Weather in Türkiye❄️🌧️
❄️🚗🌫️ White-Out on Kop Mountain Pass Leaves Drivers Going Nowhere Fast
Severe snowfall and blizzard conditions brought traffic to a near standstill on the Kop Mountain Pass, the key route linking Bayburt and Erzurum, as visibility dropped to almost zero and roads turned treacherously icy. Heavy goods vehicles were among the first to give up the struggle, with numerous cars left stranded and unable to move. Local residents stepped in where they could, hauling snowbound vehicles free with ropes, while others waited it out in less heroic fashion. The result was disruption both day and night—a familiar winter reminder that in eastern Anatolia, the weather still very much has the final say.
Politics
🕯️🔥🏔️ Kartalkaya Remembers Its Dead
One year on from the devastating fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, where 78 people—34 of them children—lost their lives, families say their grief remains as raw as ever. Survivors and relatives gathered not only to remember, but to warn: alarms failed, escape routes were inadequate, inspections were wanting, and lives were lost in minutes that should never have been so unforgiving. Although the hotel owner and staff have received severe prison sentences, legal proceedings concerning public officials are still unfinished, prompting anger as well as sorrow. For families who clung to one another to survive the past year, the demand is stark and unchanged: enforce inspections, tolerate no negligence, and ensure that no holiday destination ever again turns into a death trap.
🏚️⚖️🕯️ Justice, at Last: Verdict Reached in the İsias Hotel Case
The court has delivered its long-awaited ruling in the İsias Hotel trial, where 72 people lost their lives during the 6 February earthquakes. Adıyaman’s 1st High Criminal Court sentenced three former municipal officials to 10 years in prison each for causing multiple deaths and injuries through conscious negligence, while imposing travel bans pending appeal. Other defendants were acquitted. The case centred on a building riddled with unlawful alterations, poor materials and ignored regulations—failings that turned the hotel into a grave. For the families of the victims, including young athletes from Northern Cyprus, the verdict offers a measure of accountability, though the wider reckoning over how such buildings were ever allowed to stand remains painfully unresolved.
🌍✈️ 19 Turkish Ambassadors Reassigned
Turkey’s foreign service has undergone a tidy reshuffle, with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan formally informing 19 ambassadors of their new postings across Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and key international missions. The appointments stretch from Budapest to Bogotá and from Stockholm to San Salvador, alongside permanent representations to UNESCO and the UN Office in Vienna. Drawn largely from senior ranks of the Foreign Ministry—consular affairs, public diplomacy, protocol and regional directorates—the moves suggest continuity with a light touch of renewal. Passports will be refreshed, receptions politely endured, and Turkey’s diplomatic presence subtly recalibrated, all in a day’s work for Ankara’s global corps.
💸🏗️🕌 A Billion for the Pulpit: Diyanet’s Ordu Project Gathers Pace
At a time when households are being advised to make peace with evening market leftovers, Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs appears to be shopping on an altogether different scale. The Diyanet Religious High Specialisation Centre in Ordu, launched in 2024, has seen its total project cost revised to a tidy ₺1 billion, with ₺350 million earmarked for spending in 2026 alone. Built over 20,000 square metres and scheduled for completion in 2027, the facility has already absorbed ₺100 million across 2024 and 2025, with considerably more to come. Critics note the contrast is hard to miss: as the cost-of-living crisis deepens, Diyanet’s budget continues to swell—rising from ₺91.8 billion in 2024 to over ₺130 billion in 2025—suggesting that fiscal restraint, much like modest architecture, is not currently part of the design brief.
🕯️🖤🕊️ Nineteen Years On, the Same Pavement, the Same Demand
Hrant Dink was commemorated on the 19th anniversary of his murder outside the Sebat Apartment in Şişli, the spot where he was shot dead in 2007, in a ceremony marked by quiet resolve rather than ceremony. As in every year since, citizens gathered under the familiar call of “In defiance of fascism, you are our brother, Hrant,” reading letters sent from prison by politicians and civil society figures and renewing the call for justice. Speakers stressed that neither bullets nor imprisonment had extinguished the demand for accountability, with Agos journalist Leda Özber underlining that journalism is not a crime and that the struggle for justice, dignity and coexistence would not be abandoned. Nineteen years on, the location has not changed—and neither, pointedly, has the demand.
