Erdogan, the warden of Turkey

Turkey’s crackdown on social media is expected to intensify after full implementation of a change to the country’s laws regulating online communications that passed parliament last year.

The Turkish authorities have detained at least 39 people after investigations against 1,264 social media users carried out this month. The detainees are suspected of disseminating propaganda for groups Turkey has designated as terrorist organisations, including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Islamic State (ISIS) and FETÖ, a name Turkey uses for followers of Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.

At this stage, political developments in Turkey cannot be disregarded, for it explains a great deal of the public anger in anti-Erdogan circles. 

Erdogan believes “the time has come for Turkey to debate a new constitution”. Ironically, he is calling for a “civilian” constitution, although his party and he were responsible for the amendments that took place in 2018 by virtue of which Turkey shifted from a parliamentary to a presidential system, allowing Erdogan to continue to lead the country as president after the end of his premiership terms.

These days, the Turkish authorities suppress any expression of dissent brutally, beating and detaining protestors. So, this time round, dissent is often expressed through online platforms, including Twitter, WhatsApp groups, and Clubhouse. 

This is one of the reasons why the Erdogan government has intensified its crackdown against what it branded ‘cyber-terrorism’, as Turkey became the first country in the world to detain Clubhouse moderators for hosting a discussion on student protests.

Since the failed coup against Erdogan in 2016, who described it as a “gift from God” to us because this will be a reason to cleanse our army”, the crackdown has been huge. About 292,000 people were detained, 96,000 of them imprisoned, and more than 130,000 people have lost their jobs in the public sector. 

The coup was also a golden opportunity for Erdogan to get rid of the supporters of Fethullah Gulen, his former ally, a cleric and powerful businessman who helped Erdogan win several electoral races.