Justice System and Everyday Life in Türkiye
🔍 12 Detained in Gülistan Doku Disappearance Case Including Former Governor’s Son and Victim’s Boyfriend
Twelve suspects have been detained across seven provinces in the long-running investigation into the disappearance of university student Gülistan Doku, who was last heard from in Tunceli on 5 January 2020. Arrest orders were issued against 13 suspects on murder suspicion, with those detained including Mustafa Türkay S. — son of the provincial governor at the time — and Zeinal A., identified as Doku’s boyfriend, alongside ten others. Doku was 21 years old when her family, unable to contact her, travelled from Diyarbakır to Tunceli and filed a missing persons report on 6 January 2020. Extensive searches and mobile phone signal tracking at the time produced no results, and the case has remained open for over six years.
🚔 18 Remanded in Custody in Şanlıurfa-Based ISIS Operation Across Eight Provinces
An ISIS counter-terrorism operation coordinated by Şanlıurfa public prosecutor’s office and carried out across 39 addresses in eight provinces — Şanlıurfa, Ankara, Istanbul, Gaziantep, Diyarbakır, Aydın, Samsun, and İzmir — has resulted in 18 of 36 detained suspects being remanded in custody, with the remaining 18 released under judicial supervision conditions.
💸 Turkish Private School Fees Now Rival Europe’s Elite Boarding Schools — Without the Bed, Board, or Books
Private school fees in Turkey for the 2026-2027 academic year have broken records, with leading Istanbul institutions charging between 1 and 1.7 million lira for tuition alone — prompting comparisons with Europe’s most exclusive boarding schools that have embarrassed the sector. Greenwich University economist Professor Cem Oyvat noted that Eton College, where British royals are educated, charges the equivalent of approximately 3.8 million lira annually as a fully all-inclusive boarding fee covering accommodation, meals, and materials — meaning Turkey’s top day schools, once food, transport, stationery, and uniform costs are added to their base fees, approach the total cost of full-time residential education at France’s École des Roches or Germany’s Schule Schloss Salem, both of which provide round-the-clock lodging and meals within their 2-3 million lira annual price tags. ENKA Istanbul charges up to 1.67 million lira for nursery alone, Bilfen 1.43 million for primary school, and TED Istanbul Koleji over 1.18 million for the first year of secondary — all before extras. Despite a ministry-imposed 43.92 per cent cap on fee increases for entry-year classes, the sector has lost more than 200,000 students and seen over 1,000 schools close in the past five years as costs spiral out of reach for middle-class families who had previously been the sector’s core clientele.
🚨 Armed Attack at High School in Şanlıurfa Leaves Seven Wounded as Hostage Situation Reported
A gunman opened fire indiscriminately at Ahmet Koyuncu Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School in the Siverek district of Şanlıurfa, wounding seven people. The attacker is reported to have taken a number of students hostage inside the building. Large numbers of health workers and special operations police were dispatched to the scene, and security forces evacuated the majority of students from the school.
Politics
🏠 Erdoğan Declares Family Protection a National Security Issue as He Warns of Addiction and Digital Threats to Households
President Erdoğan told an AKP Women’s Branches event that preserving the family institution and family values is a matter of national security and national survival, warning that any attack on the family simultaneously targets the backbone of the nation and the state. Citing the conservative writer Samiha Ayverdi, Erdoğan described the family as society’s most resilient cell and one that resists penetrating bacteria — framing outside influences as existential threats. He announced that the period 2026-2035 has been designated the Decade of Family and Population, with intensified work across education and social policy. On addiction, Erdoğan said it stands at the top of threats facing families today, covering tobacco, alcohol, drugs, gambling, social media, and new forms including screen addiction and infinite scrolling, which he said are having devastating effects on young children. He shared figures showing 1.25 billion adults globally use tobacco products and more than 8 million die annually from tobacco-related illness, warning that the age at which children start smoking in Turkey is falling. On online gambling, he said virtual betting has become a serious problem in Turkey and that an action plan launched in November is showing early signs of bringing it under control, with the government committed to pursuing illegal betting operations without letup.
