Politics
📜 Erdoğan: ‘A new constitution is a debt we owe’ to Türkiye
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated that Türkiye needs a new, civilian and libertarian constitution, describing the task as “a debt of honour” for Turkish politics and pledging to keep it at the top of the reform agenda regardless of any political calculations. Speaking at the 158th Anniversary of the Council of State and Administrative Judiciary Day ceremony at the Council of State, Erdoğan congratulated what he called a 150-year-old institution rooted in Turkish legal history, and described administrative justice as a balancing element in the relationship between state and citizen. He emphasised that the will for judicial reform was continuing, noting that the introduction of the regional appellate system had made trials a three-tiered process and significantly reduced the Council of State’s workload, and pledged further steps to enhance transparency, accountability and participation in public administration. Stressing that public authority is a tool of service rather than domination, the president said it was vital for the judiciary to act objectively and within constitutional limits, and that it had no power of tutelage over the legislature or executive. Turning to the constitution, Erdoğan said constitutional texts formed the basic DNA of the rule of law, the supremacy of law and good governance, and that despite the four constitutions that followed the Kanun-ı Esasi, the Turkish nation’s longing for a good constitution had not subsided — largely, he said, because the last two constitutions had been products of coups and unlawful interventions. Remedying this “democratic blemish”, he argued, was a debt owed by Turkish politics: a new, embracing, libertarian and civilian constitution offered the possibility of building democracy from the bottom up, transforming the constitution from a text imposed on society by coup-makers or elites into one defined by society itself and declared to the state. With such a constitution, he said, Türkiye could attain a higher legal logic capable of simultaneously protecting law, democracy, the state and the nation, and the government would keep the matter at the top of its reform agenda regardless of political or arithmetical calculations.
🗳️ Six Turkish towns gear up for local elections as 10,000 voters head to the polls
Six newly re-recognised “belde” (town) administrations in the provinces of Tokat, Gümüşhane and Nevşehir are gearing up for mayoral and municipal council elections on 7 June, with parties already in campaign mode. Following a decision by Türkiye’s Supreme Election Council (YSK), a total of 10,713 voters across the six towns will cast their ballots after they regained town status. The ruling People’s Alliance has opted for a single joint candidate in all six contests: AKP will field candidates in Bağtaşı, Yolüstü and Çevrecik in Tokat, Mustafapaşa in Nevşehir and Tekke in Gümüşhane, while MHP will stand in Kuşçu in Tokat’s Yeşilyurt district. According to a report in Türkiye Gazetesi, CHP has fielded its own candidates in three of the six towns: Mustafapaşa, Çevrecik and Tekke. Campaigning is well under way, with candidates opening election offices and going door to door, and pledges ranging from free meals for students and at-home care for the elderly to housing and natural gas for young people; some government ministers are also expected to visit the towns to back the People’s Alliance candidates. Across the six towns, 36 ballot boxes will be set up, with the largest electorate found in Tekke in central Gümüşhane province, where 2,969 voters will cast their ballots across nine ballot boxes; Kuşçu in Tokat’s Yeşilyurt district has the smallest electorate, with two ballot boxes set up for 710 voters.
