Turkey’s deepening authoritarianism and the fall of electoral democracy

Weakening the Strong Mayor: Partisan Division and Presidential Intervention in Istanbul

“…The European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) had warned Turkey that the proposed system change would weaken the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary, and added that “the presidential regime lacks the necessary checks and balances required to safeguard against becoming an authoritarian one” (European Commission for Democracy through Law Opinion on Turkey’s Referendum of 2017, 2017). Today, Turkey lacks the mentioned checks and balances, and the prediction of the Venice Commission has turned into reality: Turkey has become increasingly majoritarian and authoritarian with weakened governance structures of state institutions (Caman 2020; Center for Systemic Peace 2020; Freedom in the World 2021, 2021; Kirişci and Sloat 2019; Yılmaz and Turner 2019). Today, in Turkey “parliament is weaker, separation of powers is undermined, the judiciary is politicised, institutions are crippled, economic woes are mounting and authoritarian practices prevail” (Adar and Seufert 2021).…”

“…What was interesting about this issue was that only the election of the Mayor was rerun, and the election of the city councilors was not rerun because the ruling party (AKP) together with its alliance party (MHP) had won the majority of seats in the city council (Kirişçi 2019). The mayor of Istanbul is seen as a potential candidate for the next presidential election in 2023, and the partisan interventions of the central government can be interpreted as part of the President's "comprehensive, multiple and innovative strategies so as to suppress the emergence of any democratic alternatives and consolidate this newly rising political regime" (Yılmaz and Turner 2019).…”

The Unbearable Failure of Decentralisation in Turkey

“…Frequent and fair elections with secret ballots that are conducted on the basis of direct, equal, universal suffrage are a minimum threshold for local democracy (Bland, p. 70;Council of Europe, 1985). Over the previous decade, scholars (Yılmaz & Turner, 2019;Yilmaz & Bashirov, 2018), political parties, and NGOs have expressed concern about the security and reliability of elections in Turkey. Several NGOs like Vote and Beyond (Oy ve Otesi) were created to ensure transparency and observe ballot counts.…”

A Bibliometric Study on the Publications Investigating Democracy in Turkey

“…It is widely argued that Turkey, founded in 1923, goes through a particular democratic backsliding under the rule of Tayyip Erdogan (Yılmaz and Turner, 2019;Yilmaz and Bashirov 2018). According to the V-Dem Institute, Turkey has autocratized in the last ten years and "lost its status as a democracy in 2014" (Freedom House, 2021) (V-Dem Institute, 2020, pp.…”

“…Also under the JDP rule, Turkey adopted a presidential regime in 2018, a system according to some scholars that would take Turkey to dictatorship (Kalaycıoğlu 2005;Yılmaz 2020). "The supreme power of the President, erosion of checks and balances and separation of powers", "the intensifying crackdown on the political opposition, academia, media and civil society" as well as the High Election Board's decision on the re-run of the municipal election in Istanbul in 2019 are among the particularly stressed recent examples of Turkey's democratic roll-back (Yılmaz and Turner, 2019; see also Yilmaz and Bashirov 2018;Somer, 2016).…”