⚖️ Justice System and Everyday Life in Türkiye
Heatwave across the country: thermometers to hit 43 degrees
A heatwave is set to persist across Turkey, according to the latest forecasts from the General Directorate of Meteorology, with no significant change in temperatures expected. Readings will hover around seasonal norms in most areas but rise above them in places in the south and east. The day’s highest temperatures are expected in south-eastern Anatolia, with thermometers forecast to reach 43 degrees in Şanlıurfa, 42 in Diyarbakır and 41 in Siirt, alongside 39 degrees in Malatya and Denizli, 38 in Mardin, and 37 in İzmir, Manisa and Muğla. Summer heat will also continue in the major cities, with 32 degrees expected in Istanbul, 34 in Ankara and Bursa, 33 in Antalya and 35 in Adana. In the north, meanwhile, partly to heavily cloudy weather is expected, with local showers and thunderstorms around Rize, Artvin and Ardahan, the inland parts of Sinop, Samsun, Giresun and Trabzon, and the Taurus Mountains, while most of the country will see clear to slightly cloudy skies.
Extortion under the name of ‘street rights’: gang shot up premises of those who refused to pay
Simultaneous operations have been carried out in Istanbul, Antalya and Yalova against a criminal organisation found to have extorted businesspeople under the name of “street rights” and to have been involved in 16 separate armed incidents, with 23 people detained. In the investigation by the Istanbul Anatolia Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Bureau, the suspects were found to have committed offences including establishing an organisation for the purpose of committing crime, aggravated robbery, damaging property, attempted murder and violating the firearms law. Technical surveillance and security camera footage established that the suspects called and messaged businesspeople across Istanbul from foreign mobile lines demanding money as “street rights”, and that they shot at and tried to burn down the premises of those who refused to pay, looted businesses and attempted to kill some of the victims. The operation targeted 31 of a total of 36 people found to have been involved in the 16 incidents, five of whom were already in custody; 23 were detained in the raids, while efforts to catch eight suspects still at large are continuing.
🏛️ Politics
President Erdoğan holds talks with Bin Salman
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has held a telephone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to a statement from the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, the call addressed bilateral relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia as well as regional and global issues. Erdoğan expressed Turkey’s sorrow over attacks directed at Saudi Arabia and said the country was working towards the establishment of lasting peace and the prevalence of calm and stability in the region. He added that Israel’s strict adherence to the road map for the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan was essential to the plan’s success, and that Turkey was following developments very closely.
AKP holds framework law talks in parliament: Güler meets DEM delegation, then MHP’s Yıldız
AKP group chair Abdullah Güler and deputy group chair Abdulhamit Gül have held final consultations on the draft framework law with the legal representatives of political parties before it is submitted to the parliamentary speaker’s office. The AKP has opened the bill for its MPs to sign, asking all of them to sign in full by 5pm tomorrow, and Güler met representatives of every party with a group in parliament to brief them on its content, on the understanding that the draft text itself would not be shared. HÜDA PAR’s Şehzade Demir and Serkan Ramanlı came first, saying afterwards that they had been briefed and would share the information with their leader Fatih Erbakan and the party’s relevant bodies. A DEM Party group — including deputy co-chair Öztürk Türkdoğan, İmralı delegation member and Asrın Law Office lawyer Faik Özgür Erol, and MPs Meral Danış Beştaş and Nevroz Uysal Aslan — then held roughly two and a half hours of final talks, after which the delegation did not take questions, with Danış Beştaş remarking only that everything was in the press anyway; MHP deputy chair for legal affairs Feti Yıldız followed. The bill, planned to run to 10–12 articles, is expected to be submitted on Wednesday, with the aim of taking it through the Justice Committee and the General Assembly this week without waiting for the usual two-day period, and an advisory board meeting tomorrow is to seek agreement with the other parties. Debate continues over “probation” (”denetimli serbestlik”) and the “deprivation of rights” under Article 53 of the Turkish Penal Code: AKP officials stressed the two are separate concepts, said probation is already provided for in law as a matter of right and so not open to dispute, and indicated that work is ongoing on how and for what periods the deprivation of rights under Article 53 would apply to those already convicted, noting that the restoration of forfeited rights can currently be sought three years after the completion of a sentence and that a regulation on these periods would be made.
