Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing one of his biggest tests as President with the election on Sunday April 16. The election, will help shape Turkey’s future as to whether it will move toward a Democratic future, or one toward Dictatorship.

“There are so many reasons we oppose it,” Republican opposition member, Bulent Tezcan said regarding the vote tomorrow. “The main reason is that the democratic regime in Turkey will be replaced with one man rule, Tezcan continued.

The vote scheduled for the 16th was approved by the ruling Justice and Development Party which was founded by President Erdogan. 18 amendments to Turkey’s constitution have been proposed for the referendum many of which have opposition members worried that Erdogan is trying to turn the Presidency into a dictatorship.

One of the proposed amendments, allows for the President to run for two more terms which potentially has him in office until 2029.

Turkey has been struggling to form an identity for itself after a series of terror attacks the last couple of years by the PKK and Islamic state along with a failed Coup attempt to oust Erdogan from power in July 2016. Since that time, thousands of people have been arrested including journalists, professors and military personnel.

Turkey is a strategically important country in the world as it sits on the border with Syria and has been struggling in a war between sectarianism and Islamization. The main threats for stability include the PKK Kurdish worker’s party which advocates for a separate region for Kurds, along with the Islamic State which come from the South. Added to this are the opposition military officials who took part in the Coup.

“We consider this change an action of direct democracy, {In that} it gives people sovereignty in a more direct way,” AKP politician, Muhammet Emin AKbasoglu said in favor of the referendum. “There will be more stability. Turkey won’t lose time anymore. The uncertainties and things that cause instabilities will be gone and the state apparatus will shed weight losing its poorly functioning parts,” AKbasoglu continued.

Turkey is also seen by the United States as an important country in its role against the Islamic state and the war on terror being so close to the border it has sent troops and tanks into Syria to fight against IS. Operations were conducted in August 2016 and the main objective was the Syrian border town of Jarabulus which was a stronghold of the Islamic State.

IS has been the one common enemy that the United States and Turkey could unite on as Turkey has been trying to also label the Kurdish PKK an enemy. Fear has been rising that the PKK has been gaining advocates for Kurdish independence from Turkey.

Adding to the tension in the country has been the fact that an Emergency Law has been enacted since the failed coup, giving the Presidency even greater power. According to Turkey’s martial law definition it states, “In the event of martial law, mobilization of law, mobilization and state of war, the provisions to be applied and conduct of affairs, relations with the administration, the manner which freedom to be restricted or suspended and the obligations to be imposed on citizens in a state of war or in the event of emergence of a situation necessitating war, shall be regulated by law.”

Other proposals included in the new referendum include giving the president the power to dissolve parliament and to call for new elections.

In conclusion, even in victorious in the vote, President Erdogan should rethink this piece of legislation as history has shown us that authoritarianism often leads to a violent and chaotic, and a distrustful society that pits people against each other.

Links to sources:

• The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/10/turkeys-president-erdogan-approves-constitutional-boost-to-his-powers
• New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/26/opinion/is-turkey-a-us-ally-against-isis.html?_r=0
• Quartz: https://qz.com/950313/turkey-is-preparing-to-vote-on-a-constitutional-referendum-that-gives-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan-unprecedented-power/