A comparative chart circulated by elected İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu has put fresh numbers behind a familiar complaint: that Turkey's standing on rule of law, press freedom and economic stability has eroded sharply over the past ten years. Drawing on figures from TÜİK and several international monitoring organizations, the chart sets 2015-2016 benchmarks against 2026 data across four broad categories - economy, justice, democratic rights and corruption perception.
İmamoğlu shared the comparison with a pointed caption: "This is the ruling power's ten-year report card! You can't govern... Get off the nation's back already!" The chart's appeal lies in its simplicity - it does not rely on rhetoric but on figures drawn from recognized international indices, the kind of data that citizens increasingly track themselves as concerns about inflation, judicial independence and digital surveillance converge. For many Turkish internet users already relying on a family vpn plan to shield household browsing from monitoring or throttling, the inclusion of internet freedom scores in the chart will resonate directly with lived experience rather than abstract statistics. family vpn plan
Inflation and Everyday Life
The economic section leans on TÜİK's Consumer Price Index. Annual inflation, measured at 8.81 percent in the 2015-2016 period, is recorded at 30.89 percent for 2026 in the chart. For households, this single figure translates into a decade of eroding purchasing power - rent, groceries and transport costs climbing faster than wages for a sustained stretch, a pattern that has shaped public sentiment well beyond any single election cycle.
Justice System Under Strain
The World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index shows Turkey falling from 80th among 102 countries in 2015-2016 to 118th among 143 countries in the 2026 edition. Within the same index, Turkey's ranking in the fundamental rights category dropped from 96th to 134th, while its criminal justice standing slipped from 79th to 106th. These indices assess factors such as judicial independence, due process guarantees, and accountability of government officials - areas where declines tend to compound over time, affecting everything from business confidence to individual legal protections.
Shrinking Space for Rights and Expression
Freedom House's Freedom in the World score for Turkey fell from 53 to 32 out of 100 across the compared periods. Its companion measure, Freedom on the Net, dropped from 61 to 31, reflecting tightening controls over online expression, content removal requests and platform restrictions. Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom Index placed Turkey 149th among 180 countries in 2015-2016; by 2026 it ranks 163rd. Together these indices track a narrowing of civic space - not just formal censorship, but the everyday caution journalists, activists and ordinary users now exercise online.
Corruption Perception Follows the Same Pattern
Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index gives Turkey a score of 31 out of 100 in the 2026 data, down from 42 in 2015-2016. Its global ranking fell from 66th among 168 countries to 124th among 182. Taken together with the justice and freedom metrics, the chart suggests a self-reinforcing cycle: weaker institutional oversight correlates with both perceived corruption and diminished press scrutiny, each limiting the other's corrective function. Whether this comparison becomes a lasting reference point in Turkey's political debate or fades with the next data cycle, it has already reframed the conversation around governance in explicitly measurable terms.