Interior Minister Çiftçi sets a date: new-generation crime organisations to be rendered unable to act by year’s end
Turkey’s Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi has said that a large proportion of what he variously called drug gangs, new-generation crime organisations, criminal gangs or “street bandits” will be rendered unable to carry out attacks by the end of the year. Speaking at an event in Istanbul organised by the Eurasia Strategic Research Foundation (ASAV) and attended by the Northern Cyprus transport minister Erhan Arıklı, Çiftçi said the Interior Ministry touched citizens’ lives at every turn, and that on taking office he had set two main goals: combating new-generation organised crime and drugs. He said an increase in operations, together with the determined efforts of the police, gendarmerie, courts and Justice Ministry, had significantly reduced the number of such groups, putting the number operating nationally at 11, most of which had been dismantled. Recounting a wide-ranging operation against one such organisation in Adana in April, in which around 300 suspects were arrested, Çiftçi said the group had been completely dismantled and that three people it had sent to Adana to carry out a revenge attack on a public institution had themselves been targeted in an operation, asking rhetorically who could measure up against the state and predicting the same fate for the others by year’s end. He noted that some of these organisations operated alongside foreign intelligence services, which used them for various actions, and that they also targeted citizens abroad — shooting at businesses and burning vehicles — vowing that the fight would continue wherever they were, at home and abroad.
Turkey, Qatar and Egypt condemn Israel
Turkey, Qatar and Egypt have issued a joint statement as mediating countries strongly condemning Israeli violations in Gaza that they say are causing civilian casualties and constitute a clear breach of international law. The three countries denounced continuing violations in the Gaza Strip — particularly those targeting health facilities and medical infrastructure and causing civilian casualties, including women and children — as a clear breach of both international law and international humanitarian law. Noting that the persistence of such violations, coming after Hamas and Palestinian groups had declared their acceptance of the road map and in particular its provision on limiting weapons, breached the agreement and undermined efforts to implement its second phase, the mediators stressed that Israel must comply with all its obligations under international law and fully meet its commitments under the ceasefire agreement. They warned that the violations threatened the de-escalation process and further aggravated the plight of civilians in Gaza, and reiterated their calls for the full protection of civilians, health facilities and humanitarian personnel and for the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid and medical supplies throughout the strip. Calling on the international community to take responsibility and apply the necessary pressure for Israel to fulfil its obligations so as to complete US President Donald Trump’s peace plan — which Trump had described as a “historic agreement” in reaching consensus on the second-phase road map — the mediators said efforts towards a lasting ceasefire and a sustainable de-escalation must not be derailed.
Minister Gürlek announces citizenship of 687 people to be revoked
Turkey’s Justice Minister Akın Gürlek has announced an operation against a criminal organisation accused of obtaining Turkish citizenship for foreign nationals by using fake appraisal reports to present low-value properties as high-value ones. According to the allegations in the İstanbul-based investigation, coordinated by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Organised Crime Investigation Bureau, cheap real estate was made to appear valuable through fraudulent appraisals, and collusive sale transactions over these properties were used to secure Turkish citizenship for foreign nationals. Investigators determined that around 2.5 billion lira that should have entered the country was not brought in, that false money movements were created, and that 687 foreign nationals gained citizenship by this method. Detention orders were issued for 90 suspects, and 72 were caught in operations across 16 provinces centred on İstanbul. Trustees were appointed to seven companies, and 1,045 properties, a hotel in Bodrum, 15 vehicles, a yacht and 10 bank accounts were seized. Gürlek said work had begun to revoke the Turkish citizenship of those found to have obtained it improperly, congratulated the prosecutor’s office and police units involved, and pledged that all the means of the law would be used against structures that harm the state, abuse citizenship law and secure unjust gains.
All eyes on the Supreme Military Council meeting: number of generals and admirals may rise, force command changes on the agenda
The Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) has convened under the chairmanship of President and AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, having first visited Atatürk’s mausoleum at Anıtkabir, to take decisions on promotions, appointments, retirements and extensions of service within the Turkish Armed Forces. The number of generals and admirals, which fell below 200 following dismissals after the 15 July coup attempt, is expected to be raised above 230 this year, according to a report in the Türkiye newspaper. The meeting at the Presidential Complex was attended by council members including Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, National Education Minister Yusuf Tekin, National Defence Minister Yaşar Güler, Chief of General Staff General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, Air Forces Commander General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu and Land Forces Commander General Metin Tokel. The council will consider the files of colonels being promoted to general or admiral rank and of generals and admirals rising a further rank, determine which personnel are to be retired owing to a lack of posts or age limits, and is expected to weigh possible changes of assignment within the force commands. The decisions will be made public after Erdoğan’s approval.
