What’s happening in Türkiye ?

Justice System and Everyday Life in Türkiye

🔔 Back to School: 18 Million Pupils Return After Nine-Day Break

Approximately 18 million primary and secondary school students across Türkiye returned to their desks today after the second mid-term break of the 2025–2026 academic year. The holiday, which began on 16 March, stretched to nine days thanks to the overlap with Eid al-Fitr and the weekend. The current school year is due to end on Friday 26 June.

💧 Reservoir Levels Across Türkiye’s Big Three Cities: Istanbul at 49%, İzmir 66%, Ankara a Worrying 28%

Recent rainfall has begun to replenish reservoirs serving Türkiye’s three largest cities, though levels vary considerably. Istanbul’s dams stand at an average of 49.32 per cent capacity as of 23 March, with Elmalı the fullest at 89.5 per cent and Pabuçdere the lowest at 28.4 per cent. İzmir is in a healthier position at 65.96 per cent overall, boosted by Ürkmez reservoir sitting at 100 per cent, though the major Tahtalı dam is only 40 per cent full and Gördes lags at 28 per cent. Ankara presents the most concerning picture, with a combined fill rate of just 27.56 per cent and usable water at only 19.13 per cent; while Kargalı and Kesikköprü are both brimming at 100 per cent, the capital’s largest reservoir at Çamlıdere is only 23 per cent full and Türkşerefli sits at a precarious 5.2 per cent. All figures were published by the cities’ respective water authorities — İSKİ, İZSU and ASKİ.

🥩 Horse, Donkey and Mule Meat Found in Products Across Seven Provinces, Ministry Reveals

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has published the names of businesses caught selling meat products containing undeclared equine meat — from horses, donkeys and mules — following inspections carried out across Türkiye. The establishments added to the ministry’s official “foods posing a health risk” list on 12 March span seven provinces. In Mersin, equine meat was detected in kavurma served at the metropolitan municipality’s soup kitchen, in red meat from Hakan Et Market and in raw lamb mince from Hürriyet Et Market. In Sakarya, it was found in a branded beef sausage produced by Kartal Et, while İzmir saw detections in beef köfte, raw pide filling and a branded beef sausage across three separate businesses in Kınık, Bornova and Torbalı. Further cases were identified in a cooked beef döner in Ankara’s Etimesgut district, in red meat sold in Adana’s Yüreğir district and in branded beef kavurma in Kayseri’s Kocasinan district. The revelations come amid a widening food-fraud scandal that earlier this month saw the meat of a champion racehorse traced to a municipal soup kitchen in Mersin.

🔫 Young Footballer Killed in Shooting Meant for Rapper — Singer İzzet Yıldızhan Among Ten Detained

A widening murder investigation in Istanbul’s Ümraniye district has seen ten people taken into custody — including well-known singer İzzet Yıldızhan — after 21-year-old footballer Kubilay Kaan Kundakçı was shot dead while sitting in a car. Kundakçı had reportedly been acting as a go-between to help rapper Vahap Canbay reconcile with his ex-girlfriend, Aleyna Kalaycıoğlu. Detectives believe the intended target was Canbay himself, but the gunman — identified as Alaattin Kadayıfçıoğlu, son of businessman Bilal Kadayıfçıoğlu — hit Kundakçı instead when he opened fire on the vehicle. Kalaycıoğlu was allegedly in the same car as the shooter at the time of the attack, and both she and her mother Zuhal Kalaycıoğlu are now being questioned on suspicion of incitement to murder. The elder Kadayıfçıoğlu has also been detained, while his son was reportedly preparing to flee the country when police recovered the suspected murder weapon at an address in Beşiktaş. Mobile phones belonging to all ten suspects have been seized for examination and the investigation is continuing.

Politics

🏛️ Parliament Returns to Packed Agenda: Tax Overhaul and Costlier Paid Military Exemption on the Table

The Turkish Grand National Assembly reconvenes this week after a one-week recess with a heavy legislative programme ahead. MPs are expected to begin debate on an omnibus bill containing a raft of tax amendments and a 25 per cent increase in the fee for paid military-service exemption, which would rise to 417,000 lira. All eyes will also be on the first preparatory steps towards drafting a so-called “code law” linked to the reconciliation process, with group coordinators from parties represented on the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission due to meet under the chairmanship of parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.

