Today’s bulletin is packed, so packed I nearly pierced my other hand just carrying it to you. Keep an eye especially on the so-called “framework law,” which Öcalan has declared the dawn of a new era. Whether it’s a genuine sunrise or someone flicking the lights on, we shall see.
⚖️ Justice System and Everyday Life in Türkiye
President Erdoğan files complaint against FETÖ assassination-team member Burkay Karatepe
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s lawyer, Hüseyin Aydın, has submitted a complaint to the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against Burkay Karatepe — a FETÖ member who took part in the attempt on Erdoğan’s life in Marmaris during the 15 July 2016 coup attempt and was recently caught after ten years on a red notice — and those who helped him. The complaint requests that Karatepe and those who assisted him during his time as a fugitive be investigated and prosecuted on charges of assassinating the president, violating the constitution, undermining the unity of the state and the country’s integrity, membership of a terrorist organisation, and harbouring a criminal. It recalls that, as part of the coup attempt carried out by FETÖ members, a group including Karatepe conducted a military operation against Erdoğan, who was in Marmaris at the time, and argues that Karatepe attempted — on the instructions of the organisation’s leader Fetullah Gülen — to eliminate Erdoğan, the first popularly elected president who under the constitution represents the unity of the state and nation. The complaint states that Erdoğan is filing against the suspect both over the acts directed at his person and over those aimed at the unity of the Republic and the Turkish nation, as well as against those who provided shelter and assistance to prevent his capture over the intervening ten years.
New development in Gülistan Doku investigation: two divers who found note and scissors at dam arrested
Two underwater divers who stated that they found a note and a pair of scissors during searches of a reservoir have been arrested on a charge of “tampering with evidence” in the investigation into Gülistan Doku, the university student who disappeared in Dersim on 5 January 2020. In the inquiry conducted by the Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, a record dated 8 January 2020 noted that wet fragments of paper found in the reservoir bore a prescription made out in Doku’s name and the legible phrase that “psychological pressure was being created on us”, while a further record dated 10 January 2020 stated that a roughly 14-centimetre pair of scissors had been found in the same area. An expert report added to the file assessed that it was physically impossible for the paper fragments to have remained intact for a long period at a depth of around 14 metres without being carried off by the water’s current, and a forensic examination into how and by what process the evidence was found was launched following these findings. The two divers whose statements were taken were subsequently arrested by the court and sent to prison.
‘Conspiracy’ claim over detained former governor Sonel: alleged to have targeted then-Adıyaman governor Çuhadar to have him removed
A new allegation has been made against Tuncay Sonel, the former Tunceli governor detained as part of the Gülistan Doku investigation, claiming that he worked with a former police officer, Gökhan Ertok, to target the then-Adıyaman governor Mahmut Çuhadar through bot accounts on social media in an effort to have him removed from office. According to a report in Sözcü, Sonel — who served as coordinating governor in Adıyaman after the 6 February earthquakes — is alleged to have sought Çuhadar’s dismissal, using bot account operations organised via Ertok to try to undermine him and generating thousands of “Adıyaman governor resign” posts in an attempt to build public pressure on him. Çuhadar later left his post and stated that his resignation was due to health problems.