MİT chief Kalın meets Hamas political bureau head Hayye
The head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MİT), İbrahim Kalın, has met the head of Hamas’s political bureau, Khalil al-Hayye, and his accompanying delegation in Istanbul. According to information obtained, the meeting touched on the road map prepared for the transition to the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan, with Hamas’s positive approach to it underlined. Concern was voiced that Israel, rather than responding to the road map, had stepped up its attacks on Gaza, and it was stressed that the international community needed to act to halt Israeli aggression without delay. The talks also covered Israel’s continued violation of the Palestinian people’s rights in the West Bank and Jerusalem, drawing attention to ongoing illegal settlement activity and a sharp rise in settler violence, as well as the humanitarian situation in Gaza, with Turkey reaffirming that it stood by Gaza in both the political process and the improvement of humanitarian aid. Turkey’s efforts to mobilise the international community to end Israel’s killings in Gaza, prevent violations of Palestinian rights in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and increase humanitarian aid were highlighted, along with the joint efforts of Turkey, Qatar and Egypt to secure peace in Gaza. The Hamas delegation conveyed its thanks to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for Turkey’s efforts to date.
First Turkish school in Syria to teach from nursery to university level
Pre-registration has begun for the first international Turkish school to be established in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which is to provide education from nursery level upwards. Turkey’s Embassy in Syria announced that work on opening the Damascus International Turkish School was continuing, with the school planned to cover all levels of education from nursery to the final year of high school, and that pre-registration had been opened to determine the school’s capacity, gauge student demand and plan classes. The pre-registration form asks about the student’s nationality — with options for Turkish citizen, Syrian citizen, dual citizen and other — as well as whether the student speaks Turkish, whether they have studied in Turkey, and their parents’ occupations, while noting that pre-registration does not amount to definitive enrolment. Turkey’s ambassador to Damascus, Nuh Yılmaz, thanked the Syrian foreign and national education ministries for their support. According to the Ministry of National Education’s 2025 activity report, Turkey has 65 such schools across 13 countries — most of them to its east, predominantly in Saudi Arabia, and to the west in Moldova, Romania and Belgium — while the more informal Turkey Maarif Foundation carries out educational activities in 66 countries. Through such schools, the article notes, countries aim both to secure continuity of education for their own citizens and, through cultural diplomacy, to build a long-term sphere of soft power in the regions where they operate.
Photographer Bennu Gerede detained
Photographer Bennu Gerede has been detained as part of an investigation opened on a charge of “obscenity”. The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had launched an ex officio investigation into Gerede under Article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code, over remarks she made on a YouTube programme about a necklace she wore around her neck, which she described as a “portable vibrator”, and had issued a detention order. A request has also been made to block access to the YouTube channel on which she appeared, so that the video subject to the investigation will not be viewable from Turkey.
Cumhuriyet columnist Ağırel: IQ Money indictment lays bare a wide-ranging scandal
Cumhuriyet columnist Murat Ağırel has written that the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against IQ Money Ödeme Hizmetleri ve Elektronik Para AŞ, though it looks at first glance like an illegal betting operation, exposes a broad scandal stretching from the company’s capital structure and licensing process through bank audits to money flows running into hundreds of billions of lira. According to Ağırel, the indictment alleges that the start-up capital required to operate as a payment institution was not in fact paid in full at once: although KPMG and sworn financial adviser reports stated that the sole shareholder Ferkan Çelik had paid the capital in cash and in full — on which basis the Central Bank granted an operating licence — the Central Bank’s audit report and bank records indicated the 6 million lira shown as capital was deposited and withdrawn in successive amounts under 1.5 million lira, with no balance even remaining in the account by 28 November 2019. He wrote that, contrary to official documents crediting the entire capital to Çelik, bank records showed 3.3 million lira had been paid by Nuran Duran and Mustafa Duran — in effect hidden partners — and that a similar cycle recurred in 2021, making what the indictment calls “capital collusion” systematic. Ağırel also noted that, despite a written declaration to the Central Bank that there was no link between Mustafa Duran and the company, Duran was appointed chairman of the board around a year and eight months later, that documents to verify a “London School of Economics” education on his résumé could not be produced, and that banks including Ziraat, Akbank, Şekerbank, QNB and VakıfBank had ended their commercial relationships with the firm on similar grounds — features, he wrote, of what international literature calls a “shell merchant”. The indictment further alleges, according to Ağırel, that money continued to flow through the company even after its operating licence was revoked, with a transaction volume of around 124 billion lira identified across just 23 people and companies examined, a figure said to exceed 155 billion lira once certain e-commerce companies are included.