🌍 Türkiye’s COP31 bill mounts as Antalya tenders push past 10 billion lira
Preparations for the UN Climate Change Conference, COP31, which Türkiye will host in Antalya in November, have run up a hefty bill, with tenders so far approaching 10 billion lira. The summit is set to be held at the long-dormant EXPO site in the Aksu district of Antalya from 9 to 20 November, with Murat Kurum chairing the proceedings. Under a presidential decision signed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and published on 8 May, around 64,635 square metres of agricultural land in the Solak neighbourhood of Aksu has been urgently expropriated, with the stated justification being the car park and infrastructure investments needed for COP31; work with construction machinery in the area was reportedly noticed before the decision was even published. Construction, infrastructure and landscaping works at the EXPO site were put out to tender by Türkiye’s mass housing authority TOKİ on 14 April, with the contract awarded to Özyazıcı İnşaat for 8.085 billion lira; the agreement was signed on 24 April and the project is to be completed within 150 days. Separate tenders were also issued for transport projects: TOKİ’s tender for the regulation of the tourism road between the Aksu Stream Bridge, Belek Junction and Boğazkent, along with road regulations in the hotels region, was awarded to Föy İnşaat for 1,099,500,000 lira, with the contract also signed on 24 April 2026. Antalya Metropolitan Municipality’s tender for the construction of access roads ahead of COP31 went to DNZ İnşaat for 435,600,000 lira against an estimated cost of around 442,440,000 lira, with the contract signed on 27 March. Notably, all the major COP31-related tenders were carried out via the contested Article 21/B of the Public Procurement Law, a negotiated procedure intended for natural disasters and emergencies but long viewed as a means of “tailored” tenders. The companies awarded the contracts are familiar names: Özyazıcı İnşaat, owned by Ahmet Özyazıcı — known to have joint company links with the Kalyon family — has previously drawn the ire of environmental campaigners over disputed housing and villa projects in Istanbul, while Föy İnşaat featured in public debate over the people’s garden built around the Presidential Mansion in Ahlat, Bitlis, and the Maiden’s Tower shore protection tender in Istanbul. Adding to the picture, a legal amendment passed by the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 7 May has introduced tax and customs exemptions for COP31-related organisational expenditure, with customs duties, fees and fund charges waived on imports for the conference, and goods and services procured as part of the organisation exempted from stamp duty.
🏥 Heybeliada Sanatorium being handed back to Türkiye’s Religious Affairs Directorate
Türkiye’s first pandemic hospital, the Heybeliada Sanatorium, is once again being transferred to the Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet), with the Adalar Municipality telling DW Türkçe that the handover is close to completion. An earlier transfer in 2018 had been annulled by court ruling, but after the cancellation, the process was restarted. Built in 1924 to treat tuberculosis patients, the sanatorium was closed in 2005 with its premises left idle; the land on which it stands was allocated to Diyanet in 2018, prompting a joint legal challenge from the Istanbul Medical Chamber, the TMMOB Chambers of City Planners and of Architects, the Istanbul Bar Association and the Turkish Thoracic Society. An administrative court annulled the allocation in 2022 on the grounds that the views of relevant institutions had been incomplete. According to Adalar Deputy Mayor Hüseyin Yılmaz, the Cultural Heritage Preservation Regional Board, at its meeting on 6 May, gave a favourable opinion on the allocation to Diyanet; while the Adalar Municipality’s representative voted against, permanent members appointed by the Ministry of Culture carried the day by majority. Yılmaz said the transfer was now under way and “will soon be completed”. Located in the Çamlimanı area amid pine forests, the sanatorium and its grounds enjoy first-degree natural protected status and qualify as a second-degree cultural heritage asset — hence the board decision required for the transfer. The intended use, when the property was allocated in 2018 by the National Real Estate Directorate, was given as “the provision and development of vocational knowledge for clergy, Quranic education and youth activities”. Diyanet had said during the pandemic, amid public reaction, that it stood ready to return the land if a pandemic hospital was to be built on Heybeliada once more; no such project ever materialised, and the transfer process was reactivated. Yılmaz noted that the zoning plans for the Adalar district had not yet been approved, calling it technically inappropriate to transfer a public asset before the plans set out what each piece of land would be used for, and announcing that the municipality would sue against the transfer of a public site in the absence of those plans. The Adalar Municipality, he added, wants the sanatorium to be allocated to the Ministry of Health for use during pandemics or for health tourism. Talat Kırış, chair of the Istanbul Medical Chamber, which had sued against the previous transfer, also opposed the new decision, stressing that the chamber objected to the site’s transfer to any body — Diyanet, the Ministry of Tourism or the Ministry of Finance — given that it had served for years as a healthcare institution and ought to be put to a health-related use, with the chamber’s preferred option being a home for retired doctors. Kırış said the chamber would assess the matter in its boards and mount a legal challenge. Derya Tolgay of the World Heritage Adalar Association underlined that the sanatorium’s grounds constituted a unique microclimate, with scientific records of its clean air, balance of humidity and oxygen density, describing the sanatorium as a heritage of health and memory of importance not only to Türkiye but on a global scale, and arguing that it was not right to allocate such a public legacy to a single specific use. Tolgay said the association too would take the matter to court.
