Opinion | Fighting for democracy on the front lines in Hong Kong and Istanbul

Millennials in Hong Kong and Istanbul are displaying a common trend. They are using the 21st century’s disruptive technologies and messaging apps against the dictatorial ways of their 20th-century autocrat sovereigns. They have a common goal: reconfigure and restore the values of democratic liberalism for the betterment of their societies. Thus, they have become the front lines of the modern-day disruptive changes.

Their achievements so far have been impressive. Citizens, young and old, rally behind them in large numbers. In Hong Kong, they want the firewall protecting their civil rights from the communist order in mainland China to remain in place. In Istanbul, they call for the rights that have been taken away from them to be restored, and for the voices of the people to be heard.

When Hongkongers were marching in rallies of up to two million people demanding the withdrawal of a bill amending the extradition law and the resignation of the territory’s chief executive, tens of thousands of Turks were also taking to the streets to celebrate Istanbul’s mayoral election, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of the nation’s strongman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The victory that the centre-left Republican People’s Party (CHP) scored with a margin of more than 800,000 votes was a profound indictment of Erdogan. His dictatorial ways and the AKP’s arrogant rhetoric turned off even their most traditional supporters.

Almost identically, in Hong Kong, when Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor took over as the chief executive, she was seen as a fresh breeze. At her first appearance at the Legislative Council, legislators including most opposition members stood up when she entered and left. It was a mark of respect they had denied her predecessor, Leung Chun-ying. But now, protest rallies of unprecedented size calling for her resignation have become common – all due to her ill-thought-out introduction of an unpopular bill.

Despite all their vulnerability, the protesters in the two cities have demonstrated the power of principled democratic dissent. They have behaved with polite courage, confidence and, with a few exceptions, restraint. These qualities have highlighted the power of democracy and its liberal ideals. Coupled with the economic pressures China and Turkey are being subjected to by the administration of US President Donald Trump, the ruling regimes in Beijing and Ankara have no clue how to handle their uncertain political futures, and whether to use the protests and election as a convenient excuse for further oppression. Could Hong Kong and Turkey be entering a dark hell?

In the Greater China area, Taiwan is flexing its democratic independence drive to become a completely free state. Most of Turkey, as well as Northern Cyprus – which is effectively ruled by Ankara – wants to loosen Ankara’s grip.