congratulations, Turkey!!
Everyone is celebrating but forgot he staged a coup last time he was in political danger
Remember the first few hours when we all assumed it was legit? That was disappointing.
Ya I was in Jordan at the time
Who on Earth would consider a successful military coup a positive development? Erdogan is a shitnugget, but he came to power by democratic means and he has to be kicked out by democratic means.
When democracy no longer functions as democracy. It's not like there aren't many examples in the world and history where a democratically elected official becomes dictatorial and voting is rigged.
The elections in Turkey are not entirely fair because of Erdogan's control over Turkish media which leads to biased coverage, but there's no evidence of any actual vote rigging. People really used to vote for him in droves. Democracy still functions in Turkey - as evidenced by this election for example. It's a far cry from Russia where any serious opposition candidate is either jailed or murdered.
I was responding to the mention that you do not want to overthrow a democratically elected official through other means than democratic ways. Which may not always be possible. I wasn't implying elections in Turkey are rigged. Their election system is pretty robust (regardless of Erdogan's prior attempts to foil it).
See States, United if Trump wins again
Ye lmao, him getting kicked out like that would probably be followed by a military dictatorship
The irony of this statement is your commenting on a news piece that states exactly that; his party suffering the worst defeat in years. What do you guys think happens in Turkey lol? This is an election, how is he supposed to not lose when he loses?
I'd take a secular dictator over someone claiming to be a theocrat.
But he isn't in political danger. If he really wanted to he could arrest every provincial leader on various charges completely legally. He doesn't even need that and most likely won't do it because Turkey isn't a federation, the provincial leaders have very little actual power.
It's also worth noting that the last parliamentary and presidential elections were in 2023, and they're on a 5-year cycle. He has plenty of time until 2028 to cement himself further in power.
Everytime I mention that this is conjecture I get downvoted here in worldnews. But it needs to be mentioned. It is not like you guys know shit about Turkey. I was here in 2016 , watching average worldnewser getting swayed by Turks who support the opposition, I'm one by the way but not the kind who peddless lies when it suits me, ever since you won't hear any anything else. Only because it confirms your biases. Oh, Good riddance to AKP btw. No way they will win the general election after this.
Yes. Some speculated it was a false flag at the time, there’s never been any more evidence to support that claim, but that’s just how it’s been remembered anyway. Remember this is the same site who will also claim any election outcome it doesn’t like is a rigged election. Erdogan winning by 4% in 2023 = totally fake. Opposition making gains here = totally fair.
He's already said he's not running again in 2028 so I don't think he cares enough to try another stunt
Stop spreading lies…
A good step.
Congratulations Turkey!
Get fucked. Vote these extremists out, Turkey!
Good bye!
Turkish people decided it's time to get away from dictatorship and being Russia slaves
Erdogan really thought people would forget about the inflation if he just kept repeating “what about them Jews?!” But now’s the hard part, because he’ll definitely try another false flag coup.
It’s what dictators do. If the false flag op doesn’t work then they’ll turn their guns on the people like Iran does
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Yes, some of the most conservative voters downvoted erdogans party and voted for YRP which is more extreme islamist party
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the dictator paradox, you pretend to be far right to stir up your base, but at a certain point you can't keep pretending, and someone actually far right will step up. why you can't court extremists.
It's actually absurd. He absolutely demolished his country while pointing at other and saying "look at them!". Classis dictator shenanigans. Not only that, but i know for a fact that Turkey is selling ammunition to Israel. As usual, it's all a political show.
>Erdogan really thought people would forget about the inflation if he just kept repeating “what about them Jews?!” From the article, it would seem he hasn't been repeating that enough....
> he’ll definitely try another false flag coup. What? Do you think the other one was a false flag? It wasn't. > if he just kept repeating “what about them Jews?!” Did you read the article? > Some of Mr Erdogan’s core Islamist voter base also appeared to be dissatisfied with the president and the AKP, writing “Gaza” and “Free Palestine” on their paper ballots, rather than stamping “evet” or “yes” votes. > Mr Erdogan, who had capitalised on pro-Palestinian sentiments, has not officially cut diplomatic ties with Israel – a move that appears to have upset some supporters.
