Democracy Atlas rule 2: Be unified. Be visible.
Turkey’s experience shows the importance of a single, united voice
Rule 2: Be unified. Be visible: The pro-democracy coalition should include anyone who actively opposes the autocrat, and demonstrating unity is your most valuable asset. This means that former opponents may find themselves on the same side, and unlikely alliances must find common ground to unite and organize around. You cannot afford to be silent while the autocratic leader is omnipresent, so speak in one voice, with a unified, consistent message. Do not dilute your power by splitting your message or — when it comes time for elections — your ticket.
At the same time, it is vital to preserve the public square by preventing the government from co-opting the media, which is a risk under authoritarian rule even with private media. Support independent outlets to counter (and avoid being taken over by) the government’s propaganda machine. Pro-democracy leaders will need the free press – and access to the growing constellation of alternative media sources and influencers – to show civil society that they are fighting back, and demonstrate to voters that there is an alternative to the autocrat in office.
Since coming to power as prime minister after the 2002 parliamentary elections, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has steadily centralized control over Turkey’s judiciary, bureaucracy, and media. Though many initially praised the perceived pragmatism of his first term (2003–2007), that optimism soon faded, especially after he became president in 2014 and intensified his power grabs following an attempted coup against him in 2016. As a pioneer of autocratic legalism — “the use and abuse of law to suppress dissent and undermine opponents” — Erdoğan has also centralized control over Turkey’s elections, employing new manipulation tactics to maintain his grip on power.
The longer Erdoğan and his party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), have ruled (now 22 years and counting), the more repressive they’ve become. Yet Turkey’s tradition of competitive multiparty elections and its resilient civil society have persisted, even under Erdoğan’s mounting authoritarianism. Despite the AKP’s relentless efforts to tilt the playing field, the pro-democracy opposition has still managed to unify, innovate, and grow its support base over the past five years — and make the AKP less popular in the process.
Opposition parties continue to represent a broad cross-section of society, preserving Turkey’s pluralism against a backdrop of heightened political polarization. And recent elections show that the opposition can still notch victories along the way, even as Erdoğan stacks the deck against his rivals.
For over a decade, Erdoğan succeeded in dividing the opposition
Erdoğan’s consolidation of power has taken many forms, but his takeover accelerated after he became president in 2014 — and again when he pushed through a referendum that created a new super-presidential system in 2017. Since then, pro-democracy forces have had to navigate an increasingly closed civic space and a government adept at exploiting societal divisions.
Progress for the pro-democracy opposition has been uneven, marked by both breakthroughs and setbacks. Indeed, Erdoğan is a deft political tactician with a knack for taking advantage of his opponents’ weaknesses. After Erdoğan’s initial win in 2002, his party consistently grew more powerful over the next decade, peaking in 2011. Meanwhile, the opposition remained split between various left, right, and pro-Kurdish parties, making it easier for Erdoğan to squeak by without winning an outright majority.
Still, the pro-democracy opposition kept at it. Following mass protests and a government corruption scandal, Erdoğan lost his parliamentary majority in the June 2015 elections. The results rattled Erdoğan, who had hoped to use an election victory to legitimize his push for a new presidential system. But by making the race a referendum on himself, Erdoğan “undercut the effectiveness of the AKP message to voters while allowing the opposition to coalesce around a single goal of blocking [his] ambitions.”
His vision of amassing even greater executive control was temporarily put on hold.
Almost immediately, speculation of a re-do election swirled. Erdoğan and his allies, used to ruling alone, weren’t prepared to take part in a governing coalition. And just over two months after the June vote, Erdoğan called for new elections. Thanks to an unfair playing field, muted opposition campaigning, and the AKP’s successful outreach to far-right voters, Erdoğan regained his parliamentary majority in the November 2015 rerun elections. But the lengths to which Erdoğan had to go to receive just under 50 percent of the vote highlighted the ruling party’s growing vulnerability.
Since 2018, a more unified approach has given hope to Turkey’s pro-democracy opposition
Despite major setbacks — from the disappointing November 2015 election results to a 2017 constitutional referendum that gutted the separation of powers — Turkey’s pro-democracy opposition has learned to adapt. Since 2018, new alliances and coalitions between ideologically diverse opposition parties have built the foundation for a more unified front against Erdoğan.