Beyaz TV presenter Tahir Sarıkaya, detained in Cem Küçük investigation: I used a crypto account because interest is forbidden
The prosecutor’s statement of Beyaz TV presenter Tahir Sarıkaya, detained in the investigation into journalist Cem Küçük, has emerged, in which he said he used a cryptocurrency account “because interest is forbidden” and claimed money transfers he made to Northern Cyprus were for “entertainment-purpose gaming”. Sarıkaya, the first person to be arrested in the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office investigation into Küçük, was detained on a charge of “blackmail” after the prosecution identified high-value, unexplained inflows into his bank accounts, some of which it found had been transferred to crypto-asset accounts. In his statement, Sarıkaya confirmed receiving money 21 times from Fatih Eke and 64 times from Serdar Özyurt, claiming these were payments for advertising, promotion and social media posts, but rejected as inaccurate a figure of 27.569 million lira across 320 transactions identified in his crypto account, denying any money-laundering purpose. He said he had handed 720,000 lira sent by businessman Cihan Ekşioğlu to another person at a hotel in Ankara, that he had organised meetings between Küçük and certain businesspeople and lawyers, and, while denying any direct money exchange with musician Haluk Levent or any earnings from “Nigella Coin”, said he had received 100,000 lira from Levent as a “scholarship” for his son’s school expenses. He also confirmed more than 300 transfers with İsmail Çanak, private secretary to Özyurt, attributing them to family relations and event appearances, and stated he had never used drugs or introduced men and women for gain. The article recalls that Cem Küçük was arrested on 31 July on charges of “publicly spreading misleading information” and “blackmail”, that the prosecution identified 537,800 lira in transfers across 27 transactions between Küçük and Sarıkaya, and that a secret witness alleged Sarıkaya managed Küçük’s money flows, claims Küçük rejected, saying their transactions were only debt and event payments.
Operation against Ay Group crime organisation in Istanbul: 12 suspects caught
Twelve suspects have been detained in an operation against the armed criminal organisation known as the “Ay Group”, found to have been involved in numerous armed incidents in Istanbul including the shooting and arson of businesses. In investigations coordinated by the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the organisation was found responsible for an attempted murder in Esenler on 20 July, an arson attack on a car dealership in Beşiktaş on 22 July, an arson attack on a restaurant in Sarıyer on 29 July, and a shooting at a car dealership in Kağıthane on 2 August. Acting on the prosecutor’s instructions, Istanbul police units carried out simultaneous raids at addresses identified for the capture of the organisation’s members, detaining 12 suspects, one of them under the age of 18. Searches of the suspects’ homes and workplaces yielded two unlicensed firearms, a hand grenade and two bulletproof vests, and the suspects’ processing at police headquarters is continuing.
Turks’ rate of online shopping rises by 4.3 points
Internet use among 16-to-74-year-olds in Turkey has reached 92.3 per cent this year, according to the results of the Turkish Statistical Institute’s Household Information Technologies Usage Survey 2026. The figure — up from 90.9 per cent last year in the same age group — stood at 94.8 per cent among men and 89.9 per cent among women. The rate of buying or ordering goods or services online for private use (e-commerce) rose from 55.7 per cent in 2025 to 60 per cent this year, at 63.4 per cent among men and 56.6 per cent among women, with 48.3 per cent of individuals having bought or ordered something in the last three months. The use of online public services stood at 76 per cent, highest among 25-to-34-year-olds at 93 per cent and lowest among 65-to-74-year-olds at 31.3 per cent, with accessing one’s own personal data held by authorities the leading purpose at 65.6 per cent. The share engaging in online learning for educational, professional or private purposes in the last three months rose by 5.2 points to 22.9 per cent. The most-used social media and messaging apps were WhatsApp at 90 per cent, YouTube at 77.6 per cent and Instagram at 71.1 per cent. Among internet-connected devices, internet-linked TVs led at 62 per cent, followed by connected home appliances at 18.6 per cent and wearables at 16.7 per cent. When buying a phone, tablet or computer, individuals rated price the most important feature at 89.3 per cent, ahead of hardware specifications at 74.7 per cent, energy efficiency at 69.9 per cent, and brand, design or size at 69.5 per cent.
