His powerful image was shattered

Policy Service

The Palace regime, which could not gain the consent of the masses and could not convince the people of the IMM operations, is still trying every way to maintain its image of being strong. The government, which has no story left to tell the society, deployed all the power of the state against the wave of objections that emerged from the people after the March 19 coup. From the harsh interventions of the police against the demonstrations to the strike bans, from the practices that stopped life with the Taksim ban on May 1, to the event bans issued by the governorships, from the dawn operations against the municipalities to the arrests of the youth, the regime never let go of the stick.

The wind of social opposition that the palace regime did not take into account is overcoming the walls of fear and eliminating all oppression. The millions who are responding to the show of power that the government is trying to show by mobilizing the state's resources are unmasking the palace administration. Every oppression, detention, arrest , attack, ban, and obstruction have become an indication of fear and weakness.

The government has become helpless in the face of the will of millions. The government, which cut the electricity at the CHP 's Beyazıt rally, this time produced an iconic photo in which tens of thousands of people in the area illuminated the darkness with their phones. The Palace, which blocked presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu's X account, this time encountered another reality in which hundreds of thousands of people made İmamoğlu their profile photo.

On March 19, university students who broke through the police barricades ignited the fuse of resistance. Despite all obstacles for days, millions who came to Saraçhane, hundreds of thousands who gathered at the Maltepe rally, people who came together in Trabzon, Rize, Yozgat, Çorum, Konya, Sakarya rebelled in unison. The organized boycott, the wave of objections that reached high schools, creative slogans and banners, park forums, the actions of farmers, women, life advocates, workers, and retirees wrote a new story of resistance. The desperate Palace administration tried to show that it had the power by applying more pressure. Let us remember the show of force that the government has made in the last few days only to intimidate the society:

REJECTION TO THE PROPOSAL TO INVESTIGATE THE ATTACK ON ÖZEL

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel was attacked after the commemoration ceremony held at the Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) for Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and DEM Party Istanbul MP ​​Sırrı Süreyya Önder. Özel was punched by a person while exiting the AKM and was removed from the area by his guards. The attacker was taken into custody after the incident. It was revealed that the attacker, whose name was Selçuk Tengioğlu, had murdered his two children in Hatay in 2004. The CHP's proposal to investigate every aspect of the physical attack on Özgür Özel at the TBMM General Assembly was rejected by the votes of AKP and MHP MPs.

BLACKOUT EFFORTS WERE NOT ENOUGH

The CHP's rally in Beyazıt Square as part of the "People's Will Stands by" rallies was not provided with sufficient lighting. CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır, who announced that the party's mobile lighting devices were not allowed into the rally area by the police, said, "They did not let our lights in. They did not let our lighting devices in. Do those who darken Türkiye and the country think they are darkening this place?" Tens of thousands of people who attended the rally turned on the lights of their mobile phones. On the other hand, it was claimed on some news channels that a bomb threat was made before the rally. CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik said, "The statements that 'a bomb threat was made in Beyazıt Square' do not reflect the truth."

ARREST OF A BUSINESS PERSON

As part of the ongoing investigation into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, it has emerged that a new wave of “covert operations ” have been carried out that were not announced to the public. During this process, which was carried out without being leaked to the press, some business people were summoned to the prosecutor’s office to testify by phone. One of the names who went to testify was Mehmet İlhan Gülay, the boss of Gülaylar Group and the owner of City’s Nişantaşı. Gülay was arrested by the criminal court of peace after his testimony at the prosecutor’s office. According to Halk TV’s report; the statements given by the secret witness codenamed “Sekoya” were cited as the reason for Gülay’s arrest. The witness claimed that Mehmet İlhan Gülay had paid bribes in exchange for an increase in the peerage.

