Mar 27, 2025 [Umut Özkırımlı](/columnist/umut-ozkirimli)
It is too soon to tell whether the current wave of popular anger and disillusionment in Turkey will evolve into a coherent movement capable of mounting a credible opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. But one thing should be obvious to the main opposition party: When the game is rigged, the only hope is to flip the board.
BARCELONA – It finally happened: Ekrem İmamoğlu, Istanbul’s mayor and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most [formidable likely challenger](https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/03/19/erdogan-arrests-the-candidate-who-could-beat-him) in the 2028 presidential election, was formally arrested on flimsy corruption charges, after four days in custody. The move was a long time coming, and it cannot be dismissed as mere political maneuvering. It might not seem like it, but this is how coups often happen nowadays: with no blood and no noise beyond the whimper of a democracy dying in handcuffs.