⚖️ Justice System and Everyday Life in Türkiye
Inflation figures released: TÜİK 29.73 per cent, ENAG 46.61 per cent
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Inflation Research Group (ENAG) published September inflation data. According to TÜİK, consumer prices rose 1.84 per cent month on month and 29.73 per cent year on year, while ENAG’s E-TÜFE showed a monthly rise of 2.10 per cent and an annual rise of 46.61 per cent. Consumer prices are up 24.32 per cent since the start of the year, and the twelve-month average change was 31.49 per cent. Annual increases were 27.62 per cent for food and non-alcoholic beverages, 35.10 per cent for transport and 39.99 per cent for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels. Food prices fell 0.20 per cent in September, while transport rose 2.79 per cent and housing 2.71 per cent. The Domestic Producer Price Index (Yİ-ÜFE) rose 2.07 per cent month on month and 27.38 per cent year on year, up 23.38 per cent since the start of the year and 27.81 per cent on the twelve-month average.
Funds investigation: 217 people subject to proceedings, 85 arrested
The number of suspects subject to judicial proceedings in the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office’s capital markets investigations has risen to 217, and the number arrested to 85. According to an Anadolu Ajansı report of 4 October, 98 people are under judicial control, and 20 more suspects were arrested on 3 October. Prosecutors are examining money and crypto-asset movements since 2024 by executives of the companies under investigation and their first-degree relatives. Financial data, including overseas transfers, has been requested from MASAK (the Financial Crimes Investigation Board), with the aim of establishing whether money or crypto assets were moved through relatives’ accounts. Measures on 45 companies and 19 funds were lifted on 27 September, while asset measures on individuals continue.
Vahap Seçer and two district mayors referred to court
Vahap Seçer, Mayor of Mersin Metropolitan Municipality and head of the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (Türkiye Belediyeler Birliği), was referred to court in the corruption investigation led by the Mersin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Yenişehir Mayor Abdullah Özyiğit and Mezitli Mayor Ahmet Serkan Tuncer were also taken to the courthouse. According to Habertürk, citing ANKA, 59 suspects including the three mayors were detained on 1 October and were taken to court this morning after health checks at Mersin City Hospital. The CHP provincial organisation called for people to gather outside the courthouse in support of the mayors. According to Ekonomim, Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş will travel to Mersin to support Seçer.
Şimşek tasks Inspection Board over former SPK chief
Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has tasked the Inspection Board (Teftiş Kurulu) with a preliminary examination and inquiry into former Capital Markets Board (SPK) chairman İbrahim Ömer Gönül in connection with the funds investigation. According to Anadolu Ajansı, citing ministry sources, prosecutors requested permission to investigate Gönül. Şimşek asked on Friday 2 October for a preliminary examination under the relevant legislation. The assignment was made in connection with the funds investigation being conducted by prosecutors.
SPK: provision protecting Investor Compensation Centre in force since 2012
The Capital Markets Board (SPK) rejected claims that the provision on protecting the assets of the Investor Compensation Centre (Yatırımcı Tazmin Merkezi) was first regulated in July 2026. In a statement of 4 October, the Board said the provision has been in the Capital Markets Law since 30 December 2012. It added that the provision has been in the regulations on the Investor Compensation Centre since 6 June 2013. SPK said reports in some media outlets and on social media accounts suggesting a new regulation had been introduced did not reflect the truth.
Referees investigation: Yasin Kol and Göktuğ Hazar Erel at courthouse
Süper Lig referee Yasin Kol and assistant referee Göktuğ Hazar Erel, detained in the “referees file” investigation in Istanbul, were referred to court. After police procedures and health checks, the two were taken to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. The investigation, run by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Illegal Betting and Sports Crimes Bureau, is looking into allegations against some suspects of ill-treatment (eziyet), forgery of an official document, breach of trust and unlawful acquisition of personal data. Five people, including Central Referee Committee (MHK) chairman Ferhat Gündoğdu, were earlier arrested in the same file, and judicial control was ordered for two suspects.
Antalya hosts 77th International Space Congress
The 77th International Space Congress, hosted by Türkiye for the first time, is being held in Antalya on 5–9 October. The event, at the NEST Convention and Exhibition Centre in Belek, is coordinated by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and hosted by the Türkiye Space Agency and SAHA İstanbul. Türkiye Space Agency President Yusuf Kıraç said thousands of paper submissions were received from 108 countries. According to Kıraç, more than 1,800 came from Türkiye, of which about 700 were accepted. International space companies will present technical products, and the Future Space area, created for the first time at the congress, will feature domestic and foreign start-ups and projects that stood out in technology competitions.
