Turning the Tables on Turkey’s Democracy

Following several turbulent years, which saw an escalation in domestic terrorism, regional security challenges, and an attempted coup in 2016, political pluralism and freedom of expression in Turkey have become increasingly constricted.

Key institutions such as the judiciary have been struggling to maintain their independence and credibility. Particularly during the post-coup state of emergency, Turkey's democracy experienced its most significant transformation, which culminated in constitutional reforms that abolished the parliamentary system of government.

Yet, even during this rise of illiberalism, the decision-making process still did not rely exclusively on the ambitions of the increasingly empowered President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

One pillar of democracy remained respected: free and fair elections whose results were rarely contested, let alone rejected, either by the losing side or by independent observers.

Previously, electoral irregularities had been reported repeatedly in Kurdish-majority areas in the Southeast and infamously in the 2014 Ankara mayoral race, but even in these cases, opposition parties ultimately accepted the validity of the results.

The general notion among many in the opposition was that, despite the government's domineering and undemocratic manner, elections represented the will of the people, were almost sacrosanct and were "too big to fail."

Turkey's ruling establishment deployed this argument in discussions with international actors concerned about the state of its democracy: "Say what you will about how we govern, but our election outcomes are inviolable." This appeal has been a powerful argument. Or at least it was, until now.

The first time the Pandora's Box of direct political influence...