⚖️ Justice System and Everyday Life in Türkiye
Two tourists detained at Hagia Sophia
Legal proceedings have been launched against two people accused of loudly reading the Bible in the visitor section of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul. Istanbul Police Directorate teams determined on 14 July that two people were reading the Bible aloud in the visitor section of the mosque. Officers went to the area and detained I.F., 32, and V.F., 36, who were found to have come to Türkiye as tourists. Proceedings were launched against them on a charge of inciting the public to hatred and enmity, and they were handed over to the Provincial Migration Administration.
Justice Minister Gürlek on AHBAP investigation: donations must be accountable
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek has commented on the investigation into the AHBAP Association, in which 14 people including Haluk Levent have been remanded in custody, stressing that donations must be transparently audited and that the judicial process is being conducted on the basis of concrete evidence and legal rules rather than pressure from social media. Gürlek said all structures operating on donations must be accountable to the public, that account must be given for where and for what purpose every kuruş collected in donations was spent, and that no body operating on the nation’s trust could consider itself exempt from state oversight. Saying the investigation was proceeding within a legal framework, he objected to judicial processes being turned into the focus of ideological disputes, describing as futile any attempt to pressure independent courts by dragging judicial processes onto ideological ground. Gürlek stressed that the Turkish judiciary made its decisions according to law and evidence rather than agendas manufactured on social media, hashtag campaigns or perception operations, and said it would illuminate the process meticulously and in full, leaving no room for doubt, and that citizens should rest assured. His remarks came amid continuing public debate following the investigation and arrests, with the ministry conveying the message that the judicial process was being conducted by independent courts within legal procedures.
Drugs operation targets celebrities
Detention orders have been issued for 25 people, including the pop singer Sıla and the producer Fatih Aksoy, in a drugs investigation being conducted by the Istanbul Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, with nine people detained so far in the gendarmerie operation. In a statement, the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said that, as part of the fight against narcotics threatening public health and safety, evidence supporting reasonable suspicion had been obtained that suspects known publicly as artists, actors, businesspeople and venue operators had used narcotic and stimulant substances, facilitated their use and provided premises for them. The Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command was instructed to detain and search the 25 suspects, carry out biological tests, take their statements and then present them to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Among the 25 names on the list shared by prosecutors are İlyas Yalçıntaş, Mehmet Fatih Aksoy, Ateş İnce, Ayşe Nur Balcı, Burak Çelik, Volkan Büyükhanlı, Sıla Gençoğlu and Melis Selçukoğlu.
New development in Gülistan Doku investigation: armoured-vehicle records requested
The Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested information and documents on all armoured vehicles used by the police and gendarmerie in Dersim on 5 January 2020, along with the personnel who served in them, as part of the investigation into Gülistan Doku. In a request for information and documents, the prosecutor’s office drew attention to the possibility that armoured vehicles belonging to the police and gendarmerie under the Tunceli Governor’s Office might have been involved in the incident, to be added to the case file in the investigation into the former Tunceli governor, the jailed Tuncay Sonel. According to the prosecutor’s letter reported by Sabah, it asked for all armoured vehicles used by police and gendarmerie units in the provincial centre on 5 January 2020 — including Ejder Yalçın, Kirpi, Cobra, Akrep, Ural and Shortland types — to be identified and sent as a list. The letter also sought the vehicles’ distinguishing features, requesting that their official and civilian number plates and colours be determined, and asked that the personnel who served in them be identified, with the full identity and service records of all staff established. It further requested the duty orders of all armoured vehicles deployed at or near the scene — including ring roads — on the day, whether on patrol or with right of passage, and asked that certified true copies of the armoured-vehicle entry and exit logs for 5 January 2020 be obtained from the relevant units and guard posts and sent.
