As Turkey’s March 31 local elections draw nearer, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rarely misses an opportunity to recall the 2013 Gezi Park resistance and warn of serious consequences for those who might think of taking to the streets again to protest his government. In a series of recent speeches, Erdogan has attacked journalists and the main opposition leader, portraying the constitutional right to peaceful demonstration as a crime.
Naturally, a naive question comes to mind: Could it be that Ankara has obtained intelligence of certain anti-government organizations and groups planning massive street protests to topple the government? Hence, could it be that the government is pre-emptively warning oppositionists in a bid to thwart the protests before they have even started?