Some roads in Istanbul’s Üsküdar to be closed to traffic
Some roads in Üsküdar are to be closed to traffic for an event to be held on 5–7 August. According to a statement from the Istanbul Police Department, the roads to be closed and the alternative routes have been set for the event taking place in Üsküdar today, tomorrow and on 7 August. All roads between the junction of Çengelköy Avenue and Kerime Hatun Camii Street and the junction of Kuleli Avenue and Yamaçlı Street, along with Çengelköy Hamam Arkası Street and Fıçı Street, will be closed to vehicle traffic from 11pm until the end of each programme. For the direction of Kuleli Avenue, drivers can use Kerime Hatun Camii, Kemalettin Tuğcu, Hür, Meşrutiyet, Havacı, Albay Üçer and Yamaçlı streets, while those heading towards Beylerbeyi Avenue will be directed to Yamaçlı, Albay Üçer, Havacı, Meşrutiyet, Şekip Ayhan Özışık and Mor Salkım streets, as well as Yalnız Selvi, Kaldırım, Zübeyde Hanım, Prof. Dr. Beynun Akyavaş and Güzeltepe avenues.
Ship traffic on the Bosphorus suspended in both directions
Ship traffic on the Bosphorus has been suspended in both directions after a Panama-flagged dry cargo ship broke down. In a statement, the General Directorate of Coastal Safety said the vessel, which had entered the strait from the north, had malfunctioned and was turned back northwards at the Büyükdere area before being taken to the Kilyos anchorage accompanied by the tugboats Kurtarma-11 and Kurtarma-3. Ship traffic on the Bosphorus was suspended in both directions owing to the rescue operation for the vessel, named “Vela Prime”.
🏛️ Politics
Erdoğan’s terror-free Turkey message: it will cement our national unity
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that the Bill on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration has been submitted to the Grand National Assembly, saying it aims to permanently rid Turkey of the terror threat and to strengthen national unity and togetherness. In a post on social media, Erdoğan said the bill — drawn up following comprehensive consultations — had been presented to parliament with broad agreement reflecting the nation’s will for a solution, and expressed his hope that this step, aimed at freeing Turkey permanently from the terror threat, cementing national unity and strengthening a climate of peace in the country and the region, would prove auspicious. He thanked the political party groups and MPs who had contributed both to finalising the bill and to the success of the process, chief among them his People’s Alliance partner, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli.
Yılmaz’s message of unity: onward with the goal of a terror-free Turkey
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said that the Bill on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration has been submitted to the Grand National Assembly, stating that the government will continue working for democracy, development and social unity with the aim of a terror-free Turkey in line with the “Turkish Century” vision. In a post on social media, Yılmaz said the bill had been presented to parliament with signatures reflecting broad agreement, wished it well, and expressed hope for the country’s continued peace and brotherhood. He said that, under the president’s leadership and with the “Turkish Century” vision, the government would continue to raise its standards on the path of democracy and development in a terror-free Turkey, and to thwart what he called imperialist traps in the region through a strong domestic front.
Supreme Military Council decisions: 63 generals and admirals sent into retirement
Under the decisions taken at the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) meeting, two generals were retired owing to age limits and 61 generals and admirals owing to a lack of posts. Chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidency, the meeting — attended by the vice president, several ministers and the force commanders — addressed promotions, appointments, retirements and extensions of service within the Turkish Armed Forces. According to the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications, the term of Naval Forces Commander Ercüment Tatlıoğlu was extended by a further year, a third such extension, while Air Forces Commander General Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu was retired owing to a lack of posts and Combat Air Force Commander General Rafet Dalkıran was appointed Air Forces Commander. With the decisions, the number of generals and admirals will rise from 328 to 334 as of 30 August. Effective from that date, 25 generals and admirals were promoted a rank and 69 colonels raised to general or admiral rank, while the terms of 24 generals were extended by a year and those of 530 colonels by two years. The two age-limit retirements take effect from 1 September and the 61 lack-of-posts retirements from 30 August. The article also lists the individual officers promoted, including Lieutenant General Erdoğan Gür to general and several major generals and rear admirals raised a rank across the land, naval and air forces.