A key turning point came several months before the June 2018 parliamentary elections when the AKP passed a new law allowing parties to make formal electoral alliances. Though it was designed to benefit Erdoğan’s coalition (taking a page from Viktor Orbán’s playbook), the new law backfired. The opposition took advantage of a provision that would help smaller parties enter parliament, and for the first time, coordinated against Erdoğan and the AKP.
A month before the 2018 elections, four very different parties — ranging from left to right — formed the Nation Alliance to minimize vote-splitting and maximize the opposition’s parliamentary gains. Previously, Erdoğan had benefitted from a fractured political opposition. But for the first time, this new pro-democracy alliance leveraged the government’s electoral laws to its own advantage.
Though the AKP alliance ultimately finished ahead, the Nation Alliance made parliamentary gains and energized millions of pro-democracy voters, proving that strategic collaboration could put a dent in the ruling party’s hold on power (even when dealing with an uneven playing field).
The next breakthrough came with the March 2019 local elections, when the AKP lost mayoral races in Istanbul and Ankara. In Istanbul, the charismatic Ekrem İmamoğlu pulled off a surprising victory in the mayoral contest, prompting Erdoğan and his co-opted electoral board to nullify the results and order a new election. But in the June rerun, İmamoğlu won a decisive victory, debunking the myth of the AKP’s invincibility. Informal alliances and tactical support among rival opposition parties were both crucial for notching these pro-democracy wins.
Increased opposition unity in 2018 and 2019 set the stage for the 2023 elections, as the pro-democracy alliance expanded to include former AKP allies. In the presidential contest, the opposition forced Erdoğan into the first runoff of his career. Even though the longtime ruler came out on top, Erdoğan had to put up a fight to win a narrower victory than in past contests.
Meanwhile, the pro-democracy alliance gained seats and held the AKP to just 35 percent of the vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections. Again, the ruling party’s unfair campaign (marked by its control over the country’s media and continued persecution of opposition politicians) made it difficult for the opposition to win over skeptical voters. And even though the opposition had unified, its elite-driven approach struggled to produce a positive narrative of change that could broaden its tent.
Despite the opposition’s shortcomings, the 2023 campaign laid the groundwork for future pro-democracy collaboration, especially as Erdoğan’s popularity has continued to sink. In the 2024 local elections, the opposition bounced back — holding onto Istanbul and Ankara while trouncing the AKP in 15 other races across the country. Adapting from previous losses, the opposition focused more on voters’ day-to-day concerns, which resonated with a larger share of the electorate. While still amplifying the threats of Erdoğan’s autocratic governance, the opposition also embraced local coalition-building to broadcast its message instead of relying only on top-down guidance from party elites.
Harnessing voter dissatisfaction with the status quo can break through slanted elections
Especially in these recent elections, the pro-democracy opposition has found the secret for breaking through a deeply unfair playing field: tapping into deep voter disillusionment with the economic status quo.
Turkey’s economic outlook has deteriorated since the mid-2010s, just as Erdoğan’s executive aggrandizement started to spook investors and degrade consumer confidence. Beginning in 2018, Erdoğan’s obsession with low interest rates — dubbed “Erdoğanomics” — plunged the country deeper into economic despair. In response, he doubled down on his inflationary agenda, firing three central bank governors and the head of Turkey’s statistics agency for acknowledging the struggling economy.
During the 2023 campaign, the pro-democracy opposition highlighted the failure of Erdoğanomics as voters soured on the AKP’s mishandling of persistent inflation. And despite Erdoğan’s attempts to course correct ahead of the 2024 local elections, widespread economic disillusionment was “decisive for the AKP’s poor performance” across the country. This year, the government’s increased political repression has continued to shake investor confidence in Turkey’s long-term economic stability, leaving the window open for renewed pushback from pro-democracy actors.
Increased crackdowns underscore the need for continued opposition unity
The pro-democracy opposition’s 2024 victories proved that the ruling party is still beatable — and that coordinated democratic resistance remains a bulwark against continued autocratization. But those gains have also triggered a renewed wave of repression. Since the start of this year, Erdoğan’s government has arrested hundreds of opposition officials and supporters, including his top political rival, Istanbul Mayor İmamoğlu.
