The regime is trying to stay in power at the cost of dragging Türkiye into a disaster.

Whilst judicial operations, absolute nullity and repression of social protest are becoming the norm, the opposition is being targeted in an attempt to render it ineffective and fragment it. In contrast, the vast majority of society is seeking ways to free itself from this regime, under which it is crushed by deep poverty and repression. A united struggle is emerging as a common goal.

In such a critical period, developing the potential for a united struggle stands out as one of the most important issues.

Across the country, people are seeking answers to the question of how the individual resistance movements carried out by workers, women, defenders of life, teachers, young people, pensioners – in short, different sections of society – can be united under a common banner.

LET'S WORK TOGETHER TO FIND WAYS TO FIGHT

The country’s progressive, revolutionary and democratic forces have issued a call to “stand side by side on the path to a united opposition” in order to discuss all these questions together and find answers. The call included the following statements: “The one-man regime, maintained at the expense of the people’s hunger and destitution, is dragging our country step by step towards disaster. The Republic’s latest secular and democratic gains are being targeted for elimination. A monarchical regime is being imposed to align with the US’s ‘Greater Middle East’ policies.

Lawless and boundless tyranny is being employed to effect a de facto transition to a regime without elections or opposition. Rescuing our country from this dark siege is our most pressing responsibility. This responsibility goes beyond the concerns of any single individual or party; it concerns our shared future and the future of our country. The way to achieve this lies in the solidarity and united struggle of the oppressed working people – workers, pensioners, young people and women.

To this end, it is essential to create a foundation of solidarity and joint struggle where those fighting for their rights and freedoms can unite their forces against the one-man regime. As the dominant political order—centred on a hollowed-out Parliament and one-man rule—is taken down, it is vital to succeed in creating a new political foundation whose subject and founder is the people. The formation of a new force of resistance through a united struggle movement is the call of the cries rising against hunger across the country, the resistance spreading from the squares to the streets, and those marching tirelessly for a new future! We are taking on the responsibility to organise this call and are setting out on this path together with everyone who feels this need! Let us seek together the ways to establish a foundation that will ensure the people’s solidarity and the unity of the struggles.”

THEY DON'T WANT TO SEE A UNITED STRUGGLE

Sharing her views on the call for a united struggle, BirGün columnist and lawyer Selin Nakıpoğlu said: “I believe that the response to these questions must be addressed not only within a framework that describes current political developments, but also through a perspective on how to establish the political subject capable of reversing this course.”

Nakıpoğlu made the following assessment: “Today, the greatest success of the Turkish regime is not merely that it has intensified repression. Its real success lies in its ability to keep the social opposition fragmented into separate issues. Workers are fighting for their wages, pensioners for a decent standard of living, women for their legal rights and against violence by men, young people for their future, rural communities for their land, environmental movements for nature, and the Kurdish people for equal citizenship. Each of these is a just and legitimate struggle. However, the regime is striving precisely to prevent these struggles from intersecting. Because it knows that the moment these struggles unite, they will give rise not merely to an objection, but to a new political force.

That is why what we need today is not to standardise these different struggles, but to bring them together around a common goal. This is precisely what we mean by the Joint Approach. It does not mean that everyone must think alike or belong to the same organisation; rather, it means acting with the awareness that everyone is fighting against the same authoritarian regime. A joint struggle is a political will that does not eliminate differences, but brings them together on a common ground of democracy and freedom.

The political power has long been pursuing a ‘divide, isolate, neutralise’ strategy. Whilst on the one hand it is attempting to marginalise the Kurdish political movement from the opposition through various political manoeuvres, on the other it is increasing judicial pressure on the CHP. Trade unions, professional organisations, universities and democratic mass organisations, meanwhile, are kept under constant pressure. This is because the regime does not wish to see a united social force standing against it.

WE HAVE REACHED THE LIMITS OF INDIVIDUAL VICTORIES

Yet today, we have reached the limits of struggles that can be won individually. For example, a raid on a municipality is not merely that municipality’s problem. The silencing of a journalist is not merely a problem for the press. The banning of a worker’s strike is not merely a matter for workers. A woman’s right to life, a student’s housing problem, a farmer’s right to defend their land, or an environmental protest – each of these faces different facets of the same political regime. For this reason, our defences must also be united.

Today, whilst the democratic and secular legacy of the Republic is being dismantled, our country is being dragged towards a system devoid of elections and opposition, governed by a lawless approach to administration. In such a period, joint struggle is no longer a choice, but a historical necessity. For no single social group possesses the power to change this system on its own; yet the social energy that emerges when all these groups act in unison can shift the political balance.

For this reason, the Joint Line is not merely a quest for an alliance to be formed during election periods. It is the resolve to stand side by side on the streets, in the workplace, on campus, in the neighbourhood, in the factory and in every sphere of life. It is a political foundation that makes solidarity permanent, unites the struggle and organises hope.

This is precisely what we need most today: to transform the fragmented opposition into a united social force. Because we can only defend our lives, our future and our country together. History shows that authoritarian regimes have never been able to endure in the face of the collective will of society. The task now is to organise that collective will and to transform the phrase ‘we will win by uniting’ from a mere slogan into a social practice."

NO ONE SHOULD FEEL ALONE

Dr Bayazıt İlhan, a writer for BirGün, said: “Türkiye has become an unbearable straitjacket for workers, pensioners, students, young people and women. Everyone who objects to these conditions must discuss common paths of struggle for workers’ rights, democracy, peace and a liveable country. There are many valuable struggles for rights, and there have been gains. These struggles can be united through an approach that emphasises common ground rather than divisions. All organised sections of society must set aside their narrow regime calculations and take steps towards the goal of a different Türkiye. From the ecological struggle to women’s rights, from workers’ rights to the rights of patients and people with disabilities – alliances must be forged in every area you can think of. No one who is oppressed, subjected to injustice or unfair treatment, or unjustly detained or imprisoned should feel alone.”

THE FORUM FOR DISCUSSION WILL EXPAND

United Opposition: the forum for discussion we have launched in our newspaper on this theme will continue with contributions from progressive, revolutionary and democratic elements, particularly intellectuals, artists and writers. Through opinions and interviews as we seek ways to wage a joint struggle against the regime, we will put the urgent tasks of social opposition on the table. Meanwhile, a forum will be held in Ankara under the slogan “We’re coming together #SideBySide on the path to a united opposition!” The forum, which will take place on Sunday 19 July at 2.00 pm at the MMO Education and Culture Centre, will discuss opportunities for joint struggle.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Sorumluluk alıyoruz birlikte yola çıkıyoruz, published in BirGün newspaper on July 14, 2026.