17 million households to use domestic natural gas
Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alparslan Bayraktar, has said that domestic production, international energy partnerships and the goal of becoming a regional hub for energy trade sit at the heart of the country’s new-era strategy for strengthening its energy supply security. Bayraktar said production at the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea was being increased as planned, reaching 20 million cubic metres a day by the end of 2026 — enough for around 8 million households — with a 2028 target of 40–45 million cubic metres a day, at which point some 17 million households would be supplied with gas from Turkey’s own field. He noted that the Osman Gazi floating production platform was due to leave Filyos at the end of September for the Sakarya field, where it would support production for around 20 years, and that oil production at the Gabar field in Şırnak had risen to 83,200 barrels a day, setting new records. Turning to energy agreements with Iraq, Bayraktar said Turkish Petroleum had become a partner in significant Kirkuk oil fields after roughly 100 years, that fields with a reserve potential of around 3 billion barrels would be developed with international partners, and that the reactivated Iraq–Turkey pipeline aimed initially to carry 750,000 barrels a day to Ceyhan, with capacity potentially rising to 2–2.5 million barrels and the line possibly extended to Basra. He said cooperation with Iraq — welcomed by President Erdoğan — also covered electricity, gas and infrastructure, with bilateral trade potentially reaching 30–35 billion dollars in the medium term, and that projects were under way to carry Iraqi and Gulf gas to Europe via Turkey, aided by its high-pressure transmission line of over 20,000 kilometres and 220,000-kilometre urban network. Bayraktar also cited exploration efforts in countries from Somalia and Bulgaria to Libya, Pakistan and Azerbaijan, said the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant’s first unit aimed to produce its first test electricity by year’s end, and noted that gas storage capacity had reached 6.3–6.5 billion cubic metres — around 45 days of household consumption at peak winter — with a medium-term target of 12–13 billion.
🤝Ruling Government (AKP, MHP, CHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)
MHP’s Yıldız on the framework law: it will pass with over 430 votes
MHP deputy leader Feti Yıldız has said that the Bill on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration was submitted to the Grand National Assembly with the signatures of 360 MPs, and that it appears set to become law early next week with more than 430 votes in favour. In a statement on social media, Yıldız described the bill as one prepared with painstaking care, taking into account national and international high-court case law, doctrinal debates and examples around the world, and defining the framework of a model specific to Turkey. He said the law would enter into force after the security institutions had established that the PKK/KCK terrorist organisation and all associated formations had ended their de facto existence and surrendered all weapons and ammunition under their control, and after a National Security Council decision confirming this determination was published in the Official Gazette.
Ali Babacan’s statement on the framework law
DEVA Party leader Ali Babacan has said that the framework law does not sufficiently observe the principle of equality before the law, calling for its shortcomings to be remedied in committee. In a post on social media, and criticising the failure to share the text of the bill with the political party groups, Babacan said his party regarded the submission to parliament of a bill aimed at completing the dissolution and liquidation of the PKK/KCK terrorist organisation in all its elements, and the surrender of all weapons and ammunition under its control, as an important and positive stage, and welcomed the bill’s broad conformity with the sixth section of the jointly signed parliamentary commission report. He said, however, that he did not consider it right to collect signatures behind closed doors without presenting a final text in so vital a process, arguing that social legitimacy could only be secured through transparency, consultation and full respect for the will of parliament. Babacan called the bill’s failure to observe equality before the law — and its differing treatment of individuals — a significant shortcoming, saying the complete exclusion of other detainees, convicts and defendants in similar legal circumstances weakened the sense of justice, and expressing hope this would be remedied in committee. Reminding the government of the need to take the steps set out in the seventh section of the commission report on law, justice, democracy and freedoms, he said DEVA would continue to defend both a Turkey free of terror and violence and an understanding of resolution that made no concessions on the rule of law and equality. The report notes that the bill, prepared jointly by the AKP and MHP, was submitted to the parliamentary speaker’s office the previous day with the signatures of 360 MPs from the AKP, MHP, CHP, DEM Party, HÜDA PAR and Yeni Yol groups, including parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.
