“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.”

“For a true reset to happen, the Biden administration needs to see more of a democratization process … that can come in the form of major judicial reforms or by the release of some of the most contentious political figures.”

“The broader crackdown on the HDP should be a focus of the Biden administration, which seems…to really understand how Erdogan’s authoritarianism at home impacts other things, like his foreign policy.”