🏛️ Politics
Minister Uraloğlu: era of domestic ship tracking begins in the Eastern Mediterranean
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu has announced that a system set up in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as part of the Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services project, run by the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs, will enter service on 20 July, saying it would protect Türkiye’s interests in the “Blue Homeland” and allow uninterrupted monitoring of ship traffic in the maritime area between the seas around the TRNC and Türkiye. In a written statement, Uraloğlu said final preparations were under way to bring the completed system into service, that construction, hardware installation and software integration had been finished, and that from 20 July ship traffic in the TRNC’s maritime jurisdiction would be effectively monitored. He said the project would further strengthen Türkiye’s presence in the Eastern Mediterranean and that the software and critical hardware, developed entirely with domestic and national means, would reinforce the country’s technological independence in the field. Noting that the project was run by the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs with HAVELSAN as contractor, he said the Vessel Traffic Services Centre established in Gazimağusa (Famagusta) and the traffic surveillance stations at Karpaz, Sadrazamköy and Çayırova had been integrated into the system, that automatic identification system (AIS) data at Selvitepe had been integrated with AIS and radar data at Kantara, and that remote backup and console installations had been carried out at the Mersin Vessel Traffic Services Centre. Uraloğlu said the surveillance stations were among the system’s main components, providing round-the-clock monitoring through radars, cameras, communication equipment, AIS systems and other sensors, so that any vessel within the service’s scope would be detected instantly and the data transmitted simultaneously to both the centre in the TRNC and the Mersin centre; the radars, he said, were SERDAR 7M units produced by ASELSAN with domestic and national means. He said the system would contribute to identifying vessels, monitoring and regulating traffic, transmitting navigational information and warnings, controlling sensitive areas, monitoring illegal activities, issuing danger warnings, informing relevant institutions in emergencies such as accidents and fires, and sharing meteorological data with vessels when needed.
Defence Ministry statement on S-400
The Ministry of National Defence has announced that work on the process of disposing of the S-400 air defence system is continuing on multiple fronts, adding that concrete developments regarding any sale or transfer will be shared with the public. Ministry spokesperson and press adviser Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk spoke at the weekly press briefing held at HAVELSAN, saying regarding the possible sale of the S-400 long-range regional air and missile defence system — bought from Russia and the cause of a crisis with the United States over F-35s — that work was continuing on multiple fronts and that concrete developments would be shared with the public when they arose. The decision to dispose of the system came after the NATO summit in Ankara. The United States imposed sanctions on Türkiye after Ankara bought the S-400 from Russia in 2019, and Türkiye was consequently removed from the F-35 next-generation fighter jet programme of which it was a part. On a resolution adopted in the European Parliament concerning Cyprus, the ministry said it strongly rejected what it called the baseless, irrational and base claims targeting the Turkish Armed Forces over the 1974 Peace Operation — which, it said, saved the Turkish Cypriot people from annihilation following systematic attacks, massacres and forced displacement on the island — and rejected the resolution itself, arguing that it ignored the massacres, mass graves and years of inhumane attacks suffered by the Turkish Cypriot people and was a clear sign of a one-sided approach based on Greek Cypriot propaganda.
NATO summit brought 900 million lira to Ankara’s economy
The 36th NATO summit of heads of state and government, hosted by Türkiye, generated significant economic activity in the tourism and service sectors, contributing around 900 million lira to the capital’s economy through accommodation, food and drink, transport, shopping and other spending. Ankara hosted the summit for the first time on 7-8 July, bringing vitality to the city’s tourism economy. Ankara provincial culture and tourism director Erhan Karakaya said hosting one of the world’s largest organisations was an important gain for the city, that the capital’s accommodation infrastructure could comfortably handle events of this scale, and that all sector representatives from hotels to small tradespeople had managed the event successfully, with the summit concluding with high guest satisfaction. He said three separate plans had been drawn up during the summit for heads of state, international press members and Defence Industry Forum participants, with separate working groups formed at hotels under the coordination of the Presidency and the Foreign Ministry. Some 23 hotels, most of them five-star, were planned for the event, hosting around 5,500 guests within the coordination arrangements, with the total number of foreign guests across the city during the summit reaching around 7,000 when other hotels were included. Karakaya said around 600 million lira in revenue was earned across the 23 hotels, and that with the food and drink sector, small tradespeople, shopping centres and other commercial activity included, the total economic contribution in the 1-8 July period reached 800-900 million lira — roughly a sixfold increase on the same period last year, which he said was normal for such summits. He stressed that international events brought more than short-term economic gains, contributing to Ankara’s international promotion and encouraging new tourism investment, and pointed to the importance of the city gaining more quality accommodation. Karakaya said English and Turkish promotional brochures with QR codes had been prepared and distributed for foreign press and delegations, that some guests had visited Ankara Castle, the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations and other historic sites and shopped from local tradespeople despite the busy schedule, and that preparations had begun for the 13th Organisation of Turkic States summit of heads of state in October, which he said would crown Ankara’s title as Cultural Capital of the Turkic World.
