The penny drops for the other side

Of course, the issue is not just Ekrem İmamoğlu. Everyone knows this.

For the people of my country, the knife had reached the bone, and the cup was waiting for just one drop to overflow.

That is why the streets became active.

But as far as it is understood, what bothered the government the most and caused it to panic was the April 2 boycott!

Because it was calculating that it could somehow suppress the street issue with brute force, eliminate its legitimacy with a few provocations; and if it proceeded through religion, faith, God, and the book, it could perhaps not win over the youth on the street, but it could hoodwink their mothers and fathers.

Especially if it filled its sails with the wind it received from across the Atlantic...

But when it came to stopping consumption, the alarm bells started ringing.

For the political Islamist mentality, Turkey is dar-ül harp (a land of war).

In other words, it is not a country to be governed, but a country to be conquered.

No matter how they plunder it; whatever they have seized through corruption, theft, and extortion is now lawful for them.

That is why accusing the AKP of corruption and theft has not meant much to the "Muslim voter" until today.

It was already not difficult to convince the mosque congregation. Once scholars were found to provide the appropriate fatwas to sway the minds of ordinary pious voters, this issue—which is the most sensitive point for voters even in countries that have had a taste of democracy—remained as numb as a callus for us.

It is no joke; for example, women in Anatolian cities, hearing these fatwas during the "reading circles" they attended as part of neighborly relations, began to perceive the system corrupted by the AKP as a requirement of religion. Sin, forbidden acts, and the rights of others became mere stories. Especially once they got their own children into this system as guards, police officers, or specialized sergeants, and arranged a suitable tender or two for their husbands, they became fierce AKP militants.

That is why, no matter what happens in the country, a 30 percent core mass emerged that would vote for Tayyip Erdoğan.

But since April 2, there have been signs of a slight change in the color of things.

The other side has just realized the power that comes from consumption.

Even if a bit late, the penny has dropped.

This is at least as important as going to the ballot box.

In a period where democracy is effectively suspended in the country, freedom of expression is shelved, and people feel the oppressive, totalitarian regime to their bones, they saw that this could be a magnificent tool of civil disobedience.

They understood that an ordinary shopping decision could shake the government if it turned into a collective action.

Because what kept the government standing was the hot money flowing from everything it had seized and occupied since 2002.

When the government and its dependents stood up at the call for a boycott, the people of my country said, "Could it be?" If they are shouting this much, it means we are on the right track.

With the shopping they did, the vacations they took, the concerts they attended, the coffee they drank, their mobile phone and internet bills, the natural gas money they paid... the list is very long; they were financing Islamist politics quite nicely.

In other words, Tayyip Erdoğan was continuing his rule with the money he took, one way or another, from the pockets of the masses who were against him.

Do the contractors, whom the opposition calls the "gang of five," put all the hundreds of millions of dollars they earn from lucrative tenders into their own pockets?

Of course not! They are filling the government's coffers.

Now, the possibility has emerged that this source, even if not completely cut off, is on the verge of drying up.

That is why they are dragging their ministers, trolls, and the loyalists they have gathered from here and there to coffee shops and bookstores.

No matter what they do, they cannot fully control digital platforms. The organization on social media, in particular, scares them.

"Hashtag activism" is, of course, only effective to a certain point. However, we can think that significant pressure can be built on the government with a correctly determined boycott strategy and the catalytic effect of social media.

There is also the economic crisis that the people of my country feel in their marrow and bones. We must not ignore the multiplier effect of this.

But the real question to be asked here is this:

Where was the opposition's mind since 2002?

Why did it wait for Ekrem İmamoğlu's arrest to organize such a boycott?

While Turkey has been swinging from right to left and left to right both economically and socially for years, and getting poorer by the day, why did the opposition turn a blind eye?

It could have pushed the button much earlier for the masses to realize the power that comes from consumption. But instead, it preferred to carry water to the government's mill by talking about softening and normalization.

Let us not lose heart.

Let us put a period to our article by saying better late than never.