“But as soon as the government discovered the app, of course, it also began to monitor and police those discussion rooms, and flooded the app with its own supporters to try to dominate the conversation.”

“The deterioration of the U.S.-Turkish alliance in recent years helped facilitate President Biden’s decision to recognize the genocide, in that it removed a political obstacle to the recognition.”

“Turkey’s biggest problem right now is that there is no real meritocracy. There is no due process. There is no rule of law.”

“For many people in the region, Erdogan represents a pious Muslim populist leader who defies a secularist, pro-Western establishment in Turkey and who defends Muslims on the international stage. This image earns him a lot of street cred.”

“Because it was such a new app, and I guess the government censors were not yet on the app, it was this sort of free space where the students and faculty could talk to thousands of people who downloaded the app… All of that died down.”

“Given that Erdogan himself has suffered from anti-democratic party closures throughout his political career, it may still prove too politically costly for him to pursue the closure of the HDP.”

“The government is doing to [opposition lawmaker Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu] what it has done to all prominent human rights defenders in Turkey: Using a politicized judiciary to brand him as a terrorist.”