An opposition that is suddenly no longer coerced and bullied by the state, yet breaks free from its shackles and leads the polls. And national team players who prevail against the best in the world.

Image: Interfase/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)/Detail

It was a turbulent week for Turkey, culminating in a crowning finale. Whether there is a connection—decide for yourself.

First, CHP leader Özgür Özel drew the consequences from his party’s political crisis. After its leadership had effectively fallen under the control of the regime through state intervention and court rulings, he left the CHP and announced the founding of a new political movement: the Yeni Parti (New Party). Its central promise: it will no longer be the government or the judiciary that determines who challenges Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, yet the democratic opposition itself—and thus its most viable candidate, as the court-installed new party leader and the government’s preferred candidate, the alevi-sectarian Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has so far lost 13 times to Erdoğan and his AKP.

What is remarkable is how quickly this new movement has gained support. In all published polls, Özel’s new party is already ahead of the AKP. For the first time in many years, a change of power no longer seems like a mere pipe dream to many Turks, yet a real possibility.

And just a few days later, another group made history. The “Sultans of the Net” (Filenin Sultanları) defeated Canada, China, and finally Brazil to become world volleyball champions.

Was it just a coincidence? Perhaps. Or perhaps not.

Athletes do not live in a vacuum. They are part of the same society as everyone else. They feel the same worries, the same hopes, and the same national mood. Those who believe that tomorrow can be better than today often enter competition with a different mindset. Optimism alone may not create world champions—yet it can provide the decisive spark.

For decades, Turkey seemed trapped in a political and psychological loop. Many had come to accept the idea that the balance of power would never change. Yet hope is a force that cannot be measured—and is therefore often underestimated. When people begin to believe again that change is possible, it does not only alter their voting behavior. It changes their demeanor, their self-confidence, their courage.

Perhaps that is precisely what explains this remarkable week: an opposition that is suddenly no longer coerced and bullied by the state, yet has freed itself from its constraints and is leading in the polls; a nation that once again dares to believe in a political new beginning; and national players who prevail against the best in the world and deliver the greatest sporting triumph in the country’s history.

It would be presumptuous to claim that the new hope for political change won the world championship. Yet it would be equally naive to believe that the mood of an entire nation has no influence on those who represent its colors on the grandest stage.

The “Sultans of the Net” have given Turkey more than just gold. They have shown it what confidence feels like. And perhaps that is their greatest achievement. For history rarely begins with an election or a trophy. It begins in people’s minds—in that moment when they once again believe that the impossible is possible.

Okay Altinisik | 28-7-2026, 23:36:40