On June 24, Turkey will vote to elect a president with immensely increased powers that will replace the country’s parliamentary democracy with a strongman. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan designed the position for himself, relying on the loyalty of the nearly 50 percent of voters who have sided with him in past elections.

The usually fractious opposition has come up with a unified strategy to stop his juggernaut. The governing Justice and Development Party, known as the A.K.P., uses the largely cowed and co-opted media to target new enemies and scapegoats for its failures.

What are the chances for political and social unity in a badly fractured nation? Since the failed coup attempt in July 2016, the government has detained, arrested or dismissed from their positions well over 100,000 people. The charge is usually a vaguely defined accusation of “terrorism” that can be based on the flimsiest of evidence or anonymous denunciation by a neighbor, co-worker or even family member.

The A.K.P. and many Turks lay the blame for the attempted coup on Hizmet, a far-reaching, secretive Islamic movement following the cleric Fethullah Gulen that administered an educational, media and commercial empire. Graduates of their schools took up positions in state institutions and for many years cooperated with the A.K.P.