Legal scholar İzzet Özgenç warns Erdoğan: new bill grants PKK leaders amnesty without investigation
Professor İzzet Özgenç, a criminal law authority also known as a legal adviser to President Erdoğan, has sharply criticised the Bill on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration submitted to parliament on 5 August, warning that passing it in its current form would drag the state towards disaster. In an open letter to the president shared on his personal X account, Özgenç argued that the draft effectively offers terrorist organisation leaders a “conditional general amnesty”. He contended that, under the bill, those who had long directed the organisation’s activities from “Kandil” could be released without any investigation or restriction of rights and take up public office through election or appointment, and that an “enforcement judge”, at the request of a proposed Board, could allow PKK-member convicts to hold public office before their supervision period ended — turning what was framed as a special pardon into a general amnesty for some. Özgenç also warned that, although intentional killing is excluded from the bill’s scope, those who led the organisation during a period in which thousands of defenceless people were killed — and during the kidnapping and prolonged hostage-taking of many public officials — could be released without any investigation into whether they directly participated in such crimes. He further argued that the bill contained a legal contradiction in its implicit exception concerning PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan — since those who committed the offence of undermining the unity of the state from 1 June 2005 onwards could benefit while those who committed it earlier could not — criticised a provision removing all consequences of rights deprivation during the supervision period as incompatible with the legal system, and noted that the bill strikingly contained no provision on the fate of the assets under the PKK’s control.
🗳️ Opposition Parties (New Party and others)
Özel on the framework law: no change in our approach, but wrong in procedure
Yeni Party leader Özgür Özel has said there is no change in his party’s political approach to the framework law but that it has been handled in an extremely wrong way in terms of procedure and manner. The Bill on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration, submitted to the parliamentary speaker’s office to determine how the judicial and enforcement side of the process will be conducted, runs to 12 articles and provides for a five- or ten-year postponement of PKK/KCK-related investigations, cases and the execution of finalised prison sentences, without an automatic release or direct amnesty: the state must first establish that weapons have been surrendered, a National Security Council decision confirming this must be published in the Official Gazette, and those concerned must apply in writing within six months. Speaking to YetkinReport, Özel said no joint work had been carried out in preparing the bill, that the AK Party had collected signatures from its group on blank pages and sent the text to the party groups in a sealed envelope at midday, and that while his party’s delegation was still copying the text to begin its meeting, the AK Party had delivered it to the speaker’s office within half an hour — something he called contrary to the spirit of the matter, even as MPs remained free to contribute in committee. Özel reiterated his party’s reservation that the sixth and seventh sections of the commission report — the former on the penal code, the latter on democratisation, from complying with Constitutional Court and ECHR rulings to ending the trustee (”kayyım”) practice — should proceed intertwined rather than one after the other, and urged that the seventh section be prepared swiftly during the period before the surrender of weapons is confirmed. Resolving the Kurdish question, he argued, could not be achieved with the sixth section alone: while the sixth might be the technical end of one process, the seventh should be the beginning of a democratic process, of peace and of a shared future for Kurds and Turks, since an enforcement arrangement removes some consequences but not the underlying cause. He added that his party’s criminal-law experts and lawyer MPs also had technical criticisms of the bill, which they would raise separately.
Got it — no file. From now on I’ll give the headline and single-paragraph summary right here in chat, with “align justify” noted as a standing instruction (the text will wrap normally on screen, since justification only renders in an actual document).