Ruling Government (JDP)
🌍🕊️🏛️ Erdoğan Draws the Line: “Syria Belongs to Syrians”
Following a two-and-a-half-hour Cabinet meeting in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a firm and carefully calibrated message on both domestic unity and regional stability. Stressing that division—whether along political, ethnic or sectarian lines—has “never been in Turkey’s book,” Erdoğan reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to equal treatment for all citizens while turning pointedly to Syria. Turkey, he said, would not tolerate any attempt to sabotage Syria’s territorial integrity or peace process, insisting that a unified, sovereign Syria is indispensable to regional prosperity. Emphasising inclusivity—Arab, Turkmen, Kurdish, Sunni, Alawite and Druze alike—Erdoğan declared that the era of terrorism in the region is over, backing the Syrian army’s conduct and pledging continued Turkish support in the fight against terror. The conclusion was unmistakable, and repeated for emphasis: Syria belongs to Syrians, and any alternative calculations would be ill-advised at best.
🗳️👀🏛️ After Erdoğan, What Next? AKP Whispers Stir Unease
Talk in AKP corridors has turned decidedly forward-looking, with growing speculation that President Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan, is being quietly positioned for a post-Erdoğan era—an idea that appears to be landing badly within the party. According to party insiders, the increasingly audible mention of Bilal Erdoğan has triggered uneasy debates over political inheritance and merit, unsettling long-serving figures who see this as a strain on the party’s internal balance. The discomfort is said to extend beyond senior ranks to provincial and district organisations, where perceptions of a family-centred succession plan are dampening morale and raising awkward questions about tradition and legitimacy. For a party that has long prided itself on grassroots competition and organisational discipline, the suggestion of dynastic choreography is proving controversial—and, judging by the murmurs, unlikely to fade quietly from the agenda anytime soon.
💸🚓🎪 Every Step Comes at a Price: Millions Spent on Erdoğan’s Hatay Visit
President Erdoğan’s late-December visit to Hatay appears to have come with a bill running comfortably into the millions, according to disclosed public spending. Ahead of the 27 December event showcasing newly completed post-earthquake housing, unfinished buildings were discreetly screened from view, routes were dressed for the occasion, and the city briefly took on the air of a carefully managed set. More than 1,100 police officers were transported in from 13 districts, security barriers were hauled in from neighbouring provinces, and vast quantities of food and raincoats were procured. Itemised figures include ₺7 million for catering, ₺760,000 for rain ponchos, and additional costs for police transport and security logistics—much of it via direct procurement. The optics were polished, the message was grand, and the price tag, as ever, was borne by the public purse.
Opposition (RPP and others)
🟣🟢📍 DEM Party Takes Parliament to the Border
In a gesture heavy on symbolism, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party has opted to hold its parliamentary group meeting not in Ankara, but on the Nusaybin–Qamishli border, citing attacks by HTS-linked groups in northern and eastern Syria. Co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan are set to lead the meeting at 1pm, turning the frontier into a political stage and underlining the party’s message of cross-border solidarity. It is, to put it mildly, an unconventional venue for a routine group gathering—though clearly the point is precisely that nothing about the moment, or the location, is meant to feel routine.
📣🗳️📍 CHP Names Its Next Rally Stop
Turkey’s main opposition CHP is pressing on with its “Defending the People’s Will” rallies, and the next address has now been pinned down. Istanbul party chair Özgür Çelik announced that supporters will gather in Çekmeköy, on the city’s Asian side, on Wednesday evening at 7.30pm. Framing the event as a stand for “the people’s power,” Çelik said the rally would be held under the leadership of CHP chair Özgür Özel and in solidarity with the party’s presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and other detained figures. Another square, another crowd, and another reminder that the battle over political legitimacy is being fought as much on the streets as in the chambers.
