Politics
🏛️ NATO Marks 100-Day Countdown to Ankara Summit as Turkey Prepares to Host Alliance Leaders for First Time Since 2004
NATO has announced that the countdown has begun to this year’s summit in Ankara, with the alliance’s official social media account confirming that 100 days remain until allied leaders gather in the Turkish capital. It will be the second time Turkey has hosted a NATO summit, following the 2004 Istanbul meeting, and comes at a moment when the alliance faces a particularly full agenda given the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and broader questions about European security and defence spending.
Ruling Government (AKP, MHP and DEM coalition aka People’s Alliance)
🤔 Freshly Resigned MHP Deputy Leader Posts Photo With Bahçeli Examining Black Notebook, Adding ‘May God Keep Him With Us’
İzzet Ulvi Yönter, who resigned as MHP deputy leader — officially explained by party leader Devlet Bahçeli as a desire to pursue an academic career — has posted a photograph of himself alongside Bahçeli, the two men apparently studying a black-covered notebook together, accompanied by the caption “May God never take him from our side.” The warm post will draw attention given that Bahçeli had framed the departure as entirely amicable and unrelated to any grievance, and Yönter’s own resignation statement gave no reason beyond saying he had seen the need to step down. Bahçeli has said a new deputy leader will be appointed shortly.
Opposition Parties (CHP and others)
⚖️ CHP Leader Özgür Özel Faces Criminal Investigation Over Remarks Made at Kuşadası Rally
Ankara’s public prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal investigation into CHP leader Özgür Özel on suspicion of insulting the president, under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code, in connection with remarks he made at a party rally in Kuşadası, Aydın.
⚖️ Three Weeks Into Istanbul Trial, Dates Have Shifted, Confessions Have Been Withdrawn and the Case Is Showing Cracks
As the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial enters its 12th session today, a pattern has emerged across the first three weeks of hearings that defence lawyers say fundamentally undermines the prosecution’s case. Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan told the court he is imprisoned precisely because he refused to do what contractors wanted, not because he complied. Beylikdüzü Mayor Mehmet Murat Çalık pointed to five separate changes of testimony across different dates regarding bribery allegations against him, and noted that closed cases with no-prosecution outcomes had been added to the indictment. Ağaç AŞ former procurement director Ümit Polat walked back his earlier prosecution statement, saying he had not directly witnessed any money being collected and did not know the contents of bags he had seen — a retreat the presiding judge pressed him on by reading back his prior testimony. Polat’s colleague Murat Or similarly claimed that parts of his recorded statement had been incorrectly transcribed. Most significantly, businessman Murat Kapki sent a letter to the court before proceedings began retracting his active-remorse testimony entirely, saying he had made certain statements to protect his family and under pressure from prosecutors who promised him release. A custody review is expected at the end of Thursday’s session, raising the possibility of pre-trial release orders for some of the 107 defendants currently held on remand.
🚔 Chief Adviser to Suspended Antalya Mayor Böcek Detained in Late-Night IBB Investigation Raids
Two people have been detained at their homes in Antalya as part of the Istanbul public prosecutor’s ongoing corruption investigation into the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, with the arrests extending the probe’s reach beyond Istanbul for the second time. Those detained are C.O., chief adviser to Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek — who has himself been suspended from office — and a municipal employee identified as B.K. Both are being processed at Antalya police headquarters before being transferred to Istanbul. The investigation covers charges including running and membership of a criminal organisation, extortion, bribery, aggravated fraud, unlawful acquisition of personal data, and bid-rigging. An Antalya municipal employee and two drivers had previously been remanded in custody in connection with the same investigation.
🏛️ Four Detained in Embezzlement Investigation Into Etimesgut Municipality and Its Subsidiary After Court of Auditors Flags Irregularities
Ankara’s public prosecutor’s office has opened an embezzlement investigation into Etimesgut Municipality and its wholly owned subsidiary Etimkent A.Ş. following irregularities identified during a routine 2025 audit by the Court of Auditors, with four people detained in simultaneous dawn raids on their homes and workplaces. Those detained are Etimkent’s general manager, the municipality’s social assistance director, a cashier from the same directorate, and a cash-handling employee at Etimkent. The investigation focuses on the municipality’s soup kitchen operations, food procurement and distribution contracts, and the subsidiary’s accounts.
⚖️ Uşak Mayor Yalım and 12 Others Sent to Court as Four More Detained in Uşak
The 13 people detained in the corruption operation against CHP Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, including the mayor himself, have been sent to Istanbul’s Çağlayan courthouse following health checks and the completion of police processing. A further four suspects have been detained in Uşak and are to be transferred to Istanbul for processing. Yalım and the others face charges of bribery, extortion, and bid-rigging in a case being run by Istanbul’s public prosecutor’s office. CHP has meanwhile responded to reports that Yalım may face expulsion from the party, saying the party will hear his account before reaching any decision and that certain footage that has emerged is unacceptable.
Economy
📉 Turkish Economic Confidence Falls Below 100 in March as All Sub-Indices Decline
Turkey’s overall economic confidence index fell 2.8 per cent in March to 97.9, dropping below the 100-point threshold that separates optimism from pessimism, according to TÜİK data. The decline was broad-based across all sub-categories: the real sector (manufacturing) confidence index fell 3.9 per cent to exactly 100, construction confidence dropped 3.9 per cent to 80.6, retail trade fell 2.0 per cent to 113.6, services slipped 0.5 per cent to 113.2, and consumer confidence edged down 0.8 per cent to 85.0. The figures are seasonally adjusted, with the exception of the consumer confidence index. The next bulletin is scheduled for 29 April.
⚡ Turkey’s Privatisation Authority Launches Sale of 3.81% Stake in Ankara Natural Electricity Company
The Privatisation Administration has announced the sale of a 3.81 per cent stake in Ankara Doğal Elektrik Üretim ve Ticaret AŞ, comprising 2.41 per cent founder shares and 1.4 per cent ordinary shares held through Compagnie Financiere Ottomane SA. The sale will proceed by negotiated tender, with sealed bids followed by an open auction among shortlisted bidders. The tender specification fee has been set at 150,000 lira and the provisional guarantee at 25 million lira, with offers due by 21 April.
🥕 Pesticide-Free Food Has Become a Luxury Item in Turkey, Costing 73% More Than Discount Market Produce
The growing pesticide risk in Turkish food — highlighted by Turkey’s recurring appearances on the EU’s rapid alert system for food and feed — has effectively created a premium market tier in which certified or laboratory-tested produce commands prices 73 per cent higher than equivalent items at discount supermarkets, according to a price comparison of seven basic vegetables and fruits. Consumer rights, agricultural, and civil society voices quoted in the report argue that safe food has become a market segment rather than a standard, with the price gap placing pesticide-tested produce out of reach for minimum-wage earners and pensioners. Fair food communities working to cut out middlemen offer somewhat lower prices than organic supermarkets but still cost around 53 per cent more than discount alternatives, partly because small-scale production and logistics costs remain high. Experts say the root problem is structural: farmers unable to earn adequate incomes are pushed towards heavier chemical inputs to maximise yields, certification costs are prohibitive for small producers, and contamination from neighbouring plots undermines individual efforts. Civil society representatives and agronomists are calling on the state to step in with effective production inspections, public disclosure of pesticide monitoring data, and support for agroecological farming, warning that without public intervention, food safety will remain a privilege of the affluent rather than a universal standard.
Thanks for reading this far, I will see you tomorrow. ☕