💰 Former Turkish aviation official tells court: ‘I served the AK Party government with honour’
Former Department Head at Türkiye’s State Airports Authority (DHMİ), Mehmet Cemil Acar, on trial on charges of “bribery” and “corruption”, has told the court that he held critical positions in “the President’s most prestigious project” and worked “with honour” under 22 years of AK Party government. The hearing continued at Ankara’s 89th Magistrates’ Criminal Court, with Acar joining via the SEGBİS video link from prison and the parties’ lawyers also present, in a case set out by columnist Tolga Şardan. The court rejected an application by co-defendant Çağla Acar to lift her judicial control. The judge revealed that an unsigned, hand-written note in pencil had been sent to the court by post, reading: “I believe Cemil Acar and Çağla Acar wish to divorce in order to hide assets from the state.” In his defence, Acar said an expert report on file had established his innocence, adding: “I held critical positions in the most prestigious project of our President. I worked with honour throughout the 22 years of AK Party rule. If I have unjustly acquired property, the related work should prove it. This case is a black stain on the history of the Turkish bureaucracy. I demand my acquittal and release.” His lawyer argued that news of the case had appeared in the press even before the disciplinary inquiry had concluded — itself a rights violation — and complained that proceedings had dragged on for an unusually long time for a magistrates’ court. He argued that property safeguards meant there was no risk of flight, that his client had declared 13 of 15 assets before retiring, that he had failed to declare only one item after retirement, and that — coming from a south-eastern family in which weddings traditionally involved gifts of three to five kilograms of gold — the gold belonged to his family, not to him personally, with signed evidence in the file showing the family’s wealth, and that nothing had been removed from the bank vault. The prosecutor argued that the expert report obtained during the prosecution phase was insufficient and asked for a new one; the judge agreed, ruling that a fresh report be prepared by a panel of five experts. Citing the risk of flight, the judge ordered that Acar remain in custody, while judicial control on the non-detained defendant Çağla Acar was extended, with the case adjourned until 8 June. The investigation, launched in 2025 following a criminal complaint by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, had uncovered 26 kilograms of gold bars and large amounts of foreign currency in Acar’s bank vault — specifically, 1,320,000 dollars and 121,000 euros, alongside the gold. According to the indictment, Acar’s total legal income between 2019 and 2024 (including salary and rental income) was around 3 million lira, but movements in his bank accounts far exceeded that figure; the suspect, on an annual salary of around 120,000 lira in 2019, was found to have transferred 210,000 euros and 150,000 US dollars to overseas accounts that year, while as of 9 January 2025 his account balances at Vakıfbank totalled 28,563,153 lira.
🚗 Türkiye’s new traffic penalties bring sharp drop in serious offences
Türkiye’s tougher traffic penalties appear to be making themselves felt on the country’s roads, according to the first set of data following changes to the Highway Traffic Law that came into force on 27 February. Interior Ministry officials compared statistics from 27 February to 30 April with the same period a year earlier; according to a report in Türkiye Gazetesi, the number of vehicles checked rose by 4.5 per cent, while the number of vehicles fined fell by 21.6 per cent, with serious offences endangering road safety also showing a marked decline. The most striking change was a 92.6 per cent fall in “makas atma” — the dangerous lane-swerving and overtaking manoeuvre — alongside a 78.2 per cent drop in tachograph violations, a 62.1 per cent fall in drifting offences, and a 58.7 per cent decline in speeding. Other offences also saw sharp reductions: failures to obey “stop” signals fell by 51.8 per cent, riding without a helmet by 32.4 per cent and driving without the required documents by 31.4 per cent, while mobile phone use behind the wheel was down 27.8 per cent, driving despite having one’s licence confiscated dropped by 25.5 per cent, and wrong-way violations by 20.7 per cent.