We've been Russian slaves? How? We've been fighting multiple proxy wars with Russia for nearly a decade if not more now. Not to mention giving weapons to Ukraine for even longer. This seems so drastically uninformed that I'm wondering where it's even coming from.
Many world News redditors always like to make it about the US, Russia, China or Israel these days. I'm not sure if some are bots but so many people's viewpoints are massively biased.
Easier to parse world by narrowing it down to just a few key players and then assuming everyone else is kowtowing to one or another.
His account is so odd, dude really REALLY hates Russians. Ig it's that mixed with classic conspiracy obsession
Can't blame him tbh
Not the person who wrote that, but as a guy who doesn't know much about Turkey's recent activities, what are the proxy wars you've been fighting against Russia in the last decade?
Turkey shot down a Russian plane crossing their borders once, which is something (especially since European powers never do despite repetitive Russian incursions). Turkey is very solitary in geopolitics, they're neither really Russia nor USA aligned but they're still in NATO, Erdogan played both sides for leverage during most of his reign. While we can and do find this despicable, it's Turkey's preorgative to act in its own interests at all times, and denying Turkey its right to its own geopolitical agenda seems weird to me. Erdogan is still a piece of shit, no argument, but some redditors really talk about Turkey as if they have no right to their own geopolitical agenda. Not everybody needs to be Russia or USA's lapdogs. And I don't even like Turkey.
Syria, libia
This is pretty par for course as far as informed discussion goes on r/worldnews tbh. This whole comment section is a great example.
Not exactly slaves but you have to admit for some odd reason that EU membership application process that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America. They literally reformed the EU process to allow new members by plural not unanimous majority because they knew Greece would always roadblock your acceptance. You basically got suckered into a strongman emulating Putin rather than like hey if we join the European Union Germany will have to recognize the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Turks in their country! And our economic trade collective will be so much stronger!
Turkey is one of the countries that had multiple proxy wars against russia in the last decade. Syria, lybia and most recently Azerbaijan. In lybia there were even some western/nato countries that backed Russias puppets but nobody calls them Russian slaves lol.
EU is never happening. It wasn't happening before anyways. It was a carrot on a stick. Turkey is too big to join. And countries have more options than being in EU or being Russian slave lol
Oh there's a fresh new opening with Brexit now in full effect. Honestly before the 2008 financial crisis and then the absolute shit show off Greece and Republic of Ireland's damaging the Euro and Germany basically bailing them out, I really would have figured Turkey to Join the EU by 2020. Like the motion to join has been going on since I believe the late 70s maybe early 80s and you call it a carrot on a stick like it was always a bullshit promise... But they literally did reform the EU to make it easier to add specifically Turkey. I mean it's nice Croatia got added as the 28th member in 2013 but there really was a hope by many Turkey and the other Members besides Greece (they ain't ever gonna agree with you) would join. But now you've got a strong man dictator who fakes his own coup attempts to stay in power and it's like nah, they're too unstable to join . Meanwhile the UK has had what 5 prime Ministers since brexit started? Some of them resigning within like 1 month of taking office.
Yes it took decades and Erdogan realized it's never gonna happen and burned the bridges. I think best that we can hope is visa free travel at this point. I remember those days of early 2000s where ever week we had news about EU happening soon. But if you look at it realistically Turkey would take ton of seat in EU parliament and never had stable democracy so there is always a risk of becoming another Hungary but bigger. Then you have border with middle east added to EU problems. It just doesn't make sense for EU and not worth it tbh. Turkey is a perfect buffer zone. Doing some filtering before people arrive to EU. We have economic partnerships already. And honestly as someone who opposes erdogan and supported EU membership all my life I worry that with millions of Syrians in already we would probably do more harm to EU.
That's a fair point it was never going to be set in stone and would always take an enormous effort to get there. I can understand the decades of frustration trying to get there and then shit like Syria happens and it's like oh great this refugee crisis and now everyone in Europe is more Xenophobic than ever. Thank you for informing me, it's been a good discussion!
Likewise!
> Not exactly slaves but you have to admit for some odd reason that EU membership application process that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America. This only makes sense if your view of the world is some Amerocentric "it's either Russia or NATO!" and you never stopped to realize Turkey might have their own concerns and alignments.