AN INDICTMENT WAS PREPARED AGAINST 26 PEOPLE

An indictment of up to 15 years and 6 months has been prepared against 26 people, including CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik. Çelik is facing a prison sentence of 3 years, 7 months to 15 years, 6 months. As part of the investigation into the incidents that took place in front of the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan on January 31, 2025 to give a statement as part of two separate investigations launched against İBB Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, according to Ceylan Sever from Habertürk, 5 police officers who were allegedly injured in the incidents were named as complainants in the indictment. The indictment requests a prison sentence of 3 years, 7 months to 15 years, 6 months for the crimes of “Resisting to Prevent Duty,” “Participating in Unarmed Meetings and Marches Against the Law and Failing to Disperse of Their Own Will Despite Warning,” “Intentional Injury,” and “Damage to Public Property.”

THE REGIME’S DEAD STREET

First of all, it should be stated from the very beginning that the regime's well-known method of "If I suppress, I will intimidate the people, they will be silent or afraid" has been passed. The barrier that was directly drawn against the people with the rise of social opposition after March 19 is now being tried to be raised more through İmamoğlu and the CHP. This has started to appear before us as the desperation of the Palace administration in the most general picture. Because what authoritarian regimes fear the most is the revelation that they can be defeated and lose.

Therefore, it tries to give the message of “I am strong” at every opportunity it finds, both through the judiciary and other official institutions. With a show of power, it says, “I can do it”, “I can govern”, especially to its own masses. It also tries to hide its helplessness with these policies. It is constantly forced to determine a new attack, a new target, so that its own governance crisis does not appear where it loses its rhetoric that will convince the society.

Undoubtedly, what brought the regime to this point was the resistance of the broad segments of the population. While the events since March 19 have demonstrated the determination of the people, the social opposition's creative solutions and the development of joint struggle opportunities in the face of increasing oppression policies have shown that these oppressions can be overcome.

The regime has also started to build walls around the CHP and its rivals by directly targeting them. In this way, it wants to both break the opposition’s focus by opening multiple fronts and to create more question marks in the minds of the masses that act together with it. However, it seems that these walls they build for their rivals are in a sense becoming walls they build for themselves. If they stop oppressing, they will be shaken even more, they will lose more power, and they will need these policies that they present as a show of power.

On the other hand, the economic crisis, which is the biggest problem of the society, continues to grow. Since there is no improvement there, their only solution is to continue these policies. While preventing candidacy, they increase the economic cost (crisis); they themselves prevent new resources from coming with instability. In other words, they insist on being in a dead end. Of course, as they make us all pay the price, they will see that they cannot move in the polls.

The antidote to this strategy is no longer hidden, it is clear: solidarity, continuity and inclusiveness in the campaign, as in the slogan “There is no salvation alone”; to grow togetherness and carry this to Anatolia “with the language of solution, showing the solution”.

EMPHASIS ON 'DIGITAL LEG OF THE COUP'

CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu's X account has been blocked from Turkey. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office made a statement saying, "He was making propaganda for his own criminal organization." CHP executives stated that this intervention was an attempt to silence politics and emphasized that resistance against censorship would grow. The public also showed great reaction to the decision. Many citizens put Ekrem İmamoğlu's photo in their profile picture on X. Citizens also called for people to leave Elon Musk's X and switch to Bluesky.

Ekrem İmamoğlu frequently shared posts on his social media account. The public also reacted to the ban imposed on İmamoğlu. Many citizens put Ekrem İmamoğlu in their profile photos on X. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office made a statement today regarding the closure of Ekrem İmamoğlu's X account. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office stated, "He was making propaganda for his own criminal organization" as the reason for the closure of İmamoğlu's account. CHP Chairman Özel visited Ekrem İmamoğlu in the Marmara Prison in Silivri. Özel, who made a statement after the visit, said the following regarding the blocking of access to İmamoğlu's X account: "We are currently facing the digital leg of the coup. They are trying to combat Mr. Ekrem İmamoğlu by closing his X account. There is probably no government that uses its judicial power against its opponent so unfairly and tramples the law. They are closing the account by seeing the statement 'Don't be silent, raise your voice' as open provocation."

On the other hand, in a statement made by X, it was said, "Although we implement Türkiye's decision regarding the account, we absolutely do not agree with this decision and we are objecting to the decision."