🦠 Three Turkish nationals from hantavirus cruise ship test negative
Türkiye’s Ministry of Health has announced that the test results of three Turkish nationals brought to Istanbul from the MV Hondius cruise ship — on which three people died of hantavirus — have come back negative. According to the ministry, the three citizens were transferred to Türkiye by ambulance aircraft and placed in isolation under close monitoring. As with the two passengers who had earlier entered the country, samples were taken and analysed, with all results negative. The ministry added that the individuals would remain in quarantine for the recommended period, and that no clinical signs or symptoms had so far been observed in any of the five people under follow-up.
🛂 Akçakale border crossing reopens to Syria with passport entry
Türkiye’s Şanlıurfa Governor’s Office has announced that passport-based entry and exit between Türkiye and the Syrian Arab Republic will resume at the Akçakale Land Border Crossing on Tuesday 12 May. According to the governor’s written statement, Turkish citizens, dual nationals also holding Syrian citizenship, and Syrian citizens with a valid residence permit or a work permit serving in place of a residence permit will be able to enter and exit through the crossing upon presenting their passports at Akçakale. The governor’s office recalled that the Akçakale crossing was closed to commercial and civilian transit in 2014 due to the internal turmoil in Syria, and that following Türkiye’s Peace Spring operation in 2019 it had remained open in a controlled manner for humanitarian aid, commercial movements, condolence visits and crossings by public officials, in line with procedures and principles set by the Interior Ministry. Following the transfer of the Tel Abyad Customs Directorate to Syria on 22 January 2026 and the normalisation of life in the region, the Interior Ministry has now instructed that full passport-based entry and exit be reinstated. The statement added that requests by Syrian nationals under temporary protection status — those falling outside the passport regime — for commercial, condolence and other crossings would continue to be assessed under the relevant legislation through applications to the Humanitarian Aid and Coordination Centre at the Şanlıurfa Governor’s Office.
🌲 Akbelen Forest defender Esra Işık released from prison
Esra Işık, a defender of the Akbelen Forest in south-western Türkiye and daughter of İkizköy neighbourhood Mayor (muhtar) Nejla Işık, has been released from prison subject to judicial control and a ban on leaving the country. Işık had been detained on the night of 30 March and remanded in custody on 31 March on charges of “resisting an officer in the performance of duty”, following protests against the urgent expropriation of agricultural land surrounding the Akbelen Forest in Muğla’s Milas district. At today’s review of her detention, the 3rd Magistrates’ Criminal Court in Milas ruled for her release under judicial control with a foreign travel ban. She had previously been transferred from Muğla Prison to the İzmir No 2 T-Type Closed Prison in Şakran.
🏍️ Türkiye unveils action plan as motorbike accident rates ring alarm bells
Türkiye’s Interior Ministry has put a Motorcycle Inspections Action Plan into effect after data revealed motorbikes’ disproportionate involvement in road traffic accidents. According to ministry figures, the number of motorcycles registered in Türkiye has more than doubled in the past seven years to 7.2 million, with motorcycles’ share of overall traffic accidents now exceeding 50 per cent. In the first four months of 2026, motorbikes accounted for 21.3 per cent of all registered vehicles but 47.1 per cent of accidents, with the fault rate in accidents involving motorcycles standing at 67.7 per cent — broken down into 49.3 per cent speed violations, 17.3 per cent failures to give way at junctions and 7.1 per cent breaches of lane discipline and lane-change rules. Motorbike couriers (motokurye) also stood out: although they make up just 1.4 per cent of motorcycles on the road, they were involved in 19.8 per cent of accidents. The action plan aims to reduce motorbike accidents and improve road safety by stepping up inspections, sharpening the deterrent effect of sanctions and expanding driver training. Inspections will continue to target speeding, failure to give way at junctions, breaches of lane discipline and lane-change rules, running red lights, non-use of helmets and protective equipment, riding the wrong way, performing stunts in traffic and drink-driving, while controls on motorcycle couriers will focus on the “P1” authorisation certificates. The plan also envisages legislative changes to bolster the effectiveness of inspections and the deterrence of sanctions, alongside a “Safe Motorcycle Use” campaign and special training programmes for riders of motorcycles and motorised bicycles. The ministry says it will build effective, continuous and intensive inspection mechanisms to boost road safety and encourage compliance.
