Türkiye’s Darkest Hour Posted on June 1, 2026 by Ali Tuygan June 1, 2026 The “darkest hour” captures a moment when things are at their worst. Türkiye’s 1950 general election, which brought the Democratic Party (DP) to power, was a major step toward democracy. During the twenty-seven years, a very short span of time, from the founding of the Republic to the 1950 election, Türkiye struggled to move beyond centuries of decadent Ottoman rule, realized fundamental reforms under Atatürk’s leadership, which charted a new path for our country, and successfully dealt with the challenges of the Second World War under President İnönü. Since then, Türkiye has witnessed periods of internal political conflict, one example being the establishment of the Investigation Commission by the DP in 1960, targeting the Republican People’s Party (CHP) to remain in power unrivalled, military interventions, and attempted coups, but nothing like what has happened during the past week. The title is part of the well-known proverb, “the darkest hour is just before dawn”, suggesting that things will get better. Winston Churchill had used part of it, “darkest hour”, to mark the collapse of France following the German invasion in 1940. Today, Türkiye is experiencing an unprecedented internal political crisis, and this compels one to use Churchill’s language. Nonetheless, the time will surely come to repeat the proverb in its entirety. In recent years, our democracy, our economy, and our sense of national unity have all lost altitude. The separation of powers, the essence of democracy, has been ignored. By staying on the democratic path, Türkiye could have become the northern star of the Middle East. The governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) squandered the opportunity. Instead, Türkiye, with its nose-diving democracy, became part of the Middle East. Thus, on May 21, the country witnessed the crash. The Ankara Regional Court of Appeal issued “an interim measure” declaring the elections held and the decisions taken by the 38th Convention of the CHP null and void. The court placed Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu at the head of the CHP and removed its elected leader, Özgür Özel. During Kılıçdaroğlu’s thirteen years at the helm of the CHP, the party lost thirteen elections. President Erdoğan won three presidential elections, the last against Kılıçdaroğlu, whose candidacy was secured through dubious “political deals.” And now he is partnering with them to divide the CHP and guarantee the AKP yet another victory in the next, perhaps not too distant, presidential/general election. It appears the endgame is to force the CHP into an election under Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership, perhaps even to prevent the Party’s elected chairman, Özgür Özel, from running, like İstanbul Mayor İmamoğlu. Moreover, there are many confusing questions about party conventions, the founding of new parties, the conditions for participating in elections, including the urgency of a CHP congress. In brief, chaos reigns supreme. As for the economy, it was the AKP government that knocked off six zeros from the Turkish currency on January 1, 2005, as part of a massive redenomination. Thus, 1,000,000 “old” Turkish lira became exactly 1 “new” Turkish lira. At the time, the dollar was worth 1.4-5 Turkish liras. Today, it is worth more than 45 liras. The inflation rate is above 30% according to official figures, but above 50% according to unofficial sources. If the economic policy prioritizing election interests were to continue, the country would face galloping inflation immediately after the election. For Türkiye’s future, its stability and prosperity, the AKP leadership must return to the democratic path today, not tomorrow, not the day after. Against this gloomy background, on July 7-8, Ankara will host a NATO summit. What do we have in common with NATO countries today? Other than the selfish defense interests of our allies, hardly anything. Yes, we still have a membership card, but one with an expiry date.