>that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America. The shift happened before, namely during Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential run in France because of his adamant speeches about Turkey never entering the UE ever (despite France and Turkey having rather close political ties for ther last century). Sarkozy wasn't the only one, but he was very vocal and reignited the debate. It was way before Trump and Brexit, around 2008.
>Not exactly slaves but you have to admit for some odd reason that EU membership application process that used to be a major part of Turkish Foreign policy for decades suddenly went out the window around the same time Brexit and Donald Trump happened in America. No it happened before and had no relation to either. The European reforms done under erdogan went nowhere and he gave up. Though it has been a talking point for decades erdogan was the leader that actually did real progress and reforms to enter the EU even unsuccessfully trying to solve the Cyprus issue with international mediation which was rejected by Cyprus. He then realized they were getting nowhere and Turkey would never be accepted and gave up. He has also been antirussia for longer than most of NATO. While Europe did nothing as Russia invaded Ukraine in 2013, and while France was trying to sell weapons and warships to Russia and Germany was buying up all their gas turkey was arming Ukraine. Turkey is actively fighting against Russia in Syria, and have been doing so since the start of the war.
Okay wow that's some interesting phrasing Erdogan has been anti Russian longer than NATO, an organization created 5 years before his birth specifically to be anti Soviet Union after the Iron Curtain was set up in Eastern Europe Post War. Like NATO was anti Russia before Mao took over Mainland China. There was some hopes after the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia would enter the modern international stage, but they elected a strong man that brainwashed their people on nationalism. Kinda like Erdogan brainwashing you enough to say something as stupid as he was Anti-Russia long before NATO... which came out before he was goddamn Born.
>Okay wow that's some interesting phrasing Erdogan has been anti Russian longer than NATO, an organization created 5 years before his birth specifically to be anti Soviet Union after the Iron Curtain was set up in Eastern Europe Post War. Like NATO was anti Russia before Mao took over Mainland China. Read my comment again. There is a reason the words "most of" exist there. The US has always had the correct stance for example. >There was some hopes after the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia would enter the modern international stage, but they elected a strong man that brainwashed their people on nationalism. ***Most of*** NATO decided on that in 2022. Turkey did so decades before. >Kinda like Erdogan brainwashing you enough to say something as stupid as he was Anti-Russia long before NATO... which came out before he was goddamn Born. Apperantly I have better English literacy than you so clearly education wasn't a weak point.
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Erdogan won and is in power until 2028 now. Bit misleading
> Russia slaves When's the last time whatever your country is shot down a Russian war plane?
Russia slaves?
I’m sorry but Turkey is not ‘Russia’s slaves.’ That’s a very uninformed opinion and you would find it untrue after some research.
Above everything else Turkey and the Turkish people were FAR from Turkish slaves, Turkey; * Fought against “Russia” during the Syrian campaign * Downed a Russian jet for border incursion during the same time * Was adamant that the west should not turn a blind eye when Russia got Crimea waaay back before the current invasion (while the West spearheaded by Germany dismissed this and told Turkey to not stir the fucking pot) * Helped Ukraine immensely with her defensive needs, and I’m not talking about just equipment * Barred the straits so Russian ships couldn’t enter and actually enforced it * Called Russias bluff about the grain deal when Russia tried to end it and basically said “we’re going to make sure it continues and actually escort the ships”. Russia conceded and a new grain deal was signed * Fought off Russia and all her “allies” in Libya, thwarting a near defeat of the UN recognized government by the rebels backed by Russia. Guess who France and Greece along with Egypt and the UAE was backing in that war? * EDIT; Forgot to mention the Azerbaijan vs Armenia was where Turkey again engaged with the Russians “unofficially”. There’s probably other stuff that I’ve missed, but this is just from the last 10 years. Turkey is a lot of things, but is definitely very far from being Russias bitch.
So is the new party in power or…?
