Politics
New point-based system to guide police assignments
ANKARA
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has announced a new police assignment system that will rely on a duty points model, aiming to ensure “fairness” in transfers and appointments across the country.
The regulation will affect more than 22,000 personnel, including chief commissioners, commissioners, deputy commissioners, senior chief police officers, chief police officers and police officers, Yerlikaya said on May 26 at an event in Ankara.
Under the new system, duty points are calculated by multiplying a daily duty place score with the number of days worked in a unit over the past year.
The daily score factors in the socioeconomic development ranking of provinces and districts, a provincial preference score based on assignment trends over the past five years and a workload score determined by the number of incidents per officer in each unit.
“This system will provide a point advantage to personnel working under difficult conditions,” Yerlikaya said.
“In provinces with high populations and heavy duty such as Istanbul, and in eastern provinces, our personnel are given more points and are provided with an advantageous position in the assignment ranking.”
The move follows similar duty points systems adopted for teachers and healthcare workers.
Additionally, the system will notify personnel of their assignments via SMS, with notifications sent within an hour.
“Appointments and transfers will be made according to the needs of the security forces wherever they are needed,” Yerlikaya said. “With this system, assignments will be fairer and will be made according to equality and transparency criteria.”
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has a busy agenda on the margins of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, which is underway in New York. Fidan, who accompanied President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on his visit, attended several multilateral talks in the city and explained Türkiye’s approach to a series of issues, from Israeli attacks in Gaza to U.S.-Türkiye relations.
On Tuesday, Fidan attended the sixth Türkiye-Egypt-Pakistan-Saudi Arabia foreign ministers’ meeting. He also joined a coordination meeting that brought together the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Qatar, Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
He later met with his counterparts from Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia for the 30th MIKTA foreign ministers’ meeting, an informal grouping that Türkiye chaired in 2022.
Separately, Fidan addressed a panel entitled “Türkiye-U.S. Relations on the Eve of the Centennial,” organized by the Turkish Presidency’s Communications Directorate. Fidan said at the panel that Türkiye expects the United States to use its influence to urge Israel to end policies that undermine regional and global peace and stability.
He also stated that Türkiye and the U.S. share an interest in sovereign and stable states capable of providing security and welfare in the region, particularly Syria and Iraq.
Fidan also called for greater regional ownership of security, saying, “Local solutions have a better chance to live.”
“This is why we believe that countries of the region should take greater responsibility for the security and stability of their own geography. This is why we need to embrace and advance regional ownership,” he said, citing the Mecca alliance between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as an example.
Fidan said three key challenges were the war with Iran, the risk of the Yemen conflict spreading to neighboring countries and Israel’s destabilizing policies across the region.
“These threats reinforce one another and obstruct diplomacy. Addressing them requires effective regional responsibility and close cooperation with the United States,” he said. “In particular, we expect the United States to further use its influence to urge Israel to end its policies that undermine both regional and global peace and stability,” he added.
Fidan said the Mecca alliance between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia “provides regional ownership and an institutional foundation, while strengthening cooperation and supporting regional peace and security.”
Fidan described Gaza as a central test of efforts to establish regional security and said a lasting resolution to the Palestinian issue remains essential.
“A lasting resolution of the Palestinian question remains essential for stability in the Middle East and beyond,” he said, adding that Türkiye supports U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to bring the Gaza crisis to an end.
“Commitments put forth through the peace plan must now be fully implemented,” he said.
Fidan said Türkiye also supports dialogue and diplomacy for achieving lasting peace in Ukraine and maintaining channels of communication with both Kyiv and Moscow.
Asked whether the Mecca defense alliance was primarily a deterrence mechanism or the beginning of a more institutionalized regional security architecture, Fidan said regional ownership aligns with the new approach the U.S. is adopting not only in the Middle East but also in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.
He said Türkiye’s regional vision rests on “no domination, no submission, but cooperation,” describing the defense arrangement as a starting point for building regional ownership.
Fidan said a long-standing lack of trust among regional countries has fueled counterterrorism campaigns, wars and the invitation of outside forces into regional conflicts.
“We come together around a defense club, not to deter somebody, but to make sure that we commit to each other’s security, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he added.
“There are other countries that would like to be part of this regional platform, and our idea is, once we properly institutionalize our partnership, I think that the invitation will be open to other countries to join,” he added.
Asked whether the defense agreement had passed its first test following recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, Fidan pushed back on the comparison, noting that NATO’s Article 5 has been invoked only once in decades and arguing that it was unfair to judge a “newborn” defense alliance against a decade-old Yemen crisis when “we’ve just started.”
Türkiye-U.S. relations
Fidan said the bilateral relationship between Türkiye and the U.S. had “time-tested enduring value” and had evolved from ties between two geographically distant nations into a partnership and alliance with an impact beyond their borders.
He noted that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.S. President Donald Trump had a “central role” in the current momentum in bilateral ties, adding that the task was to translate it into concrete benefits and institutionalize cooperation.