🗣️ Erdoğan Tells Özel to Set Up a ‘De-Corruption Presidency’ Within CHP Instead of Criticising Ministers
President Erdoğan has hit back at CHP leader Özgür Özel in a social media post, saying that if Özel genuinely wants to be of use to the nation and to women he should stop fixating on ministerial titles and instead deal with what Erdoğan described as the corruption, bribery, extortion, and harassment scandals spreading through his party like a cancer cell. Erdoğan sardonically suggested that if Özel insists on creating a new structure, he should urgently establish a “de-corruption presidency” within CHP — thereby following his predecessor Kılıçdaroğlu’s advice about purification whilst rendering a service to citizens. Erdoğan concluded by saying CHP under its current leadership cannot escape the grip of criminal organisations formed for personal gain, and expressed sorrow that a party which prides itself on being founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk has been brought to such a sorry state — whilst expressing hope that Turkish democracy will eventually deserve a better quality opposition.
🏛️ Parliamentary Speaker Kurtulmuş: PKK Disarmament Is Delayed, Legislation Must Come Before July Recess
Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has given a wide-ranging pre-IPU General Assembly press conference in which he acknowledged delays in the PKK disarmament process, warned that the peace process legislation must pass before parliament recesses in July, and offered candid assessments of Turkey’s regional role and global realignments. On the peace process, Kurtulmuş said there is a delay in the organisation fulfilling its commitments following its dissolution declaration, with intelligence services and the military monitoring the situation, and that the critical threshold remains the organisation completing a visible and satisfactory disarmament. He said the sequencing question is less important than reaching a text all parties can endorse, and that legislation must be finalised before the July recess. On regional security, he said Gulf states are increasingly sensing that America can no longer protect them, pointing to Israeli strikes on Qatar’s delegation as the moment that message landed. He stressed Turkey’s priority is preventing the conflict from becoming a Sunni-Shia war, saying this is a national security issue that must not be inflamed by sectarian framing. On the broader global order, Kurtulmuş said NATO has weakened and bilateral relationships are gaining importance, with Turkey increasingly seen as a strong regional partner. He described the Hungary election result as something Turkey respects as a democratic outcome, whilst noting that Orbán’s Hungary remains a valued partner regardless of who governs it. On the by-election debate, he reiterated that any decision rests solely with the full parliament and that the speakership has no initiative in the matter.
🕊️ Kurtulmuş: Politics Has Done Its Part — Now the Organisation Must Do Its Part
Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has publicly acknowledged a delay in the PKK disarmament process, telling reporters ahead of the IPU General Assembly that while the political side has fulfilled its responsibilities through the commission report, the organisation has yet to follow through on its commitments. Kurtulmuş said the critical threshold is the organisation making its dissolution and disarmament visibly tangible — not just declaring it — and that MIT and the Turkish Armed Forces are monitoring the situation. Asked whether disarmament has been suspended or merely delayed, he confirmed there is a delay, adding that he suspects the organisation may be hoping to extract some advantage from regional developments by drawing out the process, but that the expectation is clear: they must honour their word as soon as possible. He warned that unfavourable developments in the international or regional environment could also affect the peace process, making speed all the more important. The IPU General Assembly itself opens tomorrow in Istanbul with 155 delegations, 77 parliamentary speakers, and 800 MPs attending — the highest participation in the assembly’s history — under the theme of fostering hope, securing peace, and ensuring justice for future generations.
📞 Fidan Speaks With Lavrov and Saudi Counterpart on Efforts to End Middle East War
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has held telephone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, with all three calls focused on efforts to bring the war sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran to an end.
Ruling Government (AKP, MHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)
🌹 Former CHP Leader Kılıçdaroğlu Visits Singer İbrahim Tatlıses in Hospital
Former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has visited singer İbrahim Tatlıses at the hospital where he is receiving treatment, accompanied by Gürsel Tekin, who was appointed to CHP’s Istanbul provincial board by court order. Kılıçdaroğlu said he found Tatlıses looking well, spent time chatting with him, and received a briefing from doctors on his condition.
