Taksim Square, Istanbul’s biggest tourist site and hub of political protest, has lain empty, cordoned off by police since the March 19 detention of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival Ekrem Imamoglu, Orhan Pamuk writes in an opinion piece published by The Guardian on March 28.

Istanbul mayor Imamoglu was later formally arrested on “clearly trumped-up charges of corruption and terrorism”, the Turkish novelist, who won the Nobel prize in 2006, observes.

“In my 50 years living in Istanbul, I have not seen as many so-called security measures on the streets as I have over the past few days,” he adds.

Here are some excerpts from Pamuk’s op-ed:

No entry, no internet…

“Taksim’s metro station and many of the city’s other busiest stations have been closed. The regional government (Istanbul governorate) has restricted car and intercity bus access to Istanbul. The police are checking incoming vehicles, and anyone suspected of travelling to the city to protest is turned away.”

“For the past week, the Istanbul governor’s office has banned public protests and political demonstrations. Yet spontaneous unauthorised protests and clashes with the police have continued unabated, even though internet access has been restricted in an attempt to prevent gatherings.”

Tear gas, countless arrests…

“The police use teargas ruthlessly and have arrested countless people.”

“The jailing of the president’s chief rival, a politician capable of gaining mass support, brings Erdogan’s strong-fisted, autocratic rule to a level we have not seen before.”

Erdoganists and anti-Erdoganists agree on one thing

“People for or against the government now largely agree on one thing: Erdogan sees Imamoglu as a political threat and wants to get rid of him.

“Imamoglu has won more votes than Erdogan’s own party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), in Istanbul’s last three mayoral elections.

“When Imamoglu defeated the party’s candidate in the April 2019 election, Erdogan had the result annulled, citing technical irregularities.

“The elections were repeated two months later. Imamoglu won again. Even more, he increased his margin.

“At the next round of local elections in 2024, after five years in office, Imamoglu once again defeated Erdogan’s party candidate and was elected mayor of Istanbul for the third time.

“Imamoglu’s electoral track record and his growing popularity have made him the main opposition candidate who could successfully challenge Erdoğan at the next presidential election.”

Situation isn’t quite the same as it was in 1998

“The flip side to all this is that Erdogan seems to be using the same playbook on his opponent as the one used on him 27 years ago.

“In 1998, Erdogan was Istanbul’s elected mayor and a popular figure. The secular and military establishment deemed his brand of political Islam dangerous. He was also imprisoned and charged (in his case it was for inciting religious hatred after reciting a political poem at a rally). Erdogan was removed as mayor and spent four months in prison.

“But his imprisonment and his defiant refusal to collaborate with the establishment and bow down to the repressive demands of the army helped further raise his political profile.”

“As some commentators have pointed out, the jailing of Imamoglu, who has denied the charges and is also promising not ‘to bow down’, might actually have the same unintended outcome.

“Yet the situation isn’t quite the same.”

Couldn’t steal since 2019

“In jailing Imamoglu, Erdogan doesn’t just sideline a more popular political rival. He also seeks to get his hands back on a wealth of [Istanbul city] resources he hasn’t been able to touch for seven years.”

“The labelling of political opponents as terrorists is a tendency the Erdogan government acquired after the failed military coup of 2016, when a faction of the Turkish armed forces tried to take over.”

No one cares about jailed journalists

“Nobody is even talking about the many journalists and civil servants who have been arbitrarily jailed over the past few days, either in an attempt to add heft and credibility to the corruption charges against Imamoglu or on the assumption that no one will pay attention with everything else going on.”

* An op-ed by imprisoned Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was on March 28 published by The New York Times. Excerpts can be read here.