🌐 Fidan’s Three-Day Gulf Tour: Backing for Allies, a Warning to Tehran, and a Push to Keep Washington Focused on Peace

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan completed a whirlwind Gulf tour — Riyadh on 18 March, Doha on the 19th, Abu Dhabi on the 20th — that served as Türkiye’s first high-level diplomatic circuit since the war began on 28 February, delivering a series of carefully calibrated messages to all sides. In Riyadh, Fidan joined a Saudi-hosted meeting of twelve foreign ministers that produced a joint communiqué condemning Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Gulf Cooperation Council states, Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Jordan, invoking the UN Charter’s Article 51 self-defence right should the attacks continue — though Fidan reportedly secured the insertion of a clause identifying Israel as the root cause of the wider crisis. Speaking in Doha, he made the point explicit, stating that while Iran must halt its missile strikes he would not accept a framing that singled out Tehran alone, and revealed he had bluntly told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Arakaçi by phone to stop firing missiles at Riyadh while twelve foreign ministers were meeting there. Fidan assessed that Gulf capitals believed the war could last another two to three weeks but said the decisive variable was Washington’s posture, warning that Israel would try to prevent a swift ceasefire and that a widening gap between US and Israeli positions risked prolonging the conflict. He visited the Turkish military base in Qatar to underscore Ankara’s commitment to Gulf security, signalled that defence-industry cooperation — including potential Saudi involvement in the KAAN fighter-jet programme — would deepen as regional states reassess their security needs, and said trust in Türkiye had grown since the war began owing to its refusal to equivocate. A separate four-way meeting in Riyadh with Saudi, Pakistani and Egyptian counterparts reignited speculation about a possible military alliance, though Turkish diplomatic sources said no formal pact was on the table, describing the format instead as a useful mechanism for “regional ownership” of shared problems. Following the tour, Fidan continued shuttle diplomacy on 22 March with calls to Iranian, American, Qatari, Saudi, Pakistani, Egyptian and EU officials.

📰 BirGün Reporter İsmail Arı Jailed for “Spreading Misleading Information” — Paper Vows to Fight On

BirGün newspaper reporter İsmail Arı, known for his investigative coverage of irregularities in public institutions, has been arrested and sent to Sincan Prison on charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information.” Arı was detained at around 10pm on 21 March in the town of Turhal in Tokat province, where he was visiting family for the holiday, and driven 450 kilometres to Ankara overnight. After hours of questioning at police headquarters, the prosecution sent him to a magistrate’s court without first taking a formal statement, requesting his remand in custody. The court ordered his detention late on the evening of 22 March, citing social media posts, a video from three months earlier and a statement from the government’s Disinformation Combat Centre as grounds for “strong suspicion of guilt.” The wording of the ruling drew attention for its unusual phrasing. Arı, who managed to relay a message through his lawyers during custody, said he had been targeted for a year and that his file appeared to have been padded with old material to justify his detention, adding simply: “My only crime is practising journalism in this country. Journalism is not a crime.” BirGün’s editorial coordinator Yaşar Aydın, speaking outside the courthouse, called the decision a thinly veiled instruction from above, saying the court itself appeared unable to identify a concrete offence. He vowed the paper would not be silenced, telling those who ordered the arrest that they would have to confront Arı’s reporting every day from now on.

🍞 Stale Bread for 6 Lira: Queues in Ankara Lay Bare the Depth of the Cost-of-Living Crisis

A supermarket in Ankara’s Etimesgut district has been selling day-old bread at 6 lira a loaf since mid-February — less than half the 15–20 lira charged for a fresh loaf in the capital — and staff say there is no shortage of takers. The shop displays the discounted loaves under a “stale bread” sign in its window, with workers explaining the scheme keeps unsold bread out of the bin while giving hard-pressed customers a cheaper option. CHP Karabük MP Cevdet Akay seized on the scene as evidence of a deepening poverty crisis, saying that when citizens are chasing stale bread at half price, the country is plainly in serious trouble. He accused the government of reducing people to such desperation through misguided economic policies that have fuelled income inequality, adding that those who dress up the situation as an economic success story are blind to the reality on the ground.