🤝Ruling Government (AKP, MHP, CHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)
Devlet Bahçeli signs framework law proposal
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli has signed the framework law proposal drawn up as part of the PKK’s dissolution process, which is to be titled “Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration” and is aimed to be submitted to the Grand National Assembly this week. The proposal was signed alongside Bahçeli by MHP deputy leader Feti Yıldız, deputy parliamentary speaker and MHP Istanbul MP Celal Adan, and MHP deputy group chairs Erkan Akçay and Filiz Kılıç, with the party’s other MPs expected to add their signatures during the day. The framework law had been opened for signature by the AKP group the previous day, on 3 August, and it is hoped it will be submitted to the parliamentary speaker’s office with the joint signatures of political parties.
Bakırhan on the framework law: the threshold of a new era
DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan has described the framework law expected to be submitted to parliament this week as the threshold of a new era that will replace weapons with politics and conflict with law, urging that it be turned into the beginning of a democratic journey. Speaking at his party’s weekly parliamentary group meeting, Bakırhan argued that a Turkey that does not resolve its own Kurdish question through democratic means and negotiation cannot offer lasting peace and stability in the Middle East — and would not be believed if it tried — and said the country now had a chance to play a shaping rather than a watching role as a new order takes form in the region. Calling Kurds one of the most critical forces in the twenty-first-century Middle East and an ancient people who see the region as their home, he said Turkey should regard a strategic relationship with them as a great democratic opportunity rather than sacrificing it to “Kurdophobia” and security reflexes, and should trust in the thousand-year horizon of Turkish-Kurdish relations. Turning to the bill, to be submitted under the title “Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration”, Bakırhan acknowledged that a single piece of legislation could not lift the entire political and social burden of a century-old problem in a day, but said it would carry the matter from the ground of violence to that of politics and law and open the door to a period in which obstacles before democratic politics would be removed. He said the will shown by Bahçeli on 22 October, the peace perspective drawn by Öcalan on 27 February, Erdoğan’s will and the opposition’s support offered Turkey a chance to break a century-long vicious cycle that might not easily come again, and — recalling his delegation’s positive meeting with Öcalan on İmralı and Öcalan’s remark that a thousand-kilometre road begins with a single step — said it was now time to bind these historic steps in law.
Name of the ‘framework law’ proposal revealed
The name of the “framework law” proposal relating to the PKK’s dissolution process, which it is hoped will be submitted to the Grand National Assembly with joint signatures, has become clear: it is to be titled “Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration”. The aim is to submit the regulation to the parliamentary speaker’s office with the joint signatures of the political parties, though if the groups do not sign jointly, there is a possibility it will be submitted with the signatures of the AKP and MHP groups alone. The proposal is expected to be submitted to parliament this week and then to come before the Justice Committee and the General Assembly. It was opened for MPs’ signatures in the AKP group the previous day, on 3 August, with the group leadership asking that it be signed by 5pm today, 4 August, and the AKP is to hold contacts with political parties and give a preliminary briefing before it is submitted. The report also recalls that the DEM Party’s İmralı delegation had, following their meeting with Abdullah Öcalan on Sunday 2 August, shared his note that Turkey stood at the start of a democratisation process that would be no less important than the founding of the Republic.
Framework law summit in parliament: MHP’s Feti Yıldız says ‘We’re agreed, no hitches’
Attention in the AK Party’s work on the framework law in parliament has turned to its People’s Alliance partner, the MHP, after the party’s deputy leader for legal affairs, Feti Yıldız, said “We’re agreed, there are no hitches” on the issues of deprivation of rights and probation. AK Party group chair Abdullah Güler and deputy group chair Abdulhamit Gül met representatives of political parties over the draft framework law, first the HÜDA PAR and DEM Party delegations and then Yıldız. After roughly an hour of talks with Güler, Yıldız gave that reply when journalists asked whether the bill would be issued with joint signatures and whether agreement had been reached on the “deprivation of rights” and “probation” questions.