📱 Hande Erçel quietly removes ID İletişim from her Instagram profile
Turkish actress Hande Erçel has removed any reference to ID İletişim — the agency founded by her manager Ayşe Barım — from her Instagram profile, and has unfollowed the agency’s official account. The change has not gone unnoticed by her followers, with no official explanation as yet from the actress’s side. ID İletişim’s owner, manager Ayşe Barım, had originally been detained over allegations of monopolisation in the TV drama and film sector, but was subsequently remanded in custody on the basis of allegations that she had been among the “planners” of the Gezi Park protests 12 years ago. Erçel had previously attended Barım’s hearings and shown her support.
🪡 Fatsa’s legendary mayor ‘Terzi Fikri’ remembered 41 years on
Fikri Sönmez, known affectionately as “Terzi Fikri” (Fikri the Tailor) and one of the most unforgettable mayors of the Black Sea town of Fatsa in Ordu, has been commemorated with two days of events marking the 41st anniversary of his death. The “Fikri Sönmez Local Government Research and Development Foundation” hosted the commemoration over Saturday and Sunday, with discussions, forums and cultural events reflecting on Sönmez’s political struggle, his vision of local government and the mark he left on Fatsa. The events drew large numbers of representatives of political parties and civil society organisations from across Türkiye, alongside artists and members of the public. As part of the programme, Sönmez’s grave was also visited.
Ruling Government (AKP, MHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)
🔁 Burcu Köksal confirms defection to AKP: ‘My conscience is clear’
Afyonkarahisar Mayor Burcu Köksal has confirmed she is joining Türkiye’s ruling AKP today, telling tv100 that her conscience was at ease and launching a series of stinging attacks on CHP leader Özgür Özel along the way. CHP’s central executive committee had already referred her to disciplinary proceedings as a precaution with a request for her formal expulsion, with party spokesperson Zeynel Emre saying the committee could not accept what was happening and noting that Köksal had not even answered the chair’s phone calls — “now goodbye, let her go wherever she wants”. Köksal claimed her treatment within CHP had changed since the party’s congress process, insisting the only person to have threatened her was Özel himself, who she said had written to her some 5–6 months ago when speculation first emerged about her joining AKP, telling her: “I will come to power in 5–6 months and I will not forgive you”, and adding: “You will beg me to forgive you.” Turning to public chatter about her marriage, Köksal said her husband made his living from animal husbandry, had committed no theft or corruption, had never been caught in a hotel room with women, had never cheated on her and was the subject of no investigation — asking pointedly why she should divorce him. She also alleged she had been systematically targeted within CHP and had not received adequate support during the local elections, saying she had received only a single instance of fuel support during the 31 March vote and was sent no further fuel cards once she fell out with Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, while being subjected to systematic troll attacks. “This CHP is not our CHP,” she said, declaring that she could no longer defend theft and corruption and that whereas once anyone committing a crime would be expelled from the party, everything was now being legitimised. She argued that her own selection as mayoral candidate had been a way for the party to be rid of her: she had been a parliamentary group deputy chair at the time, she said, and they had wanted her out of that seat, calculating that she would not win anyway. Köksal said she had spoken to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for 45 minutes, with the president telling her they would do politics together; she had responded that she had always opposed him while in CHP, but “the CHP we have now is no longer our CHP”. She also announced that the Mayor of Dinar in Afyonkarahisar province, Veysel Topçu, would resign from CHP and join AKP the following day along with seven municipal councillors, tipping the balance of the council in favour of the ruling party; a photograph of Topçu hanging the municipality’s debt on the building after his election has resurfaced on social media. CHP held a protest outside the Afyonkarahisar Municipality building on the evening of 11 May, with Group Deputy Chair Murat Emir saying he wondered how Köksal would now move around in public, and arguing that she had not been uncomfortable at all but rather a mayor who enjoyed the full support of CHP’s central headquarters in Ankara and of her local organisation in Afyon, and whose every wish had been granted.