👶 “Newborn Gang” Trial: SGK Audit Exposes Phantom Treatments, Inflated Bills and Missing Records

Ahead of the eighth hearing in the so-called “Newborn Gang” case — due on 24 March at Bakırköy 22nd High Criminal Court — details have emerged from a Social Security Institution (SGK) preliminary report dated March 2025 that catalogues widespread billing irregularities at the private hospitals at the centre of the prosecution. The case involves 63 defendants, ten of whom are in custody, accused of steering critically ill babies from emergency services into pre-arranged private neonatal units where they allegedly received substandard or unnecessary care, resulting in multiple infant deaths. The SGK inspectors’ findings, examined case by case, paint a damning picture: treatments billed but never performed, medicines and materials invoiced despite not appearing in hospital stock or in the national MEDULA health-billing system, procedures carried out without proper medical indication, missing patient files and X-ray records, absent referral documents, and intensive-care stays classified at a higher — and costlier — tier than warranted. In the case of baby Süleymanoğlu, the entire patient file was missing from the system, leading SGK to withhold all payments. For two foreign-national babies, no SGK records existed at all, leaving inspectors unable to conduct a full audit. Only one case — baby Tokluoğlu — was found to have been treated and billed in accordance with regulations. Separately, the trial bench has identified contradictions between forensic reports issued by the Council of Forensic Medicine and has ordered fresh individual assessments for each deceased infant, while a university forensic-medicine report that found no negligence in six of the deaths has added a further layer of complexity to proceedings in which the precise cause of the babies’ deaths has yet to be definitively established.

Ruling Government (AKP, MHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)

🚗 Two Former Ministers Among Eight Injured in Pile-Up on Eskişehir Motorway

Former Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koç and his daughter, former Family and Social Services Minister Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, were among eight people injured in a multi-vehicle collision overnight near the town of Sivrihisar in Eskişehir province. Both former ministers were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Ankara, while the remaining six casualties were treated at nearby facilities. None of the injured are reported to be in a life-threatening condition. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek confirmed that the chief prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the crash and sent his well-wishes to all those affected.

🏛️ AKP Drafting Local-Government Overhaul: Managers to Be Held Personally Liable for Public Losses

The AKP is preparing a reform package for local government that would tighten financial controls on municipalities, cap staff costs at 30–40 per cent of budgets, introduce greater transparency in procurement, and — in a potentially far-reaching measure — allow losses to the public purse to be recouped directly from the responsible officials. The draft also envisages stricter rules on zoning changes, limits on funding for poorly prepared projects, new criteria for municipal borrowing, and the deduction of social-security contributions at source. The division of duties between metropolitan and district municipalities would be redrawn, and councils that fail to deliver on urban-regeneration obligations could face fresh sanctions. The proposals echo findings in the Environment Ministry’s 2025 activity report, which called for legislative changes to help municipalities manage their resources more effectively. A timetable for bringing the reform to parliament is expected to be confirmed shortly.

🕵️ Kaplan Gang’s Right-Hand Man Returns from Hungary to Turn Informant — and Points Finger at “Daltons” Hit Squad

Serdar Sertçelik, described as the second-in-command of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan organised-crime network, has told Ankara prosecutors he wants to become a cooperating witness and reveal everything he knows, according to a report originally filed by BirGün journalist İsmail Arı. Sertçelik was brought to Türkiye from Hungary on 31 January 2026 and told a court he had returned voluntarily, listing his occupation as “freelance” with a monthly income of 200,000 lira. Ankara’s 32nd High Criminal Court remanded him in custody on charges including running an armed criminal organisation, murder, kidnapping, robbery and causing bodily harm. In a 2 February meeting with prosecutors — during which he asked for gendarmerie officers to wait outside — Sertçelik said he had come back specifically to tell the truth and intended to seek a reduced sentence under the active-repentance provisions. He claimed he would be unable to protect himself or his family if released, alleging that Kaplan’s network had forcibly seized two shops he had bought with his own earnings and warning that a contract on his life could be handed to a separate crime group known as the “Daltons” if he were left at large abroad. He said he planned to file a formal robbery complaint in due course.

Finance Minister Booed in Home Town After Eid Visit Gridlocks Batman Traffic

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek’s Eid al-Fitr visit to his home city of Batman turned sour after security measures brought traffic to a standstill across key routes, leaving drivers stranded for hours in already heavy holiday congestion. Roads around the Hasankeyf junction were particularly badly affected, with tailbacks stretching for kilometres and sporadic arguments breaking out between frustrated motorists and police. Some residents filmed themselves heckling the minister’s convoy as it passed, shouting “You’re not welcome, Mehmet Şimşek” and complaining that shutting down an entire city’s roads showed there was “not a gram of justice” in the country. Others, however, applauded their fellow Batmanlı as his vehicle went by.

