Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel warned European leaders in Brussels on Sunday against staying silent on democratic backsliding in Turkey in exchange for political and migration deals with the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish Minute reported.
It was the first CHP rally held abroad since the arrest of popular İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March. The event took place at Place Jean Rey Square, near key European Union institutions including the European Council and the European Parliament.
Since İmamoğlu’s arrest, the party has been holding weekly rallies under the theme “Defending the National Will” to protest the mayor’s imprisonment and a wider crackdown on the CHP.
Özel said some leaders in Europe had turned a blind eye to the erosion of democracy in Turkey “because they are in a give-and-take relationship with Erdoğan.”
“There are those who want Turkey to remain their outpost, who say, ‘Let Turkey take care of the refugees,’” Özel said. “We know who they are, and history will record their silence for the eyes of the world.”
Özel’s remarks referred to the 2016 migration deal between Ankara and the European Union, under which Turkey agreed to curb irregular migration to Europe in exchange for financial aid and visa facilitation. The agreement, worth billions of euros, effectively made Turkey the EU’s buffer zone for refugees, most of them fleeing the war in Syria.
Human rights groups have long accused both sides of using refugees as political leverage. Erdoğan has repeatedly threatened to “open the borders” when relations with Europe deteriorate, while EU leaders have been accused of prioritizing border security over democratic and human rights concerns in Turkey.
Özel accused Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of manipulating laws to maintain power and silence dissent. He also drew a contrast between Erdoğan’s response to a failed coup in 2016 and his attitude toward the opposition.
After a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Erdoğan sought broad international support and sympathy, describing the event, which was suppressed overnight and claimed some 250 lives, as an attack on democracy. Western governments, including those in the EU and the United States, condemned the attempted coup and expressed solidarity with the Turkish government.
However, Özel said that while Erdoğan demanded global solidarity then, he now expects silence when the same democratic principles are violated against the opposition.
“When he is the victim, he asks the world for solidarity,” Özel said. “But when he becomes the oppressor, he tells us not to speak out. I swear I will speak out, and I won’t take a single step back.”
The CHP says it is the subject of a coup attempt by the government due to its ongoing crackdown on the party and describes the imprisonment of İmamoğlu as “a coup attempt against our next president.”
Özel added that the CHP would continue defending Turkey’s national interests both at home and abroad, accusing the AKP of putting its own survival above the country’s wellbeing.
The CHP has been under mounting government pressure since October of last year.
More than 10 CHP mayors, including İmamoğlu, have been put in pretrial detention on charges such as bribery, corruption and terrorism-related offenses, accusations widely seen as politically motivated.
More than 500 people affiliated with the party or the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality have also been detained or arrested over the past year.
The party and its supporters say the operations targeting the CHP are designed to neutralize elected officials and sideline opposition leaders after the party’s gains in the local elections of 2024, when the CHP emerged as the most successful party.
Erdoğan accuses Özel of ‘defaming Turkey abroad’
In a speech at a ceremony in the northern province of Trabzon on Sunday, Erdoğan responded to Özel’s remarks, accusing him of defaming Turkey before foreign audiences.
“Don’t you feel any shame criticizing your own country in front of foreigners?” Erdoğan said. “While trying to pay your political debts, how can you badmouth Turkish democracy to your Western comrades? Even if you don’t care about your own reputation, at least don’t trample on this nation’s pride or let others do it.”
Erdoğan, who often portrays opposition criticism abroad as unpatriotic, has long accused the CHP of undermining Turkey’s image in the international arena.
İmamoğlu calls for fair trial from prison
Jailed İstanbul Mayor İmamoğlu, who is his party’s candidate for the next presidential election, addressed the rally through a letter read by CHP Secretary-General Selin Sayek Böke.
“Our only demand is a fair trial,” İmamoğlu said in his message from Marmara Prison. “This is not only my struggle but the struggle for a free and just Turkey. Justice is not a privilege for one person; it is a necessity for everyone.”
The jailed mayor, who faces multiple investigations and a political ban in Turkey, is seen as the most powerful political rival of Erdoğan.
İmamoğlu said Turkey is facing a “moral and political test” while complaining that authoritarian leaders worldwide are distorting justice and democracy for their own gain.
“Even in advanced democracies, legitimacy is eroding,” he said. “When justice is diminished in one place, tyranny expands everywhere.”
He also urged Europeans to defend democratic values beyond their borders, saying short-term political interests threaten long-term stability.
“Europe’s retreat from its own principles puts its democracy at risk,” İmamoğlu said. “This struggle concerns not only Turkey’s future but also Europe’s.”
Mayors from several European cities, including Rome, Amsterdam, Budapest and Thessaloniki, sent messages of solidarity with İmamoğlu and other detained Turkish opposition mayors. Brussels Mayor Philippe Close also participated via video message.
CHP supporters from Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands attended the rally, chanting slogans in support of imprisoned opposition figures and calling for the government’s resignation.