15 July digital memory portal ‘15temmuz.bik.gov.tr’ goes live
The Press Advertising Authority has launched a digital portal recording the first-hand testimonies of journalists who were on duty on the night of 15 July, alongside sections featuring the headlines of the time, 15 July through the eyes of young communicators, and a chronology. The “Digital Memory Portal”, opened to the public to mark the tenth anniversary of the 15 July coup attempt, is a comprehensive digital archive created to pass on the Turkish press’s testimony of the events to future generations, bringing together under one roof content ranging from the headlines of the period and interviews with journalists to the outputs of a journalism workshop and a chronology of the night. The portal aims to document the period from the perspective of the press and to provide a lasting resource for academic, professional and social memory, and is structured under four main headings. Its most comprehensive section, “Witnesses of the Headline”, features more than 60 written and video interviews with editors-in-chief, editors, news directors, page secretaries, photojournalists and cameramen who were on duty across the country that night, recording what happened, the news-production process and the professional struggle against the coup attempt as a documentary-style series, with the interview content linked to the relevant newspaper front pages so that visitors can hear a journalist’s personal memory of the night and see how it was reflected on the next morning’s pages. A further section brings together the newspaper headlines published after the coup attempt, while the “15 July Headlines Journalism Workshop” — held in cooperation with seven universities representing the country’s seven regions — brought future journalists together with the meaning and responsibility of 15 July, with participants designing their own original headlines. A final section presents a chronology setting out the developments hour by hour, from the first moments of the coup attempt to the point at which the will of the nation regained control.
BİSAM: hunger threshold tops 36,000 lira, poverty threshold exceeds 119,000 lira
The United Metal Workers’ Class Research Centre (BİSAM) has published its July 2026 hunger and poverty report, finding that the minimum spending a family of four needs for healthy nutrition — the hunger threshold — stands at 36,324 lira, while the poverty threshold, calculated on the basis of household consumption spending, has reached 119,330 lira. Milk and dairy products made up the highest daily cost group at 432.46 lira, followed by vegetables and fruit at 275.04 lira. Red meat, fish and chicken stood out at 198.06 lira, while spending was calculated at 24.70 lira for eggs, 26.81 lira for pulses, 18.83 lira for the rice, bulgur, pasta and flour group, 86.67 lira for bread, 78.42 lira for oil, 37.76 lira for sugar, honey, jam and molasses, and 32.05 lira for nuts. Milk and dairy products made up 35.7 per cent of daily spending, the fruit and vegetable group 22.7 per cent, the meat, egg and pulse group 23.3 per cent, and the bread and grain group 8.7 per cent. According to the report, the limited rise in the hunger threshold stemmed mainly from price increases in solid and liquid oils and nuts, while price falls in the cheese and in the meat, chicken and fish groups curbed the increase.