“Our task is to turn this momentum into concrete benefits and institutionalize our cooperation not only for our countries but also for maintaining peace and stability in our region,” he said.
“As we enter our second century of diplomatic relations, we are determined to realize the full potential of our cooperation and resolve the issues holding it back,” he added.
Responding to questions from participants, Fidan said Türkiye maintains “great coordination” with U.S. mediators, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, on issues ranging from the Russia-Ukraine war to Gaza, Libya, the Horn of Africa and the South Caucasus, describing bilateral cooperation as at an “unprecedented level.”
On the CAATSA sanctions and the sale of F-35 fighter jets, Fidan said Erdoğan and Trump agreed during their White House meeting that the issue should be resolved “as soon as possible,” and that both sides have since been working to remove the obstacle, though it is “taking a little bit more time than we expected.”
Authorities detained nine suspects on Tuesday in operations against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) in eight provinces. The suspects are accused of being part of a network that arranged marriages between members of the group.
FETÖ, which carried out the 2016 coup attempt through its infiltrators in the army, is known for its “izdivaç” (marriage) schemes, in which members, especially those infiltrated into critical state institutions, were ordered to marry spouses selected by the group’s handlers. This way, FETÖ managed to keep its wrongdoings under wraps and prevent them from being leaked to authorities, as both spouses would be devotees of the group.
Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced that an investigation was carried out in cooperation with police counterterrorism and intelligence units into FETÖ’s “izdivaç” network, which aimed to ensure loyalty to the group. The investigation found that the group ordered its members to marry people who met its self-styled criteria.
According to investigators, the group designated “izdivaç” handlers who compiled information about potential spouses and created databases for that purpose, matching prospective spouses strictly among FETÖ members. Along with traditional methods, the group used digital platforms to arrange marriages, and authorities identified 13 suspects involved in the scheme based on evidence seized from Merve Daştan, an “izdivaç” handler captured on May 5. Other suspects wanted by authorities remain at large.
Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was the most preferred party among respondents in three recent opinion polls, while the New Party (YP) ranked second, according to surveys released by GENAR, Areda Survey and BETIMAR.
GENAR’s September 2026 Türkiye Report put support for the AK Party at 36.1%, followed by the New Party (YP) at 21.6%, a gap of 14.5 percentage points.
The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) received 9.4%, followed by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) at 8% and the Good Party (IP) at 7.7%. The Republican People’s Party (CHP) was measured at 6.6%.
Two polls conducted in August showed a broadly similar ordering for the top two parties, though their estimates varied.
Areda Survey’s poll, conducted among 2,400 respondents between Aug. 26 and Aug. 31, put the AK Party at 35% and the YP at 17%. The CHP followed at 11.1%, while the DEM Party and MHP received 9.8% and 8.9%, respectively. The survey was conducted using the CAWI online polling method.
BETIMAR’s survey, conducted among 2,000 respondents from Aug. 26 to Aug. 28, showed the AK Party at 35.4% after undecided voters were distributed. The Yeni Party received 20.1%, leaving a 15.3-point gap between the two.
IP followed with 9.3%, narrowly ahead of the DEM Party at 9.2%. The MHP received 7.7%, while the CHP was measured at 5.3%.
The three surveys provide snapshots of voter preferences rather than election forecasts, and differences in methodology, sampling and fieldwork dates can produce varying results.
Foreign ministers of Türkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a joint statement on the situation in Gaza and Israel’s actions. The ministers met Monday on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly.
In their statement, the ministers expressed “deep concern over the continued humanitarian suffering in Gaza” and called on Israel to “immediately fulfill its outstanding commitments under the First Phase of the Comprehensive Plan, including by ensuring the immediate, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance and Early Recovery supplies, and facilitating the rehabilitation of critical infrastructure.”
“They stress the imperative of preserving the ceasefire and ending all violations,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.
“The Ministers stress that the Road Map constitutes an integral part of the Comprehensive Plan and provides the implementation framework for advancing its Second Phase, including decommissioning alongside full Israeli withdrawal, the deployment of the International Stabilization Force (ISF), the assumption by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) of its responsibilities throughout the Gaza Strip, and the launch of Early Recovery and Reconstruction across Gaza. They call on all parties to fulfill their respective commitments in good faith and without delay,” the statement also said.
The top diplomats also condemned the expulsion or forced displacement of Palestinians from their homeland “or attempts to alter the territorial or demographic character of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
“They deplore in this context the illegal measures aimed at consolidating Israeli control and annexation, including the accelerating settlement expansion, land confiscation, demolition of Palestinian homes, settler violence and terrorism, and forced displacement, and called for their immediate reversal. They express grave concern over measures undermining the historical and legal status quo of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem,” the statement said.
The ministers, meanwhile, welcomed efforts by the United Kingdom and European efforts in response to illegal Israeli settlement activity, “including measures to halt trade with illegal Israeli settlements,” and called for further effective measures to end settlement expansion and ensure accountability for settler violence.