I’ll note that this article touches on veterans continuing a hunger strike with distressing rhetoric (”either you’ll kill us...”); I’ve reported it factually as the news account presents it.
Veterans on vigil in Güvenpark reject AKP’s bill as insufficient: ‘Either you’ll kill us...’
Veterans who have kept a 22-day vigil in Ankara’s Güvenpark and began a hunger strike yesterday morning have rejected as insufficient the bill on the rights of the fallen soldiers’ families and veterans that the AK Party announced it had submitted to the parliamentary speaker’s office. Announcing the bill at a late-evening press conference alongside National Defence Committee chair Hulusi Akar, AKP deputy group chair Abdulhamit Gül said the People’s Alliance measure — the product of two years’ work — aimed to address the problems of military personnel including conscripts, intelligence and police staff, security guards and military students, setting out provisions on a minimum income guarantee for the parents of the fallen, monthly payments and “veteran” status for those wounded but not classed as disabled, enhanced home-care support, and an increase in the retirement age limit for the disabled from 41 to 55. Speaking for the veterans, Er Şehit and Veterans Platform spokesman Erdem Çerçioğlu said the bill met none of their demands, insisting they sought equivalent personal rights rather than money or pay rises, and voicing unease that granting “veteran” status under Law No. 1005 — which applies to those who fought another state, as with Cyprus and Korea veterans — might indirectly amount to recognising a terrorist organisation as a state. Declaring “either you’ll kill us, or you’ll give us our rights”, Çerçioğlu said the group, including severely disabled members, was continuing its hunger strike on only tea and water and would not leave the square. He also rejected claims of representation in parliament, saying a man some outlets had identified as the platform’s president had no connection to it and did not represent them, and that neither he nor those keeping vigil had been invited to parliament. The article adds that Özgür Özel and MPs of the newly formed YENİ Party submitted two separate bills of their own, proposing improvements to payments for the parents of the fallen, equivalent-salary rights for the families of fallen conscripts and for veterans, bonuses on commemorative days, and the re-establishment of the Gülhane Military Medical Academy (GATA).
If you or someone you know is struggling, this is a heavy topic — and if any of it touches your own situation, I’m happy to help you find appropriate support resources.
Şamil Tayyar’s striking message on Tahir Sarıkaya: ‘If he talks, there’ll be an earthquake in the media’
Beyaz TV presenter and journalist Tahir Sarıkaya has been detained as part of the “Cem Küçük” investigation conducted by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Following his detention, former AK Party MP Şamil Tayyar posted a striking message on social media, writing that Sarıkaya had been detained and that if he talked there would be “an earthquake in the media” — adding that it would be no bad thing.
🗳️ Opposition Parties (Özgür Özel’s New Party and others)
Yeni Party’s minimum wage move: raise net pay to 45,800 lira, with Treasury bearing the premium burden
The Yeni Party has submitted a bill to parliament proposing that the net minimum wage — set at 28,075 lira for 2026 — be raised to 45,800 lira from 1 August to the end of the year, with part of the social security premiums to be met by the Treasury to ease the burden of the increase on employers. Signed by party leader Özgür Özel and deputy group chairs Murat Emir, Gökhan Günaydın and Ali Mahir Başarır, the bill was assigned to the Plan and Budget Committee as its main committee. Its justification argues that the current net minimum wage falls below the 36,940 lira hunger threshold for a family of four, and that cumulative inflation of 19.86 per cent over the first seven months of the year has rapidly eroded workers’ purchasing power; it proposes a net wage of 45,800 lira and a gross daily wage of 1,775.91 lira for the 1 August–31 December 2026 period. To prevent job losses, the bill provides for tiered premium support graded by workforce size — daily amounts of 393.36 lira for businesses with 1–10 employees, 321.62 lira for those with 11–50, and 250.05 lira for those with more than 51, with a flat 393.36 lira for the textile, clothing and leather sectors regardless of size — all to be met by the Treasury over August to December. The bill’s justification estimates an additional public cost of around 1.63 trillion lira, while arguing that the rise would stimulate domestic demand and production, increase registered employment and generate roughly 1 trillion lira in extra public revenue, with the changes taking effect from 1 August 2026 if passed.