Prosecutors draw up summary of proceedings against Yeni Party leader Özel: ‘They want to stoke anxieties’
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has announced that a summary of proceedings (”fezleke”) has been prepared against Yeni Party leader Özgür Özel on a charge of “bribery”, alleging that Özel — together with Yeni Party Malatya MP Veli Ağbaba — took bribes on a continuing basis. According to the prosecution, Özel abused his influence and authority to secure his re-nomination as a candidate for the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality in the local elections, obtaining benefits on various dates from Muhittin Böcek and his son Mustafa Gökhan Böcek, whether directly or indirectly through Ağbaba, and also obtained material benefit from Uşak mayor Özkan Yalım for use at the CHP congress; the summary was drawn up seeking the lifting of Özel’s immunity and sent to the Justice Ministry. Yeni Party figures, noting that the announcement came on the evening of the party’s first group meeting and coincided with its founding and membership campaign, cast it as intimidation designed to stoke public anxieties that the party could face an operation, that Özel could be arrested, or that donations could be seized — arguing that the tactic was backfiring, with the public rallying behind them, since it is the public that funds and houses the party. MPs including Seyit Torun, Gamze Taşcıer and Ordu MP colleagues linked the move to the party’s rise and to what they called efforts to silence the opposition since 19 March, stressing there was no concrete evidence. Group deputy chair Ali Mahir Başarır raised the matter in parliament, complaining that even advisers were being refused copies of the summaries while parts of the press published them in disregard of the presumption of innocence, and deputy speaker Tekin Bingöl, after conferring with group deputy chairs, said he would raise the issue with speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, describing the situation as having gone completely off the rails and noting that 56 summaries would not be sent to a party leader.
İYİ Party calls for framework law to be returned: it is unconstitutional
The İYİ Party has called for the framework bill submitted to parliament as part of the peace process — the Bill on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration — to be returned to its sponsors, arguing that it is unconstitutional. In a petition to the parliamentary speaker’s office signed by group deputy chairs Turhan Çömez and Uğur Poyraz, the party said its preliminary examination had found the bill to contain clear violations of the constitution’s procedural and formal rules on the legislative process, as well as of the parliamentary rules of procedure, the Turkish Penal Code, the Anti-Terror Law and the Law on the Prevention of the Financing of Terrorism. Contending that the speaker’s office is not merely an administrative body that refers bills to committees but bears responsibility for preventing clearly unconstitutional proposals from entering the legislative process, the party argued that parliament must not become a platform on which a “treacherous terrorist structure” is legitimised under the guise of legislation. It said the bill introduced special and privileged provisions for the leaders and members of the PKK/KCK — over founding and running a terrorist organisation, issuing execution orders, membership and other offences — that differ from the current penal and anti-terror laws, and that a terrorist organisation’s expected surrender of weapons was itself a consequence of that organisation achieving its political and ideological aims. Citing the organisation’s alleged attempt to overthrow the government under Article 312 of the penal code and accusations of genocide and assimilation in its so-called dissolution declaration of 12 May 2025, the petition argued that preparing, signing and submitting such a bill breached the general principles of the constitution — including articles on the qualities of the Republic, the integrity of the state, sovereignty, legislative and judicial power, equality before the law, the binding force and supremacy of the constitution, and the prohibition on abusing fundamental rights — and asked that the bill be returned to its sponsors without being processed.
First operation targeting Yeni Party: Manisa provincial chair detained
İlksen Özalper, the Yeni Party’s Manisa provincial chair, has been detained as part of an ongoing investigation, in what is the first operation directed at a Yeni Party politician. According to information obtained, Özalper was detained by police and processing at police headquarters is continuing. Yeni Party Manisa MP Ahmet Vehbi Bakırlıoğlu reacted to the incident on social media, writing that their provincial chair Özalper had been detained — “first Demirhan, then Cem and Anıl, and now İlksen Özalper” — and saying the party knew what the aim was and was aware of a “dirty game”, vowing that their struggle would continue to the end and that “Chair İlksen is not alone”.