Successive earthquakes in Adana and Osmaniye; AFAD warns on damaged buildings
A series of earthquakes struck Adana and Osmaniye on 4 October. According to TRT Haber, citing AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) data, tremors of magnitude 4.8 and 4.9 in Adana’s Saimbeyli district were followed by two earthquakes of 4.4 and 4.3, and a magnitude 5.2 earthquake was also recorded in the region. AFAD’s preliminary report on the 5.2 earthquake said it occurred at a depth of seven kilometres. The agency stressed that buildings damaged by the earthquake should not be used. According to the report relayed by DHA, the fault responsible will be determined after detailed seismological studies and fieldwork.
Ufuk Korcan: fund outflows as decisive as inflation
Dünya columnist Ufuk Korcan wrote on 5 October that markets are entering the new week with two agenda items: September inflation and the selling pressure created by the funds investigation. He noted that the BIST 100 fell 4.9 per cent last week and 7 per cent over September as a whole. In his assessment, September inflation will be an important indicator ahead of the Central Bank’s interest rate decision on 22 October, and developments in services, food and core inflation could influence market expectations about the size of a rate cut. Korcan linked the positive effect of rate-cut expectations on the stock market to the funds’ liquidity conditions, saying fewer liquidation-driven sales and an end to outflows are among the factors to watch for the strength of any recovery.
Konoha Fest cancelled after attack
Konoha Fest, a Japanese culture, anime and art festival held in Ümraniye, Istanbul, on 3–4 October, was ended early for security reasons after an attack on the event area. According to T24, a group attacked participants with stones, sticks and pepper spray in an area where families and children were present. A scuffle broke out during the intervention by police and security officers, and stands and some event equipment were damaged. The group was later removed from the area. Festival participants and various communities called for the attackers to be identified and for legal action to be taken against them.
HSK deputy chair responds to claims he will become minister
Fuzuli Aydoğdu, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), rejected claims circulating on social media that he would become Justice Minister following a meeting with Erdoğan. In a post, he said the meeting was a courtesy visit held in previous weeks and that there was nothing more to it. Aydoğdu said the content of posts about him was untrue.
🏛️ Politics
Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia’s defence committee meets in Riyadh
The Strategic Political and Defence Committee, set up under the Mecca Agreement for Joint Defence (Ortak Savunma için Mekke Anlaşması), will meet in Riyadh today. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Türkiye will be represented by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Defence Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of the General Staff General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu. Pakistani and Saudi officials will also attend, and the meeting will address recent regional developments and work towards institutionalising the alliance. The committee’s agenda covers coordination of political and defence cooperation among the three countries. The ministry announced on the evening of 4 October that the meeting would be held on 5 October.
Mehmet Ali Güller: parliament’s role in Mecca alliance should be debated
Cumhuriyet columnist Mehmet Ali Güller, ahead of the Riyadh committee meeting, addressed the legal status of the Mecca alliance and Türkiye’s possible military commitments. He argued that the text accessible to the public amounts to a joint declaration and wrote that the agreement should be debated in parliament. He recalled Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM) Numan Kurtulmuş’s statement that no proposal had yet been submitted to parliament. Güller pointed to the constitutional provisions on the ratification of international agreements and to parliament’s oversight role. He said institutionalisation steps have continued since August and that, after meetings in Istanbul, New York and Riyadh, foreign and defence ministers and chiefs of general staff will meet again today.
🤝 Ruling Government (AKP, MHP, CHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)
Serkan Bayram apologises after criticism of Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya
AKP Istanbul MP Serkan Bayram issued an apology on his X account after remarks on NOW TV about Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya and the operations targeting mayors. Bayram said his words had overstepped their intent and cast suspicion on party members. He said he should have voiced his views through internal party mechanisms, and asked forgiveness (helallik) from Erdoğan, the party organisations and those who support the party. He also said it was not appropriate for him to make assessments containing definitive judgements about people and institutions in ongoing legal processes.
September exports reach US$26 billion; nine-month total US$211 billion
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in a post on foreign trade data announced on 3 October, said US$26 billion of exports were made in September, the highest September exports in the history of the Republic. According to the figures he released, exports in the first nine months of the year rose 5.2 per cent on the same period last year to US$211 billion. The total for the last twelve months was US$287.3 billion. Writing on his NSosyal account, Erdoğan said a monthly export record had been broken in five months of 2026 and that the policy prioritising investment, production, exports and employment would continue.
Barış Terkoğlu criticises Cevdet Yılmaz over funds investigation
Cumhuriyet columnist Barış Terkoğlu claimed that companies named in the funds investigation are linked to certain religious groups. Through Pusula Holding owner Serdar Turhan and arrested suspect Uğur Akkafa, he brought up the history of the Nur Mektebi İlim ve Kültür Derneği (Nur Mektebi Science and Culture Association). He wrote that the association, closed after 15 July, was reopened by a decree-law (KHK) dated 7 January 2017, following a letter Hüsnü Bayramoğlu sent to Erdoğan. Terkoğlu criticised Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, whom he said he learned from his sources had been tasked with resolving the funds crisis, for attending the Bediüzzaman Symposium. He argued that the public expects accountability in the investigation.