🔁 CHP’s Dinar mayor — once famed for displaying AKP-era debts on the town hall — to join AKP
Veysel Topçu, the mayor of Dinar in Afyonkarahisar province, is set to join Türkiye’s ruling AKP alongside Burcu Köksal — referred to CHP’s disciplinary board with a request for her definitive expulsion — and seven municipal councillors. The development was reported by Halk TV columnist İsmail Saymaz, who wrote on social media that Köksal would join AKP together with the seven councillors and Mayor Topçu. Following his election as Dinar mayor for CHP in the 31 March local elections, Topçu had drawn attention for hanging the debts inherited from the previous AKP administration on the side of the municipal building. The banner listed items including the municipality’s tax debts, workers’ social security contributions, unpaid debts to tradespeople and staff wages, with 642,000 lira reported to be in the municipal coffers against debts of around 125 million lira. Dinar Municipality had passed from AKP to CHP in the 31 March vote for the first time in many years, and Topçu had subsequently caused a stir by hanging a photograph of President and AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his mayoral office.
⚔️ MHP’s Yalçın blasts Arınç over ‘KHK’ remarks: ‘He’s paying back his time as FETÖ’s courier’
MHP Deputy Chair Semih Yalçın has launched a stinging attack on AKP co-founder and former Speaker of Parliament Bülent Arınç over his recent comments about people dismissed from public service by emergency decree (KHK) after the 15 July coup attempt. Writing on social media, Yalçın described Arınç as a “political fossil” doing his utmost to remain in the political “museum’s display hall”, accusing him of harvesting “poisonous flowers” from fields sown with offences to feed extracts to “sick constituencies” — and, at the same time, repaying the political “gains” he allegedly secured during his days “couriering and brokering” for the FETÖ network. Arınç, Yalçın claimed, was directing his remarks on the KHK dismissals at the wrong address, not just missing the mark but shooting himself in the foot — adding, suggestively, that “who knows, perhaps he is following someone else’s instructions”. Asking who exactly Arınç had appointed himself as defender of, Yalçın described the dismissed personnel as those removed from public office on grounds of association with, links to or membership in terrorist organisations, or employees of institutions that had been closed down, ending with the dismissive line: “What more need be said?”
🎶 AKP’s Tayyar on Manifest concert frenzy in Gaziantep: ‘A ground swell is coming’
AKP MP Şamil Tayyar has drawn his own sociological conclusions from the packed concert by the pop group Manifest in Gaziantep, observing that an “undercurrent” is sweeping through Turkish society — and that banning things will not stop it. Earlier, the Gaziantep gig had been targeted by various groups, with a convoy organised in an attempt to have it cancelled; yet the efforts to block the event came to nothing, the venue filled to capacity and thousands of fans sang along to the group’s songs for hours. Sharing footage of the enthusiastic crowd on social media with the comment “the ground swell is coming”, Tayyar noted that the show had been a private, paid-for organisation, the venue tightly packed, and that in all likelihood almost everyone in attendance had been born under AKP rule. Banning it, he wrote — or pouring out into the streets to the sound of Ottoman military marches — would prevent nothing. Society’s consumption habits, behaviour and value perceptions, he argued, were changing fast. “A ground swell is coming”, he wrote, urging that the way forward lay not through anger or rage, but through reason, common sense, understanding, empathy and reasonable solutions.
Opposition Parties (CHP and others)
🌳 12 suspects formally arrested in ‘İmamoğlu Profit-Seeking Criminal Organisation’ probe
Twelve of the 24 suspects detained in Türkiye’s ongoing investigation into the so-called “İmamoğlu Profit-Seeking Criminal Organisation” have been formally arrested over allegations that a fictitious tender system was operated through the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality affiliate Ağaç ve Peyzaj A.Ş. Following processing at the Istanbul Courthouse, the Penal Court of Peace ordered the arrest of Ayhan Subaşı, Aytekin Karaarslan, Binali Sarıtaş, Derya Dağdeviren, Murat Dağdeviren, Orhan Yıldırım, Selim Marangoz, Süleyman Uzun, Fatih Temur, Muammer Ali Özdil, Nilgün Cendek and Tolga Kılıç, while another 12 suspects were placed under judicial control. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had previously announced that investigations were under way into actions carried out by the criminal organisation said to be headed by Ekrem İmamoğlu, and that the operation centred on allegations that the network had operated a fictitious tender mechanism through Ağaç ve Peyzaj A.Ş. in violation of procedure. Of 31 suspects for whom detention orders were issued, 29 were taken into custody, with one suspect still being sought abroad; seven of the detainees were subsequently taken from the police station to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. Among those processed earlier, Adnan Cullanmak was released after giving his statement to the prosecutor’s office, while Murat Cırık was placed under house arrest (”not to leave residence”), and Oktay Özel, Cezair Aday, Ahmet Kocadağ, Ünal Aksoy and Hakan Cullanmak were released under judicial control measures requiring regular signatures and a ban on foreign travel. As the investigation continued, one further suspect was captured, and the suspect previously said to be abroad, Orhan Yıldırım, was detained at the airport on his return to Türkiye, with all the suspects then taken to police premises for processing.
