Two weeks ago, hundreds of people were arrested, including exponents and people related to the HDP, accused as usual of alleged links with the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a pro-independence Kurdish political and paramilitary group, considered a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States. In the past, Ferhat Encu also served more than three years in prison. “Erdoğan is trying to hinder us in every way, but we are still here – he explains – and if we have to reach an agreement with others to stop him, we will do it to impose our rights”.  Doğan Ergün, the vice-president of TIP, the Workers’ Party, is of the same opinion: “If two boys live in the same neighborhood, one linked to the AKP and the other to the opposition, one will find work, the other will not. This is why May 14 is a crucial junction between authoritarianism and democracy, between nepotism and normality”. In a week we will see if the Turks will take a leap in the dark, entrusting the government to a coalition with the risk of instability, or if they will prefer to stay on the path of continuity. Over the years, the incumbent president has managed to embody “the spirit of the nation, elaborating a doctrine based on neopatrimonialism as an economic system, on populism as a political strategy, and on Islamism as an ideology”, as Professor Valentina Rita Scotti writes in the book “Turkey to Erdoğan”. Only this time, the way he handled the tragedy of the February earthquake and the economic problems, could cause him to lose a lot of support. Inflation in the country continues to be very high – official data puts it at over 50%, but it could be even higher – and the currency is in free fall. Ten years ago, one euro was exchanged for three Turkish liras; today, today is over twenty. “Shopping has become a problem,” says a friend who has lived here for a long time. The symbol of the opposition became the onion. “Today it costs thirty pounds (one and a half euros) – Kılıçdaroğlu said in a video released on social networks -. But if Erdoğan stays in power, it will reach 100”. Meanwhile, the president, despite some health problems, continues his electoral commitments. And as a kind of pro-memoriam of its power, the giant warship TCG Anadolu, inaugurated just a month ago, will remain anchored for a while along the shores of the Bosphorus, the natural border that separates the Asian and European sides of Istanbul. “In this way, he wants to show everyone, citizens and visitors, the great power he has built and the fact that he does not intend to give up,” says an official who prefers to remain anonymous. A greatness that Erdoğan displays in foreign policy, being one of the few intermediaries of Vladimir Putin, a privileged actor in Africa, and an essential leader of NATO. This makes Turkey a regional power that weighs on the global stage. “However, at the price of being entrusted with most of the power in the hands of a single person”, says Doğan Ergün, who does not hide his concern for the “next moves” of the president, should he lose the elections. For this reason, Istanbul Barosu, the City Bar, created an Election Security Working Commission. “Our colleagues will be present in the polling stations to check if everything is going well. In case of critical issues, we will inform the commission that it can intervene”, explains lawyer Süreyya Turan, the project manager. Who, to our question if it will be necessary, laughs, preferring not to answer.

By Cora Sulleyman