Opposition Parties (CHP and others)

⚖️ İBB Trial Enters Third Week: Two Jailed Mayors Set to Take the Stand as Hearings Stretch Into the Night

The İBB corruption trial resumes today after the Eid al-Fitr break with the court under pressure to accelerate proceedings, extending sitting hours from the previous 10am–4pm Ramadan schedule to as late as 10pm or even 11pm in a bid to complete all detained defendants’ statements by the end of April. This week’s headline witnesses are expected to be Şişli mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, who faces 35 to 91 years in prison across multiple charges, and Beylikdüzü mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık, who faces 30 to 88 years — both are likely to deliver lengthy defences. The day will begin with Ağaç AŞ general manager Ali Sukas completing the statement he began before the holiday, during which he compared a secret prosecution witness codenamed “Gürgen” (Hornbeam) to the devil for apparently knowing his every move around the clock. The second week was marked by further disruption: Monday’s session lasted just ten minutes after a row over CHP MP Turan Taşkın Özer’s seating ended in an adjournment; the court then imposed spectator restrictions limiting gallery access to defendants’ immediate family, legal representatives and accredited press; and journalists were relocated to the worst vantage point in the room despite a formal petition objecting to the move. Procurement manager Ümit Polat, whose earlier cooperation statements were deemed insufficient, revised part of his testimony, saying the pressure of speaking before such a large audience had caused him to misspeak, while his colleague Murat Or told the court his statements had been inaccurately transcribed into the indictment. İmamoğlu again appealed to the bench to release defendants pending trial, telling the presiding judge: “Make that call and you’ll go down in history.” The court declined to conduct a pre-holiday custody review, saying it would revisit the matter in April.

Human Rights Watch: Arbitrary Restrictions on İBB Trial Access Are Undermining Confidence in the Proceedings

Human Rights Watch has criticised the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court for progressively curtailing public and media access to the mass İBB corruption trial, warning that the restrictions are eroding trust in the fairness of the proceedings. The organisation, whose representatives have attended hearings at the courtroom inside the Marmara prison complex in Silivri — 70 kilometres from the city centre — detailed a pattern of tightening controls over the trial’s first two weeks. On 16 March, the presiding judge adjourned the session before it began after three CHP MPs who are also lawyers refused to move from the advocates’ benches to the rear of the gymnasium-sized courtroom; later that day, the court issued a written order restricting entry to defendants, a maximum of three lawyers each, one family member per defendant, and accredited press — barring all other members of the public, including observing lawyers not formally representing a defendant. Journalists, meanwhile, have been confined to what they describe as a “blind spot” at the back corner of the hall after a reporter asked İmamoğlu a question during a recess; from there they can follow testimony only via loudspeakers and video screens, and cannot hear exchanges between defendants and judges that take place off-microphone. A formal petition by journalists requesting better positioning was rejected. HRW noted that Türkiye’s own constitution enshrines the principle of open hearings, with closed proceedings permitted only where strictly necessary on grounds of public morality or security — a position reinforced by a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling. The European Convention on Human Rights, to which Türkiye is a party, likewise guarantees the right to a fair and public hearing under Article 6, with the Strasbourg court holding that arbitrary restrictions on public access are impermissible. HRW said journalists must be able to report on all aspects of the trial without undue hindrance, particularly given that Turkish authorities have over the past year targeted reporters covering the investigations into İmamoğlu and other CHP mayors.

🗳️ CHP Signals Altınordu Mayor Ulaş Tepe as Potential Candidate for Ordu Metropolitan Municipality

Seyit Torun, CHP Ordu MP and head of the presidential candidacy office’s environment and urban policy board, has publicly floated Altınordu mayor Ulaş Tepe as the party’s prospective candidate for Ordu metropolitan municipality. Speaking at an event in Ünye, Torun praised Tepe’s track record across two terms as a district mayor — first in Gülyalı, then in Altınordu — saying he had earned widespread public approval through his projects. “Ulaş Tepe is a high-energy mayor who has achieved many firsts for Ordu. We have full confidence in him. He could be our candidate for Ordu metropolitan mayor,” Torun said, adding that the party stood firmly behind him.