🧓💬📣 CHP Keeps the Pressure On: “We Won’t Stop Until Pensioners Get a Rise”
Pension increases have moved firmly to the top of CHP’s agenda, with party leader Özgür Özel telling senior officials that the campaign will continue until retirees see a meaningful pay rise. Speaking after a meeting of the party’s executive board, CHP figures said that if the government refuses to budge, the issue will be carried straight into ongoing rallies, local protests and parliamentary votes, with all MPs expected to be present when the bill is debated. The message from party headquarters was deliberately blunt: this is not a request for generosity, but a demand for dignity after decades of work—and if the increase is not granted, CHP insists it will pursue the issue all the way to the ballot box, pensions in hand and patience firmly exhausted.
🧓📊🗳️ Grey Vote Goes Red: CHP Tops the Retirees’ Poll
A new opinion survey discussed at CHP’s executive meeting suggests a notable shift among older voters, with the party emerging as the first choice among those aged 65 and over. According to the polling data, CHP commands 34.5 per cent of the senior vote, well ahead of the AKP’s 19 per cent, as debates over minimum pension levels intensify in parliament. Party officials say CHP leader Özgür Özel may attend the upcoming parliamentary session where pension increases will be decided, underscoring what they describe as a firm commitment to “stand with retirees until they get their due.” With pension protests continuing inside and outside the assembly, expanded local rallies planned across Istanbul, and a sharper focus on municipal achievements, CHP appears intent on turning economic discontent—particularly among pensioners—into sustained political momentum.
🚑⚖️⏳ Hospital to Prison, Then Back Again: Murat Çalık Left Waiting
Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık, recovering from surgery and facing serious health concerns, was once again shuttled between hospital and prison in a sequence that has prompted mounting criticism. After developing post-operative complications, Çalık requested that his follow-up checks be carried out at the hospital where he was operated on—a request initially denied, resulting in his transfer back towards prison before the decision was abruptly reversed. Even then, he was left waiting for hours in a prison ward at Katip Çelebi University Hospital, with no clear explanation, as pathology tests were sent off to determine whether cancerous cells were present. Opposition figures have described the handling of his case as medically indefensible and morally troubling, arguing that routine clinical practice is being overridden by rigid procedure, with potentially grave consequences. As reactions intensify, the episode has come to symbolise wider concerns about the treatment of seriously ill detainees—and the human cost of bureaucratic insistence.
🚑🧠⚖️ Another Hospital Trip: Tayfun Kahraman Taken Ill in Prison
Tayfun Kahraman, the Gezi case prisoner who lives with multiple sclerosis, has been hospitalised once again after falling in prison and sustaining head and hand injuries, his wife Meriç Kahraman has said. According to her account, Kahraman lost his balance during a routine count, struck his head on the ground and was returned to prison after basic treatment, only to require further medical attention as swelling and bruising worsened. Meriç Kahraman stressed that the incident follows an acute MS episode and comes despite a Constitutional Court ruling ordering a retrial, which she says has yet to be implemented. Submitting fresh medical reports to the court, she warned that continued detention under prison conditions is placing her husband’s health at serious risk—renewing her plea, with growing urgency, for the law to be applied and for Kahraman’s release.
🚓🚿📍 Arap Pınarı March Halted in Van, Former Mayor Abdullah Zeydan Detained
A planned march in Van in support of Arap Pınarı was broken up by police intervention, ending with the detention of several prominent local figures, including Abdullah Zeydan, the former co-mayor of Van Metropolitan Municipality who was previously removed from office and replaced by a government-appointed trustee. Organised by the Van Labour and Democracy Platform, the demonstration was blocked shortly after it began, with police dispersing protesters using water cannon and pepper spray following brief scuffles. Alongside Zeydan, DEM Party officials, a municipal council member and the head of the Van Bar Association were taken into custody and transferred to the provincial police headquarters. As security measures tightened across the city centre, the episode added another chapter to Van’s familiar cycle of protests curtailed, officials detained, and tensions managed firmly—if not especially delicately.
