Political Service
Unable to gain public consent, losing its hegemony at the ballot box, and continuing to lose votes according to numerous public opinion polls, the ruling regime continues its search for “legitimacy.” Prior to the meeting with US President Trump at the White House, US Ambassador to Ankara Barrack’s statement that “we will give Erdoğan the legitimacy he wants,” along with the concessions made to the US, revealed that the ruling party sees Trump as the savior.
Another expression of the search for legitimacy was witnessed at the opening of Parliament the previous day. The opening of the 28th Term, 4th Legislative Year of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) was marked by controversial scenes. At the opening, which was not attended by the CHP, EMEP, or TİP, Erdoğan presented a warm and friendly scene with the opposition parties. The attitude of the opposition deputies towards Erdoğan was an expression of Erdoğan and the regime’s attempt to purchase legitimacy from a section of the opposition.
DEM and İYİ Party deputies stood up, though they did not applaud Erdoğan. After Erdoğan’s speech in the General Assembly, Bahçeli held a meeting with a group that included DEM Party Co-Chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Pervin Bulan, a member of the İmralı delegation. İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu also attended this meeting. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes. In the evening, Grand National Assembly President Numan Kurtulmuş hosted a reception to mark the opening of the new legislative year.
During the reception, warm scenes emerged as Erdoğan and MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli chatted with the leaders of the DEM Party, İYİ Party, Yeniden Refah, Saadet Party, Hüdapar, Gelecek, and DEVA Party. These scenes drew reactions from citizens on social media. During the conversations, Erdoğan also sat next to Ahmet Davutoğlu and Ali Babacan for the first time in years. The leaders of these two parties were not on the AKP’s festive greeting list.
Yeniden Refah leader Fatih Erbakan also met with Erdoğan alongside this duo. Meanwhile, İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu did not attend the reception. Erdoğan also chatted for a while with artist Mustafa Keser, who attended the reception. Interesting dialogues were also captured on camera during the conversations. Erdoğan, who did not shake hands with DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları at the General Assembly, said, “I’m sorry, we made such a mistake.”
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A LIFELINE FOR THE PALACE
The regime, which is trying to construct a Turkey without elections or opposition, carried out successive operations targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB). Ekrem İmamoğlu, the CHP’s presidential candidate and İBB mayor, who was elected with over 15 million votes in the primary election, and his close team have been detained since March 23. The operations, which began in Esenyurt, spread from Istanbul to Anatolia. In CHP, which achieved a historic success in the March 31, 2024 local elections, 15 mayors were arrested and one mayor was placed under house arrest. Twelve of the 27 CHP mayors elected in Istanbul, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, are in prison. The former co-chairs of the HDP, Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ, have also been in prison for years.
Despite this, the opposition parties’ display of friendly scenes with Erdoğan, as if everything were normal, has caused a strong public reaction. The attitude of some opposition parties, who, regardless of the country’s situation, winked at the legitimacy sought by the regime, squeezed into the frame that Erdoğan needed most. It is also worth noting the criticism of CHP by Müsavat Dervişoğlu, Chairman of İYİ Party, who said, “Parliament is not a place for protest.”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Hiçbir fotoğraf rejimi kurtarmaz, published in BirGün newspaper on October 3, 2025.