“Gaza must remain an integral part of the Palestinian territory,” the statement said, reaffirming that the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan must contribute to the reunification of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and to a credible and irreversible pathway toward the exercise of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and the realization of a sovereign, viable and independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, through the implementation of the two-state solution.
Additionally, the ministers commended U.S. President Donald Trump and hailed the “indispensable role” of his country “in ensuring the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan.” They also called for “sustained and active U.S. engagement to ensure that all parties, including Israel, fulfill their commitments and obligations and to overcome obstacles to the implementation of the Road Map.”
“The tangible progress on the ground will strengthen the credibility of the Board of Peace and the authority of the plan and create deeply needed momentum,” the statement said.
The statement also reaffirmed the countries’ “readiness to continue working collectively with the United States, the Board of Peace, the Palestinian Authority and all relevant parties to advance the full implementation of the Comprehensive Plan and its Road Map, alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people, fulfill their right to self-determination and independent statehood, and achieve just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s messages on global peace and justice were displayed on giant screens in New York’s Times Square as Türkiye stepped up its international outreach during the U.N. General Assembly week and preparations for the COP31 climate summit.
The displays, coordinated by Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications, featured messages highlighting Ankara’s calls for reform of global governance, alongside promotional material showcasing Türkiye’s climate agenda, cultural heritage and Istanbul.
Among the messages shown on screens and mobile LED trucks were Erdoğan’s long-standing phrase, “The world is bigger than five,” referring to the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and his call for global governance to represent “all humanity, all religions, all races and all cultures.”
“No one can feel safe in a world where children are dying under bombs,” another message read.
The campaign also highlighted Türkiye’s preparations to host the 31st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP31, in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya from Nov. 9-20.
COP31 President and Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum, who is holding a series of meetings in New York, said Türkiye wants the summit to focus on translating existing climate commitments into measurable results.
“We are preparing for Antalya with the vision of an ‘implementation COP,’” Kurum said, arguing that the priority should shift from announcing additional pledges toward overcoming obstacles to financing, capacity and technology deployment.
Kurum noted the COP31 Action Agenda is structured around 10 priority themes, six global targets, 11 initiatives and 13 supporting outcomes. Consultations on the agenda are expected to continue at the Pre-COP meeting in Fiji. Türkiye says its presidency will emphasize dialogue, consensus and implementation as it seeks to accelerate international climate action.
The New York campaign also promoted Türkiye and Istanbul as cultural and tourism destinations. Messages displayed in Times Square included, “Where civilizations meet, and history breathes: Istanbul,” and “New York never sleeps, Istanbul never stops inspiring.”
Türkiye has expanded its COP31 visibility across New York during the U.N. General Assembly, including promotional displays at the Turkish House (Türkevi) opposite U.N. headquarters and COP31-themed vehicles circulating through Manhattan.
Erdoğan is also scheduled to attend a high-level climate meeting organized by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday to discuss Türkiye’s preparations for the Antalya summit.
Israel’s defense establishment has recommended expanding the country’s submarine fleet to eight vessels as it closely monitors Türkiye’s growing naval capabilities, Israeli media reported Tuesday.
According to Israel’s Army Radio, defense officials submitted a professional assessment to the political leadership recommending an increase from five operational submarines to eight in the coming years, citing the expansion of the Turkish navy.
Türkiye currently operates 14 submarines, with its fleet expected to grow further in the coming years, according to the report. Israel currently operates five, while its sixth, the German-built INS Drakon, is on its way to the country after leaving the TKMS shipyard in Kiel earlier this month.
Under Israel’s latest submarine procurement agreement with Germany, it has an option to acquire a seventh vessel at the previously agreed price. Defense officials reportedly favor exercising the option before costs increase and later moving to procure an eighth submarine.
The recommendation has not yet undergone a full review at the level of the Israeli military’s General Staff, the report said.
Senior defense officials also said a decision on additional purchases is unlikely before Israel’s upcoming elections and would probably be left to the next government.
Meanwhile, Türkiye most recently showcased 37 naval assets and platforms from different classes, including vessels currently serving in the Turkish Navy during the Teknofest Blue Homeland.
Among the most prominent platforms on display were Türkiye’s largest military ship, the TCG Anadolu; the TCG Istanbul; TCG Barbaros; TCG Salihreis; TCG Turgutreis; TCG Kemalreis; TCG Oruçreis; TCG Burgazada; and the TCG Derya.
Other naval assets included minehunters, patrol vessels, amphibious ships and support platforms, offering visitors a broad view of the Turkish Navy’s operational structure.
One of the most closely watched exhibits was the first test block of Türkiye’s National Submarine, known as MILDEN, which represents a major step in the country’s effort to develop an indigenous submarine.
The submarine is planned to be more than 80 meters long, with a displacement of about 2,700 tons and an endurance of more than 50 days.
MILDEN is expected to undertake missions including anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, reconnaissance and surveillance, mine-laying, special operations and support for task groups.
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