🗂️🗳️🔍 All Eyes on İYİ Party’s Top Table as New Leadership Line-Up Takes Shape
Following its fourth party congress, İYİ Party is turning to the practical business of power, with attention now fixed on this week’s first General Administrative Board (GİK) meeting, where the new Presidential Council will be formed. The line-up is expected to reveal party leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu’s preferred balance between parliament and the grassroots, as well as a push towards more specialised, portfolio-based leadership—from splitting economy and development roles to expanding youth and women’s policy posts. With new names entering the fold, including former DEVA MP Burak Dalgın, and a growing emphasis on local government and technical expertise, the reshuffle is being billed internally as “less window-dressing, more division of labour”—a quietly purposeful reset rather than a dramatic reinvention.
Crime
⚖️🕯️🗂️ Justice Reopens the File: Police Join Dorukhan Büyükışık Murder Trial
In a significant turn in the long-running Dorukhan Büyükışık case, a Turkish court has ruled that eight police officers—previously charged merely with misconduct—will now stand trial alongside construction workers in the main murder case. The decision merges the police file with the ongoing homicide proceedings, reflecting the court’s view that failures to properly collect evidence may have actively obstructed the uncovering of a killing initially presented as a suicide. Judges pointedly noted that trying the cases separately would only prolong matters, while the allegations against officers go well beyond routine negligence. For the Büyükışık family, who have pursued justice for seven years with notable persistence, the ruling marks a rare moment of institutional momentum—suggesting that the legal system, albeit at its own pace, is finally prepared to look the whole case squarely in the eye.
🧒⚖️🕳️ “My Brothers, My Children”: A Crime File Written in Childhood
A fresh indictment in the so-called Casperlar gang case lays bare a grim reality: organised crime built quite deliberately on children. Prosecutors have charged 68 minors—some as young as 14—allegedly recruited, threatened and deployed by the group’s leadership, who referred to them tellingly as “my brothers, my young ones, my nephews, my children.” The charges span violent crimes including murder, with both victim and alleged shooter in one case aged just 15 at the time. The indictment describes a pattern of exploiting economically vulnerable teenagers, promising sums of money that largely never arrived, while coercion and fear did. What emerges is not merely a catalogue of offences, but an unsettling portrait of how easily childhood can be repurposed as a disposable tool of organised violence—and how steep the cost is when it is.
Economy
💷📊🏛️ Austerity, With Extras: State Consumption Tops ₺500 Billion
Despite earnest talk of belt-tightening, Turkey’s central government managed to spend rather generously in 2025, with consumption outlays on goods and services climbing past ₺500 billion for the first time. Official data show spending reached ₺519.1 billion—up 42 per cent year on year and comfortably ahead of both inflation and overall budget growth—despite a three-year savings plan unveiled in 2024 that promised restraint. Defence and security led the charge, absorbing ₺192.2 billion, followed by energy costs at ₺130.6 billion and food and drink purchases at ₺79.1 billion, while even stationery managed a respectable ₺31.1 billion. In real terms, spending still rose by 8.5 per cent, suggesting that while private demand was being gently discouraged, the state itself was in no particular hurry to skip a course—proof, perhaps, that fiscal discipline remains very much a work in progress.
💼💸📉 The Taxman Calls—Mostly on Workers
Budget figures for 2025 have made one thing uncomfortably clear: when it comes to funding the state, the heaviest lifting is being done by wage earners. Income tax collected directly from salaries not only met but significantly exceeded targets, reaching ₺2.63 trillion—around a third more than planned—while corporate tax receipts fell well short of expectations, achieving barely 75 per cent of their target. In effect, public spending was underwritten by deductions from workers’ pay packets, as companies’ contributions remained comparatively modest. Looking ahead to 2026, the outlook is little brighter for employees, with lower tax thresholds pushing them into higher brackets earlier in the year and accelerating the erosion of net wages—an arrangement that may be fiscally convenient, but hardly feels like a model of shared burden.