70 per cent of coffee consumption in Türkiye now takes place at home
According to research by Versuni, around 70 per cent of coffee consumption in Türkiye now takes place at home, with the study showing that traditional coffee culture has not been erased but rather enriched and layered by new-generation coffee habits. Traditional Turkish coffee is made in 53 per cent of homes. The company said Turkish consumers saw coffee not merely as a need but as a personalised experience shaped by mood, the time of day and the social setting, with taste and aroma the most important factors in their choices. Versuni said Türkiye’s relationship with coffee differed significantly from other markets: whereas in Western markets coffee mostly serves to start the day, Türkiye belonged to an “Eastern-type coffee culture” in which coffee is spread throughout the day and carries strong social meaning. According to the research, 72 per cent of Turkish consumers associated coffee with particular emotions and associations, against a global average of 61 per cent; 80 per cent said offering good coffee made a guest feel special, and 55 per cent linked coffee with shaking off the day’s fatigue. Beyond a single type of coffee, homes now consume a wide range: alongside traditional Turkish coffee in 53 per cent of homes, latte is prepared in 40 per cent, filter coffee in 33 per cent and cold coffee in 31 per cent. Changing lifestyles and growing technological means have turned homes into experience centres, with the roughly 70 per cent share of home consumption the clearest sign of this shift. Today’s consumer does not settle for the standard: 61 per cent expected the coffee they made at home to be as good as that in cafés, 69 per cent prioritised flavour while 55 per cent also expected speed, and 52 per cent changed their coffee choice according to their mood — indicating, the company said, that home coffee machines now need to offer a far more flexible, smart and varied menu.
Passenger numbers at Zafer Airport for June 2026 astonish
Zafer Airport drew barely any custom in the first half of 2026, a period for which a guarantee of 658,866 passengers had been given, with just 40,829 passengers using it between January and June — a deviation of 97 per cent from the guarantee. The first attempt to build the airport was made on 20 January 2010, but no one bid in the build-operate-transfer tender published that month, and the first tender was cancelled on 7 April 2010. After the project was altered following the lack of bids, a new tender was held on 18 May 2010 and won by the sole bidder, IC İçtaş İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret AŞ, in return for an operating period of 29 years and 11 months. Built at a total cost of €50m with an annual capacity of 2 million passengers, the airport opened on 24 November 2012 at a ceremony attended by the then prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Under the airport’s implementation contract, the operating company was guaranteed fee revenue of €2 per departing domestic passenger and €10 per international passenger. According to a report by Mustafa Bildircin for BirGün, the airport’s total passenger guarantee — 850,000 in 2013, comprising 500,000 domestic and 350,000 international — had reached 1,318,033 by 2026, made up of 775,137 domestic and 542,596 international. Zafer has become a symbol of the damage the build-operate-transfer model has done to the budget, its lavish annual passenger guarantee not met in a single month since 2012. It did not break that tradition in 2026: against a six-month guarantee of 658,866 passengers for the January-June period, just 40,829 passengers used the airport in the first half of the year. Some €50m was spent building the airport, whose transfer to public ownership is set by the contract for 2044, with payments to be made until then calculated at €208m.
Will his extradition be sought? Decision point in the US for Zarrab
The sentence of Rıza Sarraf — tried in the United States on charges of breaching US sanctions on Iran and who cooperated with the authorities after turning state’s witness — has formally come to an end, with uncertainty remaining over whether Türkiye will seek his extradition. According to a report by Yılmaz Polat for Cumhuriyet, Sarraf, a money launderer known by various names — Rıza Sarraf on his Turkish identity papers, Reza Zarrab on his Iranian ID, “Aaron Goldsmith” on a US-approved temporary identity card after turning informant, and the nickname “Richard Ferrari” in Miami horse-racing circles, as well as the “Turkish Gatsby” for his billion-dollar luxury life in Türkiye — was arrested in 2016 and tried without detention after cooperating. The court ruled that the time he had spent in prison was sufficient, on the grounds that he had provided “high-level cooperation”, including testimony that he had paid millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Türkiye to facilitate the sanctions-busting scheme. Sarraf had spoken about numerous figures, among them ministers, saying he had bribed former Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and that Çağlayan had demanded a half share of the profits from trade with Iran. Sarraf is known to hold Turkish, Iranian and Macedonian citizenship. As he has no legal basis to remain in the United States, it is unclear in which country he will continue his life; whether the US will grant him residence, and how much money he took there and whether it would be enough to set up a business and obtain a green card, are not known. Türkiye and the United States have an extradition treaty, but it contains exceptions — such as citizenship and political offences — that prevent or complicate extradition.
🤝Ruling Government (AKP, MHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)
MHP leader Bahçeli receives national footballer Demiral
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has received the national footballer Merih Demiral. In a post on the MHP’s social media account, the party said that Demiral, one of the players of the national football team, had visited Bahçeli in his office and presented him with his personal shirt.