⛏️ AKP MP Flees Mining Protest Site After Villagers Grab His Microphone and Demand Answers
An AKP member of parliament was heckled, had his microphone seized, and ultimately fled the scene when he attempted to address villagers in Sekü, a hamlet near Giresun’s Tirebolu district, who have been standing watch against mining exploration operations backed by an AKP MP from Iğdır. Nazım Elmas faced repeated shouts of “shame on you” as residents challenged him over the destruction caused by similar mining activity in the nearby village of Çatalağaç, asking how they could trust assurances when they had seen the consequences firsthand. When Elmas said he relies on expert reports, one villager replied that in Turkey such reports come out however those in power want them to, and that integrity is the only safeguard. After his microphone was taken and he attempted to leave, a resident told him: “You are my representative — you will listen to me.” Elmas left abruptly without answering the villagers’ questions. Locals told BirGün that every official who comes says the same things and refers them to the gendarmerie, which they described as no solution at all. The standoff began when drilling machinery was brought to the site in early April under gendarmerie escort despite a court order, with residents maintaining a round-the-clock vigil since.
🐺 Ousted MHP Deputy Leader Yönter Posts and Deletes Phoenix Lyric in Apparent Message to Party
İzzet Ulvi Yönter, the MHP deputy leader who was forced to resign at Devlet Bahçeli’s behest following a row over social media posts in which he referred to a party infiltrator and a “treacherous schemer” — remarks widely believed to have been aimed at Bahçeli’s adviser Eyüp Yıldız — has been sending pointed signals through social media. Yönter posted then quickly deleted a song lyric reading “I am a phoenix with burnt wings, I gather roses from my ashes. Even if I fall into shadow, I will be born again from the flames.” He has since continued posting stories featuring similarly defiant verses including “we will break all the traps one by one” and “these days are hard and tough but we will get through them.” The posts are being widely read as a message to the MHP leadership that Yönter does not consider himself finished.
Opposition Parties (CHP and others)
⚖️ Interior Ministry Grants Investigation Permission Against Ankara Mayor Yavaş Over Campaign Vehicle Allegations
The Interior Ministry has authorised an investigation into Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş over allegations that municipal vehicles were used at a campaign rally in Karabük during the 2023 presidential election, along with eight municipal employees. The ministry initially opened a probe against a former department head but concluded that the vehicles could not have been used for campaign purposes without the mayor’s knowledge, leading to the expanded authorisation. Yavaş has ten days to appeal to the Council of State’s First Chamber. The municipality said it will contest the decision, insisting that Yavaş maintained strict separation between public resources and political activities throughout the campaign — even forgoing his mayoral salary during the campaign period — and that when the matter was previously raised in a television programme, Yavaş himself referred it to internal inspection, which found nothing. Separately, a second investigation is under way into concert procurement spending of 759 million lira between 2021 and 2024, with inspectors alleging that 32 concert contracts were awarded at above-market prices causing an estimated 154 million lira in public loss, and that financial intelligence reports found three of the supplier firms operating from virtual offices or unrelated addresses with no employees, and that payments flowed through a chain of newly incorporated single-shareholder companies whose declared activities bore no relation to concert organisation.
⚖️ Prosecutor Seeks Acquittal for Kepez Mayor Kocagöz in Fatal Cable Car Disaster Trial
The prosecutor in the trial arising from the Antalya cable car accident of 12 April 2024 — in which one person died, seven were injured, and 174 people were rescued over 23 hours after being stranded — has called for the conviction of seven defendants on charges of causing death by negligence whilst seeking acquittal for five others including CHP Kepez Mayor Mesut Kocagöz. The prosecutor argued that Kocagöz, who was the previous board chairman of cable car operator ANET at the time of the accident, did not hold effective authority when the incident occurred. The seven defendants for whom conviction was sought include ANET’s acting general manager and several technical and operational staff. The prosecutor also sought acquittal for all defendants on the separate charge of negligently endangering traffic safety. The case involves 12 defendants and 150 complainants including relatives of the victim.
Thanks for reading this far, I will see you tomorrow. ☕