Citizens’ anger at crisis and justice
Public opinion polls show that people complain most about the economy and lawlessness. Even if the government does not want them to be discussed, these data give clues about where the opposition should concentrate.
Politics Service
The government, which has placed the entire burden of the economic crisis and growing poverty on the people, is trying to survive with the stick of the judiciary. While all public opinion polls show that the country’s most burning problems by far are the economy, poverty, livelihood difficulties and unemployment, millions have been condemned to live below the hunger line.
On the other hand, the unlawfulness that escalated with the 19 March operations, the imprisonment of mayors, the trustees appointed to opposition municipalities, and the usurpation of will through the judiciary constitute another burning problem of the country.
The August “Turkey Political Agenda Survey” conducted by Area Research with 2,000 people in 26 provinces and 87 districts also showed that people complain most about the economy and the judiciary. When asked “Do you find the government’s overall economic performance successful?” only 20.8 percent answered “Yes”. The rate of those who answered “No” was 77 percent. 2.2 percent did not state an opinion.
In the same survey, participants were also asked “Do you believe that the judicial system in Turkey operates impartially and independently?” Only 20.6 percent answered “Yes” while 75.8 percent answered “No”. 3.6 percent did not state an opinion.
RALLIES ARE NOT ENOUGH
These two data points also answer the question of where the main concentration of the opposition should be. Since the 19 March operations, the main opposition party has held 50 rallies across the country to draw attention to lawlessness. The main theme of the rallies was to explain the unlawfulness of the regime that usurped the will of the people with the stick of the judiciary, to show that the government, which searched for turnips and octopuses in the operations, has not been able to present a tangible justification to this day. From Bayburt to Konya, Yozgat to Sivas, Maltepe to Aydın, CHP tried to convey this with rallies across the country. Judging by the enthusiasm and excitement of the rallies, it would not be wrong to say that it succeeded. However, the rallies alone were not enough to stop the operations or end the unlawfulness.
SOLUTION IN COMMON STRUGGLE
Although the economic collapse is the country’s most fundamental problem, a stance has not been organised that could raise the millions tested by hunger and open paths of joint struggle against the regime. The minimum wage eroded by inflation, the ridiculous interim raise in civil servants’ salaries, the starvation pay received by pensioners, rising rents and expenses have deepened poverty. The inability of trade unions, democratic mass organisations, professional chambers, and left and socialist organisations to build a common line of struggle around class demands has practically allowed the regime to breathe. It is clear that there is now more need than ever for an opposition that will both expose and protest lawlessness and at the same time carry economic demands.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Yurttaşın öfkesi krize ve adalete, published in BirGün newspaper on August 30, 2025.
