The ruling power, seeking to consolidate the regime, has laid all its cards on the table. Its strategy is shaped, domestically, around suppressing the opposition with the stick of the judiciary, silencing social dissent and dominating politics through tricks; whilst externally, it is built on securing legitimacy through the US and Trump. In line with this plan, millions already struggling with economic ruin, high inflation and mounting livelihood difficulties have been further cornered by injustice, lawlessness, a reactionary siege, plunder, looting and reactionary repression.

Against this backdrop, the discontent felt by the masses towards the current regime has gradually turned into anger. The demand for change, which has been building up along the fault lines of society, has begun to seek channels through which it can transform into a comprehensive protest. Millions, fed up with the regime’s corrupted understanding of politics, want to take matters into their own hands. The people, unwilling to live amidst the poverty, oppression, injustice and lawlessness imposed by the government, clung desperately to even the smallest glimmer of hope whilst striving to make their voices heard on every platform.

ANGER IS GROWING

Over the past few months, protests of varying sizes have taken place across the country in response to the devastation caused by the regime. Miners and teachers breached police barricades in Ankara. Environmental activists kept vigil from the Black Sea to the Aegean in defence of trees, water, soil and nature. Pensioners took to the streets from Edirne to Kars, declaring, “We want to live like human beings.”

Women raised their voices in defiance of bans, speaking out against violence and discrimination. Workers organised strikes in factories. Farmers held rallies in defence of their crops. Journalists took to the streets in defiance of censorship and repression. Students expressed their objections through creative banners unfurled at their graduation ceremonies. Hundreds of thousands opposing the illegitimate administration packed rally venues, streets and squares to bursting point.

Despite all the resources at its disposal, the government was simply unable to suppress the demand for change building up amongst the people. The successive operations carried out against locally elected councils, as well as the absolute annulment imposed on the CHP, not only failed to intimidate society but actually fuelled the anger even further. The people turned their backs with great fury on every political figure who aligned themselves with the regime or evoked the old ways of doing politics.

UNITY IN PROTEST

As such a fundamental breakaway from the Palace regime unfolds, the need for a united and collective line of struggle to embrace the demand for change has become ever more pressing with each passing day. Today, the protests emerging from teachers to miners, environmentalists to women, students to workers, civil servants to pensioners, are eager to transform into an united struggle against the regime. Moreover, the anger felt towards the CHP’s inept leadership, as well as the intense interest Özgür Özel has encountered on his tours of Anatolia, are both reflections of this same demand for change.

No political movement that stands in the way of this demand, ignores it or turns its back on it stands any chance of survival. Bringing together the broadest sections of society in a common struggle against the regime is, once again, asserting itself as the primary task of the social opposition.

LET’S MEET AT THE FORUM FOR A JOINT MARCH

The “Side by Side Towards a United Opposition” forum, bringing together the country’s progressive, revolutionary and democratic forces, will be held in Istanbul following its event in Ankara. A call for participation has been issued ahead of the event, which will take place at 3.00 pm on Sunday 26 July at the Beyoğlu Ses Theatre. The call for participation included the following points in summary:

1) The so-called “Presidential Government System” is a one-man regime; it is a permanent system of oppression in which the rule of law is suspended, state institutions are governed according to the will of a single individual, and public services—from education to healthcare—are handed over to capital.

Today, this regime is seeking to eliminate the people’s ability to change the government through the ballot box. To halt this dark trajectory and open the door to a democratic country, we believe that all progressive, democratic opposition forces, social organisations and citizens’ initiatives must take on the joint struggle against the one-man regime as a historical responsibility.

2) Despite all the regime’s oppression and tyranny, resistance is growing. All oppressed sections of society are strengthening their resolve to live together in an equal, democratic and free country. The main problem today is that these dynamics of resistance have not yet been brought together on a common ground for struggle. What is needed is to transform the fragmented opposition into a united social force.

3) The government’s most important strategy is to divide and isolate the opposition. On the one hand, it is attempting to distance the Kurdish movement from the opposition through various political manoeuvres; on the other, it is seeking to neutralise the CHP by increasing the pressure on it, whilst attempting to suppress the most dynamic forces of social opposition. We, on the other hand, aim to unite all forms of resistance emerging around diverse social demands under a common goal; to build a new social force based on grassroots-organised popular initiatives, solidarity networks and struggle alliances—social organisations that are not confined to the realm of political parties.

We cannot leave the struggle against this regime, which has turned into a system of evil, to the will of a few politicians. Only the organised power, solidarity and collective struggle of the people can halt the current regime. It is with this sense of responsibility that we come together; we call for a joint march that will transform resistance into hope, and hope into victory. In this march, stretching from working-class neighbourhoods to factories, from university campuses to villages, we are coming together to defend our country.

LET'S FIGHT TOGETHER

Mustafa Moroğlu - CHP Member of Parliament for Izmir, 24th Term

Let's raise our call from our workplaces, our streets, our neighbourhoods, our districts and our provinces. This is the duty of active citizenship for all of us. This duty is today’s most urgent need. This duty was important in past years too. During the 12 September fascist regime and before that… We must not have learnt from the experiences we have lived through from those days to the present, for the one-man regime we face today is the result of our failure to mount a united struggle.

Today’s realities make the fulfilment of this duty even more urgent; the conditions are more favourable. The people are resisting oppression in every sphere, refusing to bow to pressure, and are warning us of the necessity of this imperative. The one-man regime is attempting to intimidate the people’s resistance by extending the operations it has carried out against DEM-affiliated municipal officials—using its extrajudicial powers—to include Republican People’s Party (CHP) municipal officials as well. The delay in giving concrete form to a united struggle is failing to halt these attacks.

The judicial interventions targeting the legal personality of the Republican People’s Party stem from a fear of a united struggle. We must heed the voice of our citizens; we must act in accordance with the reality that the only way to thwart attempts to divide our struggle is to unite and expand the struggle across all fronts.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Değişim talebi rotayı çiziyor, published in BirGün newspaper on July 24, 2026.