⚖️ CHP’s Tanal on İmamoğlu espionage trial: ‘If you’re looking for spies, count the dual nationals in the cabinet’
CHP Şanlıurfa MP Mahmut Tanal has launched a scathing critique of the “political espionage” trial of Istanbul Mayor and CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, journalist Merdan Yanardağ, İmamoğlu’s political adviser Necati Özkan and Hüseyin Gün, telling ANKA News Agency that the case is purely political and aimed at blocking İmamoğlu’s presidential candidacy. Speaking after observing the first hearing at Istanbul’s 25th High Criminal Court, Tanal questioned the very composition of the bench, claiming that a second panel had been set up within the same court after the indictment was accepted in order to draw attention away from the file, headed by a member who had previously worked with “Mr Akın” (a reference to Justice Minister Akın Gürlek) and joined by two judges with only one-and-a-half to two years’ experience. To entrust such inexperienced judges, to whom one would not even hand inheritance cases, with sitting on a high criminal court, he argued, was in itself a breach of the principle of the natural judge and would lead to the case being overturned by both Türkiye’s Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights regardless of anything else. He also alleged procedural breaches at the hearing: the panel had said the indictment had been read when in fact neither the indictment nor its summary had actually been read, which he described as itself a criminal offence. Tanal mocked the espionage framing of the case, saying that for political and military espionage to exist one had to take a Turkish state secret and pass it on to another state or organisation, while the file contained “not a shred” of information about what state secret had supposedly been transferred. He accused the prosecution of inverting the burden of proof by telling the defendants they were innocent but had to prove it. He said Article 30 of the Constitution prohibits the seizure of press equipment, yet equipment had been seized and put up for sale, with the Constitution shelved. He noted that Hüseyin Gün himself had stated in his testimony that he held the state’s most senior official document, having been formally tasked by a vice-president to work abroad; while Gün’s own lawyers had submitted the document, when İmamoğlu’s and Özkan’s lawyers asked for it in court, they were told they could only obtain it once it had been uploaded to the UYAP judicial system — denying the chance for proper cross-examination. Tanal said the prosecutor who drew up the indictment had questioned neither Gün nor İmamoğlu, while the presiding judge had pressed İmamoğlu on niceties like “he came to visit you and you then thanked him” — a matter of basic social convention, in Tanal’s view — while ignoring the fact that Gün had been present at meetings with the defence undersecretary and with Baykar, had himself organised meetings about Türkiye in the United States and the United Kingdom at that time, had said he had worked with the current MİT undersecretary and Foreign Minister and was well known to them, that he had never voted for CHP, that he described himself as a “Young Turk-ist” and as a man who loved his country. If espionage is what is being sought, Tanal said, then look at how many dual nationals there are in the cabinet — British, American, Belgian citizens — and start the search among those in government who have sworn allegiance to another crown or country, because no spies are going to emerge from İmamoğlu, Necati or Merdan; the case, he said, is wholly political and aimed at blocking İmamoğlu’s presidential bid. Finally, Tanal alleged that the proceedings were being conducted “in the shadow of guns”, with plain-clothes police officers stepping up onto the bench before the panel of judges had even arrived while the audience was already in the room, looking down and smiling at observers — something he said was incompatible with the seriousness of judicial proceedings, since only the judges and the prosecutor should occupy the bench, and that armed security officers stepping up to the judges’ bench amounted to a criminal offence, an issue he addressed directly to the Ministry of Justice and the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK).
