An MP imprisoned despite multiple rulings demanding his immediate release, elected mayors replaced by government appointees and a ‘Palace Regime’ that disregards the people’s will — there lies a broad summary of Turkey’s current political landscape. Using similar rhetoric to justify unjust and inhumane measures will do the UK government no good.

Can Atalay, a human rights lawyer known for advocating for the rights of workers, dissidents, miners, political prisoners, journalists, and victims of institutional neglect, oppression and marginalisation, was elected as an MP for the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) by the people of Hatay in the general election held in May 2023. At the time, he was in prison as part of the so-called Gezi Park trials, the government’s means of punishing the largest uprising the country had witnessed.

The prison sentence was based on unfounded claims of ‘attempting to overthrow the Government of the Republic of Turkey.’ However, following his election, Atalay was expected to be released due to parliamentary immunity. When this was not granted, he took his case to the Constitutional Court, the highest judiciary authority in the country, which ruled that Atalay’s right to be elected, to engage in political activity, and to liberty and security of person had been violated.

In the meantime, the party mobilised, organising demonstrations worldwide to demand freedom for Can Atalay. In London alone, TİP Britain held 12 consecutive weeks of sit-in protests. While his case is currently with the European Court of Human Rights, the immediate release of Can Atalay is crucial for the people of Hatay Province, who were particularly affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in February 2023 and have since endured the consequences of neoliberal and neo-colonial exploitation.

The government’s crackdown on elected representatives continued after the local elections in March 2024. Having failed to be the leading party in an election for the first time since 2002, the AKP (Justice and Development Party) appointed trustees to seven municipalities held by opposition parties, bringing the total to 149 since 2016. Unsurprisingly, most of these municipalities are in the southeastern part of Turkey, which is heavily populated by Kurdish people, and the moves have predominantly targeted officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.

These attacks on the right to vote and be elected are being justified through a ‘war on terror’ rhetoric, which also provides context for the police raid on 27 November 2024 at the Kurdish Community Centre in North London, carried out as part of an investigation on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). While it is too early to determine what prompted the Metropolitan Police to act there and now, the timing is noteworthy. It coincides with remarks by Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party, suggesting possible parole for Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK who was convicted of founding and leading a terrorist organisation, as well as a meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, during which they discussed a ‘joint action against terrorism.’

In light of this conjuncture, the sudden raid on a community centre invites speculation about potential relationships between the governments of Turkey and the UK, the various factions within the PKK, and broader developments in Syria and the Middle East. Then again, regardless of how one might interpret and connect these, it is telling that in its detention of political activists, the UK government is employing the same rhetoric used by the Turkish government to justify appointing trustees in place of elected officials. The newly elected Labour government, which had pledged to address the historical injustices created or exacerbated by 14 years of Conservative rule, appears to be following the footsteps of its predecessor and, more alarmingly, those of authoritative governments who pay no regard to the people’s will.