Calls for what Turkish officials have termed “destructive” boycotts and street protests by the Republican People's Party (CHP) have fizzled out after citizens refused to engage and came out in support of targeted shops and businesses.
“This boycott attempt is the latest in a string of destructive activities the main opposition party has led recently in its political helplessness,” Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said Thursday.
“This so-called boycott attempt organized against national and domestic capital has been thwarted thanks to the foresight and tenacity of the people,” Altun wrote in a statement on X.
He condemned the CHP’s “dirty campaign” targeting Türkiye’s economic independence and public peace, arguing the party was trying to “cover up its longstanding political crisis with a high budget activism funded by its squandering of municipal sources and public means.”
The CHP is under fire for disrupting public peace and economic stability through calls for a boycott on April 2 to protest the detention of students rallying in support of Istanbul's jailed opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.
Imamoğlu was detained on March 19 and formally arrested on March 23. Between those dates and afterward, riots broke out across Türkiye as the mayor’s CHP sought to mobilize crowds to protest it. Authorities imposed a ban on gatherings after the incitement by the CHP, particularly in Istanbul.
CHP Chair Özgür Özel had recently launched a boycott call against some businesses, including state-run and certain private broadcasters, accusing them of ignoring the protest coverage.
On Tuesday, he called for a general boycott of ceasing consumption altogether.
However, the vast majority of citizens came out in support of national companies, saying they were standing with national production, employment and economy.
“Our citizens have deciphered those trying to play the victim,” ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chair Mustafa Elitaş said.
Throughout Wednesday, social media platforms were awash with posts from citizens showing solidarity with targeted shops, artisans and laborers under the trending topic tags #TimeforNationalSupport and #NotBoycottButNationalHarm.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into individuals promoting economic boycotts on social and traditional media.
The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office said in a statement on Tuesday that it was probing calls that allegedly aimed to prevent a segment of the public from engaging in economic activity. The office cited possible violations of "laws against hate speech and inciting public hostility."
“The CHP’s efforts to drag its political struggle out to the street have now become an attempt to target our economy,” another AK Party deputy chair, Hayati Yazıcı, said.
Yazıcı accused the CHP of using the “economic boycott” call to lay the groundwork for “polarization and targeting businesses, the lifeblood of our economy.”
“Against those who seek to manipulate society with crises and chaos, without producing anything, we as the people will protect our artisans, economy and country,” Yazıcı said.
Altun similarly slammed the CHP for reciting a “provocative rhetoric such as ‘stopping life’” in an attempt to manipulate the public.
He also accused the party of failing to take any responsibility for the backlash against such an attempt, saying, “The CHP administration has demonstrated a politically unprincipled, morally irresponsible attitude by claiming it was ‘the youths doing it (calling for boycotts) and we are only supporting it.’”
Altun called out to students and their families, who he said were being “used in this manipulation.”
“These statements are the product of a mentality that will push you out front and then abandon you when there are financial and legal consequences to this incident,” he said.
“This indecisive attitude is also instrumentalizing our youths to make them pawns in a political confrontation,” Altun added.
Özel, however, doubled down on his statements, insisting the CHP “wholly supports the boycott” as he spoke to reporters in northeastern Trabzon province after attending the funeral of beloved folk singer, Volkan Konak.
Özel claimed the CHP would back “other decisions by our youths tomorrow or after that” regarding boycotts.