Indeed, the opposition faces an increasingly perilous playing field in which the co-opted media, courts, and formerly independent institutions all reinforce Erdoğan’s grip on power. To reclaim the narrative and stay visible, pro-democracy forces must compete with a hostile media apparatus dominated by the AKP and its cronies. Still, a few independent outlets continue to offer reliable analysis, and the growth of news-based content on YouTube and other social media platforms has helped pro-democracy voices preserve their space in the public square.
Over the past decade, opposition unity has posed one of the few serious threats to the AKP. And Erdoğan’s latest crackdowns show that he understands his own insecurity all too well.
Just this week, İmamoğlu urged the pro-democracy opposition to remain united and support a joint candidate in the event that he is barred from competing in the next presidential election.
Though Erdoğan has denied plans to seek another term as president (which would violate the term limits he imposed in 2017), his recent maneuvering suggests otherwise.
But as Erdoğan writes his next move, it's up to the pro-democracy opposition to stay unified — and visible — to push back and ensure that Turkey’s next chapter features a democratic resurgence.
 | A guest post by
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https://generalstrikeus.com/strikecard
Time to Wake Up, America.
You scroll. You read. You rage.
And then… you do nothing.
You pay subscriptions to hear how bad things are. You repost headlines. You comment.
But you won’t risk inconvenience, comfort, or routine.
We are living in a dictatorship — right now.
Not tomorrow. Not next year. Now.
And still, no one is organizing. No one is striking. No one is shutting anything down.
You’re not “waiting for the right moment.”
You’re waiting for permission.
You’re waiting for someone else to fix it.
Let me be clear:
No one is coming.
No angel. No savior. No midterm miracle.
You want change?
Shut it down.
Strike. Refuse. Withdraw your labor, your money, your silence.
Stop pretending “being informed” is the same as taking action.
If we don’t act now, we’ll be banned from acting at all.
* The Price of Freedom: A Nation's Stand
My fellow Americans,
We stand at a precipice. The very foundation of our democracy, the principles that define us as a nation – freedom, justice, and the power of the people – are under siege. A regime has taken root that seeks to dismantle these ideals, to centralize power, and to silence the voices of ordinary Americans.
This is not a drill. This is not a partisan debate. This is a battle for the soul of our nation, and we, the American people, are the last line of defense.
To reclaim our democracy, we must face an uncomfortable truth: we must halt the engine that fuels this regime. We must, together, choose to disrupt the very systems it relies upon. This means a collective act of non-cooperation. It means temporarily stopping the flow of productivity that empowers those who seek to undermine us. It means, for a time, accepting financial pain.
I understand the gravity of these words. I know the fear and uncertainty that such a prospect evokes. Families will struggle. Businesses will face hardship. But I ask you: what is the cost of losing our democracy? What is the price of living under a system where our rights are eroded, our voices are silenced, and our future is dictated by a few? That cost, my friends, is far greater and far more enduring than any temporary economic pain we might endure.
Think of those who came before us – who risked everything, who shed blood and treasure, to establish and preserve this nation. They endured famine, war, and unimaginable sacrifice for the promise of a free society. Are we, in this generation, less capable of defending that legacy?
This is not about surrender. This is about strategic withdrawal of our energy and resources from a system that has become weaponized against us. By stopping our collective productivity, we starve the regime of its power. We deny it the resources it needs to perpetuate its control. We create an undeniable crisis that forces a reckoning.
This will be painful. There is no sugarcoating it. But we are a resilient people. We are ingenious. We will organize. We will support each other through community, through shared resources, and through the unbreakable bonds of our common purpose. We must prepare for this pain, knowing that it is the necessary path to a greater good.
The choice before us is stark: a brief, intense period of shared hardship for the promise of a free future, or a slow, agonizing slide into authoritarianism with consequences that will echo for generations.
Let us rise to this challenge. Let us stand together, united in our resolve. Let us choose freedom, no matter the cost. Our democracy, our future, depends on it.
God bless America!
Of course it is very important and disheartening that it’s happening. about , Turkey 🇹🇷. One of my descendants, along time ago was ambassador to Turkey 🇹🇷.