Dedetaş’s message after vote: ‘Sometimes the best answers are given without talking too much’
Sinem Dedetaş, the detained Üsküdar mayor suspended from office, has congratulated CHP member Sibel Tan Çetinkaya on being elected acting mayor by the municipal council, writing on social media that “sometimes the best answers are given without talking too much” and adding: “Thank you Üsküdar, congratulations Chair Sibel!” The council convened to choose an acting mayor after Dedetaş was arrested and suspended by the Interior Ministry, with the CHP’s Çetinkaya standing against the People’s Alliance candidate Dündar Ziya Gültekin. Çetinkaya led the first two rounds with 26 votes to Gültekin’s 16, but the required qualified majority was not reached; a fall in her votes and a rise in invalid ballots in the third round caused tensions among CHP council members that were captured on camera and prompted a break, after which she was elected in the fourth round with 22 votes to Gültekin’s 18. Çetinkaya said they would continue the struggle until Dedetaş returned to office, describing her as a “Republican woman” who does not fear, and pledging to return the public’s trust untarnished. The report recalls that Dedetaş, her private secretary, an architect and a contractor were detained in a 29 July operation and arrested over allegations of “bribery” and “establishing and running a criminal organisation”, with the prosecution alleging that Dedetaş led a profit-oriented crime organisation, took money in exchange for occupancy permits, directed all processes on her own instructions, and forced contractors to sign contracts with the municipal company Kent A.Ş. The prosecutor’s office said the investigation began following tip-offs, victim statements and the accounts of suspects benefiting from effective remorse provisions, and alleged that consultancy contracts worth a total of about 1.079 billion lira were signed, of which some 361 million lira had been collected.
Acting mayor chosen at Üsküdar Municipality
The CHP’s candidate Sibel Tan Çetinkaya has been elected acting mayor of Üsküdar by the municipal council, following the arrest of mayor Sinem Dedetaş. Dedetaş had been arrested on Friday evening as part of an investigation by the Istanbul Anatolia Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and suspended from office by the Interior Ministry. Çetinkaya won the roughly five-hour election, marked at times by rising tension and disputes, taking 22 of the valid votes in the fourth round against 18 for the People’s Alliance candidate Dündar Ziya Gültekin. Speaking outside the municipality afterwards, Yeni Party Istanbul founding provincial chair Özgür Çelik accused members of the ruling party of trying to override the national will by using the power of state institutions to organise the vote. Çelik gave a round-by-round account, saying Çetinkaya had led the first two rounds 26 to 17 and 26 to 16, but that in the third round “threats, pressure and blackmail” came into play as part of what he called an “insidious plan” — including scheduling the vote for 8am, which he said had never been done in Istanbul before — with council members and their families allegedly threatened between operations, and various offers and figures discussed, before Çetinkaya was elected in the fourth round with 22 votes to 18. The report recalls that Dedetaş and three others were arrested in a 29 July operation over allegations of bribery and running a criminal organisation.
Menderes deputy mayor Rüzgar Sönmez detained
Rüzgar Sönmez, deputy mayor of Menderes, who was subject to an arrest warrant in the investigation into Menderes Municipality, has been detained. In a statement, the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the operation to detain Sönmez — who had been sought as a fugitive — was carried out by JASAT units of the provincial gendarmerie command with support from the MİT intelligence service and police intelligence. The prosecutor’s office had launched an operation against the municipality the previous day as part of a “bribery” and “extortion” investigation, detaining mayor İlkay Çiçek, council members Emre Pala and Ferdi Hepyılmaz, and numerous municipal staff. The investigation was reportedly begun following a tip-off alleging irregularities involving certain properties in the Menderes district, and a social media message in which Çiçek is said to have stated that he took his share not himself but through his driver was assessed as evidence that he had committed bribery, while voice recordings of the zoning director are also in the file. According to the prosecutor’s statement, 16 suspects were identified — including the mayor — on charges including establishing and belonging to a criminal organisation, bribery, extortion, forgery of official documents, abuse of office and causing zoning pollution; 13 were detained in the simultaneous operation, with efforts continuing to catch three others.
Lüleburgaz mayor Murat Gerenli announces resignation from CHP
Murat Gerenli, mayor of Lüleburgaz, has announced that he is resigning from the CHP, citing developments that “began with the absolute nullity process” and the recent appointments made to the party’s Kırklareli provincial organisation as his reasons. In a statement on social media, Gerenli said he was leaving the CHP because these developments did not accord with his principles, values and understanding of political ethics, and pledged to continue serving the people of Lüleburgaz — as he had promised on first taking office — in the light of Atatürk’s principles and reforms, committed to the universal values of social democracy, and with a transparent and accountable approach.