The jets of FETÖ coup plotters seemed fixated on the Istanbul Police Headquarters, descending only to ascend again over the Marmara without dropping their bombs amid the ground fire. They repeated this back-and-forth until dawn. The loud prayer calls broadcast from the minarets of Fatih’s famous mosques, each with their sect and religious affiliations, eventually created a discordant harmony akin to a multi-voiced orchestra.

As television broadcasts shared updates from across the country, it became evident that the coup, heavily influenced by American elements, had failed. Following the jet flights and the intermittent sounds of gunfire from the police headquarters, I made one last call to Aydın Engin at the newspaper. When I asked, "Is it over?" he responded, "It's over, we've sent the pages to print." Though I wasn’t entirely sure how relieved I should be, I remember feeling like we had narrowly escaped another blow to our country.

In the following years, I couldn’t have predicted the prolonged period of civilian authoritarianism and the significant loss of rights. Historically, military coups are said to have ten-year cycles with severe, albeit brief, impacts. Yet, civilian authoritarian regimes, with equally painful average ten-year cycles, have left deep scars. We have experienced these cycles with the Democratic Party, the Demirel years, and Özalism. President Erdoğan's alliance with Fethullah Gülen also extended a form of civilian authoritarianism for a slightly longer period.

In 2014, Erdoğan, in coalition with Gülen, imposed an unprecedented model of authoritarianism through a referendum, ironically claimed to be borrowed from America but starkly opposed to American democratic values. Since that night, eight more years have passed, and Erdoğan's single-man rule has entrenched itself deeply. The resulting authoritarian practices have trampled on rights and laws, with corruption breeding further corruption.

The rapid decline in all aspects of life in our country is clear from the accumulating data, making it increasingly difficult to perceive the inevitable outcomes. As the cadres of the single-man regime master the art of marketing these inevitable results, we face new challenges daily. Regardless of the severity of the hardships, the game continues as long as it can be played, with the promise that enduring more pain will lead us to a way out.

If we submit and endure, this infinitely corrupt system will only grow. The continuation of the regime's reign, benefiting from this corruption through relentless pressure and threats, shows new instances of rights being trampled. This unbearable, corrupt system will either persist or be challenged by the growing alliances of those awakening to reality. Can life be lived without taking a breath?