Lawyers for detained Beylikdüzü mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık apply to Constitutional Court
Lawyers for the detained Beylikdüzü mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık have made an individual application to the Constitutional Court, arguing that their client’s roughly 500-day detention violates his right to personal liberty and security under Article 19 of the Constitution. In a social media statement announcing the application, Çalık’s lawyer Melih Koçkan said the long-running detention lacked legal basis, that decisions to continue it did not contain sufficient and concrete grounds, and that no individualised assessment specific to Çalık had been made. The lawyers contended that decisions to continue detention had been issued for all the detained defendants in similar and general terms, that uncertainties remained over the charges, and that detention reviews had not been subject to effective judicial oversight. They also argued that, although Çalık was held on a single charge that does not fall among the “catalogue” offences listed in the third paragraph of Article 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, his detention had nonetheless been continued in breach of the principle of proportionality. The statement stressed that this application is separate from an earlier individual application concerning Çalık’s health and right to life, which remains under examination before the Constitutional Court, and called for the long detention to be assessed under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights and for the application to be examined as a matter of urgency.
Operation targets Menderes Municipality in İzmir: mayor İlkay Çiçek detained
An operation was carried out early in the morning against Menderes Municipality in İzmir as part of an investigation coordinated by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, with detention orders issued for 16 people including mayor İlkay Çiçek, of whom 13 have been caught. According to information obtained, efforts to catch the remaining three suspects are continuing, and the investigation is being pursued on charges including establishing an organisation for the purpose of committing crime, membership of such an organisation, bribery, extortion, forgery of official documents, abuse of office and causing zoning pollution. Those subject to detention orders are said to include, alongside the mayor, deputy mayors Mesut Taşdemir and Rüzgar Sönmez, the zoning and urbanisation director İbrahim Yalçın, the plan and project director Durmuş Baran, the building control director Ömer Er Yılmaz and the acting plan and project director Burak Uçak, as well as some municipal council members and members of the public. Çiçek’s home was searched during the operation, gendarmerie teams continued gathering evidence at the municipality building, and extensive security measures were taken around it. The report notes that this is the fourth operation targeting mayors in the city, following recent operations against the Buca, Seferihisar and Güzelbahçe municipalities. It adds that allegations concerning certain WhatsApp messages made public in recent months had previously come to the fore regarding Çiçek, who had denied the messages were his and claimed the content had been generated by artificial intelligence.
Erdal Beşikçioğlu suspended from office
The Interior Ministry has suspended Etimesgut mayor Erdal Beşikçioğlu from office as an interim measure following his arrest as part of an investigation into him. In its statement, the ministry noted that Beşikçioğlu was under investigation on charges of establishing an organisation for the purpose of committing crime, rigging the performance of contracts, rigging public tenders, and extortion, embezzlement and taking bribes through coercion. Stating that he had been arrested by decision of the Ankara West 2nd Magistrate’s Court the previous day, the ministry said he had been suspended by the Interior Ministry as a temporary measure under Article 127 of the Constitution and Article 47 of Municipal Law No. 5393.
Nasuh Mahruki, detained over 15 July post: inferring ‘theatre’ from my words is bad-faith reading and slander
Nasuh Mahruki, the former head of the AKUT search and rescue association who was detained over a social media post about the 15 July coup attempt, has said that inferring from his words that he called the attempt “theatre” amounts to a bad-faith reading and slander. According to Cumhuriyet’s Çağdaş Bayraktar, Mahruki — detained on 17 July on a charge of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility or denigration” — described the prison conditions he faced, saying he spent his first three days in a temporary ward built for 12 but holding 25, where he counted more than 200 bedbug bites on his body, before being moved to a 48-capacity ward holding around 55 where conditions were good. Recalling that he is the grandson of a fallen soldier, Mahruki said the prosecution’s statement that he had called the coup attempt “theatre” was an insult, given that more than 250 citizens were killed in the uprising. He said he had argued — and was not alone in doing so — that measures could have been taken earlier against the terrorist organisation behind the attempt, and that to infer the word “theatre” from this was a bad-faith reading and slander; he said he wanted to believe there were judges in Istanbul and Ankara and that he would emerge with his honour intact. An indictment against him seeks up to four years and six months in prison.