Ruşen Çakır Writes: CHP’s Most Serious Obstacle – The “Small But Ours” Mentality
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“Veteran journalist and expert of Turkey’s political Islam, Mr Ruşen Çakır analyzes the CHP’s biggest hurdle: the ‘small but ours’ mentality. Discover how recent mayoral arrests, including Ekrem İmamoğlu’s, fueled unprecedented resistance against Erdoğan’s strategic missteps, and the challenges facing the opposition’s future in Turkey.”
I observed concern and anxiety on the faces of party officials during the rally held in front of Istanbul Beşiktaş Municipality. This gathering followed the arrest of CHP’s Beşiktaş Mayor, Rıza Akpolat, and saw the participation of Özgür Özel, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and numerous metropolitan, provincial, and district mayors. Previously, the arrest of Esenyurt Mayor Prof. Ahmet Özer was seen as an exceptional case due to its connection with terrorism. However, Akpolat’s arrest on “corruption” charges elevated the situation to a different dimension.
The CHP’s Most Serious Obstacle: The “Small But Ours” Mentality
Indeed, their anxieties proved justified. On March 19, 2025, numerous mayors, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, were arrested. Moreover, there’s no guarantee that new waves of detentions won’t occur, or that other mayors and CHP officials without immunity won’t be arrested.
Erdoğan’s Miscalculation
I view the March 19 operation as one of, if not the most, serious strategic errors in President Erdoğan’s political career. What probably misled Erdoğan was that very concern and anxiety he knows so well within the CHP ranks. Let me explain: Erdoğan must have calculated that the incidents involving İmamoğlu and his colleagues would intensify the existing worry and anxiety among CHP cadres, bringing fear and panic, and consequently leading to weak objections and protests, ultimately resulting in absolute submission to fate.
However, that’s not what happened. On March 19, as Istanbul University students broke through barricades, the CHP leadership found themselves in a surge of activity that surprised even themselves, integrating with the social opposition and mounting a resistance that has worn down the ruling power.
Stick and Carrot
Conversely, Erdoğan had hoped that the opposition within the CHP would intervene with cheap approaches like “where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” leaving the main opposition party no time for the government due to internal squabbles from the outset. So much so that Erdoğan couldn’t even convince his own voters, let alone the CHP base, of the proposition that this was “the largest organized crime syndicate in the history of the Republic.”
Here, we must acknowledge the “miraculous” performances of Özgür Özel, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and CHP Istanbul Provincial Head Özgür Çelik. Frustrated by the resistance they spearheaded with creative ideas and their implementation, Erdoğan’s first thought was the “stick,” leading to successive waves of operations.
Özgür Özel, Özgür Çelik, Ekrem İmamoğlu
When the “stick” proved ineffective, he tried the “carrot.” In the initial days after March 19, he began addressing the CHP leader, whom he had tried to belittle as “Mr. Özgür,” as “Mr. Özel,” inviting him to sever ties with İmamoğlu.
“Small But Ours”
We know that Özgür Özel did not heed Erdoğan’s invitations and did not “sell out” İmamoğlu. However, I am not confident that all CHP cadres are as resolute as he is. As this resistance has begun to become routine, we hear that some cadres—whose activity during the process is debatable—have fallen into deep despair regarding achieving results.
By “achieving results,” we naturally mean, first and foremost, the unconditional release and trial of İmamoğlu and his colleagues; subsequently, early elections; and finally, a change in political power. Yet, many people have lost hope not only for a change in power but even for the release of İmamoğlu and his colleagues.
All of this is understandable. However, the possibility of this despair turning into “surrender” could alter the course of politics in Turkey. Indeed, the political establishment and its supporters—some of whom pretend to be opposition figures—are issuing calls to “let bygones be bygones, look to the future.”