DEM Party Co-Chair Tells Nevruz Rally: İmamoğlu’s Imprisonment Is Unacceptable

DEM Party co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları used the party’s annual Nevruz celebration at Istanbul’s Yenikapı Square to call for the release of jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the freeing of former HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ — detained for nine years — and an end to the government-appointed trustee system. When Hatimoğulları asked the crowd whether Istanbulites accepted their elected mayor being held in prison, the response was a resounding chorus of boos and whistles directed at his continued detention. She insisted that all trials of elected officials should proceed without custody and that mayors removed from office should be reinstated, describing the trustee practice as unconstitutional. Hatimoğulları also called for the legal reforms signalled as part of the reconciliation process to begin immediately now that the Eid recess was over, rejecting any further delays on the grounds of the Iran conflict or events in Syria. She referenced Abdullah Öcalan’s 27 February statement declaring the process had entered its second phase, and said parliamentary committee work on the necessary legislation must get under way without excuses. The rally also featured speeches by Sebahat Tuncel and HDK co-spokesperson Meral Danış Beştaş, with performances by musician Suavi and the Kurdish group Koma Amed.

DEM Co-Chair Bakırhan Storms Out of Van Nevruz After Police Try to Search and ID-Check Party Delegation

DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan clashed with police at the party’s Nevruz celebrations in Van after officers attempted to carry out body searches and identity checks on his delegation at the VIP entrance to Nevruz Park, near Van Castle and the lakefront. Bakırhan refused to submit to the procedure, calling the officers “provocateurs,” and left the area in protest, boarding the party bus. According to journalist Ruşen Takva, the police subsequently dropped the search requirement, after which Bakırhan and his entourage entered the grounds. Thousands had gathered for the event, billed under the banner of “Freedom and Democracy Newroz,” with photographs of Abdullah Öcalan and the late former PYD co-chair Salih Müslim — who died on 11 March — displayed on the stage.

You’re right — the Fatih building collapse was covered in two separate articles. Here’s a combined summary:

💥 Fatih Building Collapse Kills One, Injures Ten — Prosecutors Assigned as Initial Checks Rule Out Gas Leak

One person has died and ten others were injured after an explosion brought down two buildings on Eğrikapı Caddesi in Istanbul’s Fatih district on Saturday afternoon. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation and assigned two prosecutors to the case. The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) said its gas-distribution subsidiary İGDAŞ rushed to the scene and found no evidence of a natural-gas leak in its initial measurements, adding that leak-detection surveys across the surrounding area also came back negative. A review of the past two years’ call-out records for the affected addresses turned up no reports of gas odours, blasts or pipework damage, and consumption data showed nothing abnormal. One of the collapsed buildings, number 32, had no gas connection at all, prompting investigators to consider whether alternative energy sources may have been in use. Witness accounts diverge — some residents described the buildings simply giving way, while others reported hearing an explosion — and İBB noted the structures had been built without any engineering oversight. The municipality stressed that the exact cause would only be established once a full multi-agency technical investigation had been completed.

Economics

💰 Türkiye on Track to Avoid FATF Grey List as Fifth-Round Review Nears Conclusion

Türkiye appears set to clear a critical financial-crime compliance hurdle, with early indications from the FATF’s fifth mutual evaluation round pointing towards a positive outcome at the watchdog’s June plenary. Former MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) chief Osman Dereli said on-site inspections had left a favourable first impression and that the likelihood of Türkiye being placed back on the grey list was low, provided no critical deficiency is identified in the final report. Türkiye was added to the FATF’s enhanced-monitoring list during the fourth evaluation round owing to gaps in both technical compliance and practical enforcement, but secured its removal in February 2024 after a sustained reform drive. Since then, MASAK’s powers have been expanded, administrative fines increased, asset-freezing mechanisms for terrorism-financing cases introduced, and dedicated money-laundering desks established at courthouses across the country. Technical compliance has improved markedly: the latest assessments show no areas rated “non-compliant,” with fourteen recommendations rated fully compliant and twenty-five largely compliant — down from two non-compliant and ten partially compliant findings in the previous round. Dereli noted that the composition of this round’s assessment team includes experts from countries with legal frameworks closer to Türkiye’s own, which he suggested could allow for a more balanced evaluation. All eyes now turn to the June plenary, where the final verdict will be delivered.

That’s a wrap for today. If you made it this far, cheers, you’re either well-informed about Turkish daily news or deeply bored. Either way, we appreciate you. Same chaos, same desk, same newsletter. See you tomorrow. ☕

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