💼 Antalya mayor Böcek and son detail alleged ‘candidacy bourse’ at CHP HQ
Statements given by suspended Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek and his son Gökhan Böcek have purportedly laid out, in granular detail, the alleged workings of what has been dubbed a “Candidacy Bourse” at CHP’s headquarters in Ankara — claims rejected by the parties named, but which Türkiye’s media are now treating as a significant new turn in the case. In an eight-page supplementary statement given overnight, Gökhan Böcek said CHP figure Veli Ağbaba had called him via an internet-based application and told him that, “on the instructions of Özgür Özel”, the party was asking for 30 million lira in exchange for his father Muhittin Böcek being declared the CHP candidate for Antalya Metropolitan Mayor. The most striking detail was the foreign-exchange calculation: Böcek said he had collected the 30 million lira from tradespeople and businesspeople in Antalya, but that at the prevailing exchange rate this amounted to only around 900,000-odd euros, and that when he conveyed this to Ağbaba, he was allegedly told to “round it up to 1 million euros and bring it”; the conversation is said to have taken place in the first days of January 2024, with his father reportedly responding “do what is needed”. Böcek said the money — given to him by some Antalya businesspeople and tradespeople in euros and dollars, with euros specifically requested because they were easier to carry — was initially kept at home, and once the required total had been reached was prepared for transport to Ankara. The most attention-grabbing section of the statement dealt with the carrying and handover of the money: Böcek said he had put around 1 million euros, made up of 100, 200 and 500-euro notes, into a deliberately cheap and unremarkable black bag containing only the cash and an iPad; he claimed that at the airport X-ray check he showed only the iPad to the officer, while the money passed through in the same bag. After arriving in Ankara, he said, he went to the CHP headquarters, where, according to him, there was no search, no identity check and no record taken; at reception he was told he was “expected on the 6th floor”, where he was met by an official in a suit and party badge. Before handing the money over, Böcek said, the official phoned Ağbaba for confirmation, opened the call, then passed him the phone, on which he saw the name on the screen and recognised Ağbaba’s voice. He said he told the person at the other end, “I have brought 1 million euros, I am leaving it with this person”, and was told “yes”, after which he handed the money to the person in question — someone he says he never saw again, though he could remember the description and, if necessary, identify them. The statement did not stop there: Böcek alleged that, during the campaign, a second request was made for 7–8 million lira in cash for election work, which he relayed to his father, again receiving the reply “help out”. In his own statement, Muhittin Böcek said his son’s account that 1 million euros had been requested was correct, and that he had himself told Gökhan to “do what was needed” to meet the party central headquarters’ demands for material and moral support for candidacy and campaign work after remarks made by CHP leader Özgür Özel during a meeting; on a separate allegation that 200,000 dollars had been handed over during a campaign launch event in Antalya at Özel’s request, the mayor said he did not know the details, but that — as already explained — he had given his son prior instructions to meet the central headquarters’ requests during the campaign.
🗣️ Antalya mayor’s daughter-in-law Zuhal Böcek gives supplementary statement
Zuhal Böcek, the daughter-in-law of suspended Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek and the wife of Gökhan Böcek, has today given a supplementary statement to prosecutors as part of an investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Organised Crimes Bureau. Zuhal Böcek had been remanded in custody on a charge of “laundering” in the case, while her husband Gökhan Böcek became an “effective remorse” co-operating witness only a short time ago. In her earlier statement to the prosecutor’s office, Zuhal Böcek had said she heard her father-in-law had won his previous term as mayor and had more recently become a candidate by paying money, and added that she did not know what her husband Gökhan Böcek did for a living or what his sources of income were. She said her husband came from a wealthy family, that his parents had paid off the family’s debts and provided financial support, and that she had never seen Gökhan come home with a bag full of money. She said she had not known her husband used narcotics, but had once spotted traces of a white powder in his wallet and become suspicious, after which she had begun going through his wallet and so on. She also rejected a forensic report indicating that she had used narcotics, insisting she had never used narcotics in her life.
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