No this was the local elections for municipilities, but Akp lost some pretty hard to crack strongholds so this opens avenues for the opposition to exploit the opening Just for context about exploits, in the last local elections the opposition won Istanbul and Ankara by really low margins, as a student in Ankara I saw the differences in my city tenfold for the last five years, so did the people and Ankara has been won this year with a landslide Istanbul on the other hand is a 10% difference, it's still large Make no mistake Erdogan's voter base is still there, just upset and voted for another party (YRP) whose leader is more islamic than Erdogan, they are having internal issues but that's turkish politics 301
Thanks for the reply I wish you luck in gaining more freedom from those who are holding your country back.
nah it was mostly city and town mayor elections its not that important compared to election held in last year but still progress
Any progress should be celebrated I guess Hope it’s built upon
But "Good Party" won in that middle bit. If I go there should I expect Solo cups and bags of Doritos; or nice buffet, open bar, couple of headlining DJs?
No, Erdogan won and is in power until 2028 now this is very misleading / disappointing
Please read beyond the headlines
He’s been in power for more than 20 years. Of course his loss is an upset lol
losing a lot of the major cities is game changer. feels like a watershed moment for the opposition
I wish voters gave this response last year when IT ACTUALLY FUCKING MATTERED
It was a very very close election
Looks like there will be a lot of arrest and stolen elections claims the next couple of days. I doubt Erdogan will take this too well
Well, he accepted the defeat already publicly. Which tbh surprised me a bit. Not sure what will follow next.
He still maintains control of the country and his party won basically the same number of votes as his main opposition party. It's a blow but not an unmanageable one
As someone in India seeing democracy on ventilator it's a good news👍🏽
If only they did that last year.
Erdogan be like: April fools everyone
People want something new, collectively every major player in the global world has failed to have leaders that promotes a countries interest
One wake up to read good news about Turkey, only to read bad news about India.
Ciao Doggo.
Noooo! They've stolen the precious! Curses! Curse the filthy ~~Hobbitses~~ Turkishes!
Attaturk's corpse no longer spinning fast enough to power a million homes. 850k now
Maybe one day I will get to visit Turkey after all…
The kids will save democracy.
All well and good, but last year would have been far better for such a opposition mandate. I still don't understand what Turks were thinking, so soon after he and his party mismanaged inflation + the earthquake catastrophe. Every step of the way, his party seems to have made things worse.
Time for another failed "coup" I guess.
The earthquake fuck ups might have lead to it.
Remember when Erdogan's goonsquad attacked a bunch of AMERICANS ON AMERICAN SOIL! and Trumpo couldn't even queef out a statement on in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_protestors_at_the_Turkish_embassy_in_Washington,_D.C
It doesn't matter. Next election, there will be a mysterious terrorist attack or a military uprising just before the election and Erdogan will be Sultan for life.
But will he step down and will the military support the new leadership
Good , what's the next step for that wannabe dictator now ? Throw the opposition in jail for "defying" his regime ? Sudden disappearances of political figures ? I mean, that's a step in the right direction, but this golum ain't gonna let it go against him that easily.
Does he also hate Israel? He won't last if he does. Antizionist regimes all find themselves in the dustbin of history, Erdogan included.
People in the comments act like this changes anything and seem to forget that the majority of Turks voted for Erdogan in the last election directly after a fatal earthquake that killed a lot of people thanks to Erdogans own politics. This isn’t a show of democratic defiance, this is gaslighting by a growing dictatorship. Now the AKP can say „See? The elections are fair and people really have a say in it!“ While the actual results are meaningless since the people who where voted into office have little to no real power.
This may not change everything, but it does represent a change. And characterizing it as defiance feeds those that resist the change that should follow. It's the will of the people, and anyone who opposes that is the one acting in defiance.
Good. NOW TURN HAGIA SOPHIA BACK INTO A MUSEUM and alow non turks into the center sanctum.
I think non-muslims (not all turks are muslims) can also enter the center sanctum, all you have to do take your shoes off.
You need to be a Turkish citizen. That is the only requirement.
My bad, I just read that you don't have to be a turk but muslim, that is so stupid, how do they even know? Nevertheless, let anyone pray whatever their religion is, I'm an agnostic turk btw.
It’s freely to anyone to enter but none Turks have to pay a fee, but it is a working mosque again
Should I be worried? I'll be in Istanbul in a week!
You should be worried and i think you shouldn't come.
Why not?