AKP figures’ 15 July row rumbles on: Aydın Ünal’s striking words on “Varank”
A row over the 2016 coup attempt among AKP figures on the X platform is continuing, with AKP member Aydın Ünal making a striking post in support of Bursa MP Mustafa Varank in his dispute with former Culture and National Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik. Varank, one of the AKP’s founders’ targets, had used harsh words against Çelik, describing him on X as being on a “leash” and a “FETÖ postman”. In his post, Varank said that in the period when private tutoring centres were being closed, the Gezi events erupted and the 17-25 December operations were being staged, he and others had been fighting FETÖ and exposing it, and that Çelik had come to them under the AKP roof to say that “Mother Melek” — the mother of the fugitive Akın İpek, alleged to have been FETÖ’s financier — was very upset and that if they continued there was no telling what might happen to them, which Varank characterised as a threat. He said he and others were subsequently targeted by name by Fethullah Gülen himself, had their phones unlawfully tapped, were inserted into doctored audio recordings and had their names woven into the frame-up cases in an attempt to convict them, adding that he well knew what kind of “Akın İpek leash-wearer” and “FETÖ postman” Çelik — who now delivered speeches on democracy and law on opposition screens — was, and where his rancour came from. Çelik, one of the AKP’s founders known for his recent critical stances towards the government, replied on X that history was not recorded through lies and slander, calling the claim that he had threatened Varank an utter and base lie: the date Varank referred to was 2013, he said, after which he had continued as an AKP deputy chair and party spokesman for about two more years, asking why, if such a threat had occurred, Varank had stayed silent at the time. Çelik said his own statements made openly on television on the night of the coup attempt were on the record for anyone wishing to know where he stood, that history could not be recorded through insult and slander based on fabricated memories years later, and that the “wretched mindset” trying to silence and discredit every legitimate critic by branding them a “FETÖ member” was beneath him. Ünal, backing Varank, said he had posted his own tweets on 18 November 2013, when FETÖ was at the height of its power, and that a month later they had planned to include him in the 25 December file and arrest him, with Gülen personally singling out him and Varank by name. In those days, he said, they feared not the death threats of FETÖ members but the complaints of those close to them that they were “sowing discord” and “insulting Hocaefendi”; those same people later rose to important positions and then accused them of being FETÖ members, so that they even had to give statements to prosecutors. It did not matter, Ünal said, adding that they had fought a fine and thoroughly justified fight, and that, thank God, the country and the nation had won.
🗳️ Opposition Parties (CHP and others)
Adnan Beker files criminal complaint and 5-lira damages suit against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
Independent MP Adnan Beker has filed a criminal complaint against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu over his use of the phrase “dirty man” about him, and has also brought a suit for 5 lira in moral damages. Beker, the Ankara MP who resigned from the CHP, sought both a criminal investigation and moral damages over Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks. In the complaint submitted to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office by Beker’s lawyer, it was stated that Kılıçdaroğlu’s descriptions of Beker on a live broadcast as a “dirty man” and “a person with dirty relationships”, and similar phrases, targeted his personal rights, damaged his reputation in the public eye and constituted an offence. The complaint argued that the phrases rested on no concrete fact, contained grave accusations directly targeting the individual and exceeded the limits of freedom of expression, and noted that Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks had reached wide audiences through television and social media, thereby violating Beker’s personal rights and humiliating him publicly; it requested that an investigation be conducted and a public case opened against Kılıçdaroğlu on charges including insult. Beker also filed a suit for moral damages at the Ankara Civil Court of First Instance, arguing that the remarks amounted to an attack on his personal rights, exceeded the limits of political criticism and harmed his standing in society, and claiming 5 lira in moral damages under the Turkish Civil Code and the Turkish Code of Obligations. The dispute arose after Kılıçdaroğlu, on a TV100 programme on 13 July 2026, questioned what business Beker had within the CHP, called him a man who had not voted for the party in the presidential election and a “dirty man”, challenged him to open a case so that he could recount his “dirtiness” in court, and said the CHP was a party of moral people.
