"Enough is Enough!" : political engagement on Twitter in the case of Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul convention

Sammanfattning: This research analyzes the political engagement of Turkish citizens on Twitter, in which underrepresented groups and individuals search for democratic public space to mobilize against injustice. With this in mind, the study focuses on the civic engagement of Turkish citizens on Twitter with the hashtag #istanbulsözleşmesiyaşatır, which translates to‘istanbulconventionsaveslives’. The hashtag is a claim of an online protest against Turkey’s withdrawal from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known better as the Istanbul Convention. This study gains a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of civic engagement, social movements, deliberative democracy, and counter-democracy in the digital age. I apply critical and interpretivism perspectives alongside standpoint theory to comprehend these processes. Building this research project as a case study, I utilize the method of text analysis on Twitter postings with the hashtag #istanbulsözleşmesiyaşatır to analyze the civic engagement at the Istanbul Convention. This case raises questions on how citizens participate in a civic debate on social media about social concerns, and how they reflect on democracy and political authority in this digital space. The finding shows that people's effectiveness and emotional responses were closely related to their social experiences and challenges. It illustrated how protest participation elevated awareness, and brought invisible issues to light. The primary motivation for the protest is the government's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, although it was not the only vulnerable issue that concerned citizens. Their participation provided a space for them to discuss and draw attention to various concerns, including the government's inability to maintain democracy, limit public involvement in decision-making, and protect individual rights and liberties. This highlights the need for citizen engagement as a counter-power in maintaining a functioning democracy, demanding accountability and justice, and fostering a deliberative process. Turkish citizens exhibited urgency, frustration with the present quo, and a desire for change. Furthermore, the protest underlined the importance of social media, notably Twitter, in mobilizing and strengthening civic agency in Turkey in response to the country's leaving the Istanbul Convention.