CHP council member caught with 5kg of drugs resigns
A CHP council member for Talas municipality in Kayseri has resigned after being caught by gendarmerie teams with around 5kg of drugs. Following work by the Provincial Gendarmerie Command’s anti-narcotics branch, a vehicle was stopped in the Kocasinan district, and a search carried out by teams from the anti-narcotics branch, the intelligence branch and the Himmetdede gendarmerie station uncovered 5kg of drugs and a cannabis grinder. The driver who had entered the city with the drugs in the vehicle was identified as A.C.A., a CHP Talas municipal council member, who was detained and resigned from his seat on the council.
Buğra Gökçe lays bare the injustice in the İBB case
Buğra Gökçe, the jailed head of the Istanbul Planning Agency (İPA), has prepared a report following the end of the first session of the İBB case, writing that “organisation membership” stood out as the charge under which the most defendants remained in custody. In a letter sent to BirGün, Gökçe shared his report on the first session, noting that those tried on the allegation of organisation membership were held in custody more than any other. The first session of the case, held by the Istanbul 33rd Heavy Penal Court in the hall opposite the Marmara prison and begun amid disputes on 9 March, ended in further disputes on 8 July with the removal of Ekrem İmamoğlu from the courtroom. Over this period, hearings were held on 64 days and 89 defendants came to the stand to give their defence; the case, which began with 407 defendants in custody, saw that number rise to 414 with new additions, while 57 defendants were released under interim rulings, leaving 53 in custody as of now. The next monthly custody review is set for 9 August and the second session for 17 August. According to BirGün, the release and custody statistics Gökçe compiled by charge revealed under which accusations detention rulings were most concentrated. All three defendants facing no allegation of any act were released; among those facing a single alleged act, 36 were released and 11 kept in custody; among those facing two, seven were released and eight held; and among those facing three or four, three were released and six held. The most striking picture emerged among defendants facing five or more alleged acts: of 36, 28 remained in custody and only eight were released. Custody was most concentrated on the charges of membership of a criminal organisation and bribery: of 65 defendants accused of organisation membership, 22 were released and 43 kept in custody, making it the charge under which the most remained held, while for bribery three were released and 17 held — though the balance reversed for those accused of mediating, aiding or attempting bribery, of whom 10 were released and seven held. On the charge of rigging tenders, one of the broadest in the file, the numbers were close, with 22 released and 23 kept in custody; for aggravated fraud against a public institution there were 3 releases against 12 custody rulings, and for extortion in office two were released and six held. The charge under which releases most outnumbered those held was the unlawful dissemination of personal data, with 12 released and four held. By contrast, laundering assets derived from crime stood at two released and seven held, laundering criminal proceeds at six released and 17 held, and forgery of official documents at two released and eight held. A similar picture emerged on environmental and mining charges: violating the Mining Law, the Forest Law, causing environmental pollution and violating the Tax Procedure Law each stood at two released and eight held.
Investigation launched into Nasuh Mahruki
An investigation has been launched into Nasuh Mahruki over a social media post about 15 July, and shortly afterwards a detention order was issued for him. The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had launched an investigation of its own motion into the former AKUT chairman over the post. In its statement, the office said an investigation had been launched of its own motion over a post about the 15 July coup attempt made by a user named Nasuh Mahruki on a social media platform. A detention order was subsequently issued as part of the investigation, with the office saying instructions had been given to detain Ali Nasuh Mahruki — who it said had made baseless claims about the coup attempt via the X account under that name — on a charge of inciting the public to hatred and enmity or of denigration under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code. Mahruki, born in Istanbul on 21 May 1968, graduated from Bilkent University’s business faculty in 1992 after attending Şişli Terakki High School, took up mountaineering in 1988 at Bilkent University’s nature sports society and chaired it for three years, and is also involved in caving, scuba diving, paragliding, motor sports, cycling and sailing. A founding member of AKUT, he resigned as chairman and board member of the search-and-rescue association on 28 November 2016 and, by a decision taken in 2019, also resigned from his honorary chairmanship.