Politics
Türkiye cracks down on tentacles of corruption octopus with new ops
A fifth wave of operations centered on Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) and municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) led to the detention of 34 people as of Sunday. Authorities have launched anti-corruption operations on Saturday and raided 47 locations. Seven suspects remain at large.
CHP-run municipalities are accused of taking bribes and irregularities in public tenders. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently described operations and allegations as “tentacles of an octopus” stretching across many administrative bodies running the municipalities.
Although CHP-run municipalities were already under investigation and several mayors were detained for corruption last year, IBB has been under the spotlight as its high-profile mayor was arrested in March on graft charges. Digging deeper into an alleged criminal network run by former Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and expanding another investigation linked to a businessman who was awarded a lucrative contract by district municipalities, investigators launched Saturday’s operations against municipality officials, mayors and a former CHP lawmaker. Operations are the culmination of four separate investigations and are mainly based on the confessions of Aziz Ihsan Aktaş, a businessman identified as the head of a criminal network active in municipalities. Aktaş’s confessions unveiled the scale of corruption at IBB, the municipality of Beşiktaş, whose mayor was detained last year, and at Büyükçekmece Municipality, whose mayor, Hasan Akgün, was detained on Saturday. The investigation also extended to Adana, a southern province; the mayors of Adana’s Seyhan and Ceyhan municipalities were also detained.
Among other prominent names in the case are Aykut Erdoğdu, a former lawmaker for CHP, the party’s assembly member Baki Aydöner, mayors of Istanbul’s Avcılar and Gaziosmanpaşa districts, and the head of ISFALT, an asphalt production subsidiary of IBB.
Media outlets reported on Sunday that a search of premises owned by some suspects led to the discovery of a large cache of dollars and gold, including a search of the residences of Akgün and his son-in-law.
The Sabah newspaper reported that Aktaş appealed to authorities on April 30 to benefit from leniency in sentencing in exchange for collaboration with authorities. Aktaş, who was arrested on Jan. 17, detailed how municipalities that awarded contracts to his companies enriched themselves in the process. He confessed that he paid bribes to mayors and deputy mayors to win tenders and, in some cases, had to buy properties or vehicles belonging to those people at prices far higher than their real value, instead of paying them bribes in cash, in order to avoid detection. Aktaş said he was also forced to make additional payments and donate vehicles to mayoral candidates of the CHP before the 2024 municipal polls, to be used in their election campaigns. He said he also paid bribes to numerous municipal officials for the acquisition of a valuable plot of land in the district of Gaziosmanpaşa.
Waves of corruption
The CHP has claimed that anti-graft operations against municipalities were politically motivated, but officials deny it and point to the independence of the judiciary, which carries out the operations. In the first wave of 2025 operations against municipalities, Imamoğlu and 105 others were detained on March 19 and remain incarcerated in pretrial detention. Looking to earn popularity for Imamoğlu, the CHP has declared him its presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, although annulment of his university diploma days before his detention over irregularities made the former mayor ineligible to run for top office.
In the second wave of operations on April 25, 50 people were detained, including the head of IBB’s water utility and other top municipal officials. On May 22, authorities ordered the detention of 22 suspects in an investigation into irregular public tenders by IBB’s media and culture subsidiaries. Two days later, seven more people were detained and subsequently arrested over corruption in tenders by another IBB subsidiary. Investigation expanded on May 23 and led to the detention of 44 people working at IBB’s other subsidiaries and people associated with them.
According to Sabah’s report, authorities also investigated the 2019 celebrations for Republic Day organized by the Beşiktaş municipality. Four municipal officials, including the current deputy mayors of Avcılar and Büyükçekmece, are accused of conspiring to commit corruption by awarding the contract for organizing the celebrations to a front company and squandering public resources in the process.
The report says recent detentions include two owners of a company that was awarded a lucrative contract by IBB. CHP’s deputy chair, Özgür Karabat, serves as financial consultant for the company, which earned more than TL 19 billion in tenders in the past five years.
According to the Sabah report, former lawmaker Erdoğdu is accused of acting as an intermediary for bribe takers and companies paying bribes. The report says Erdoğdu oversaw the payment of bribes to an IBB subsidiary.
In a speech last week, President Erdoğan hit out at CHP for defending Imamoğlu and others detained on corruption charges.
“If you don’t work for the nation, you are either a ‘rantçı’ (profiteer) or a ‘bantçı’ (someone who uses tape to conceal something),” to the applause of the audience. “Bantçı” in this case refers to a bodyguard of Imamoğlu who was captured in footage as he put tape on security cameras before Imamoğlu’s secretive meeting at a hotel with fellow bureaucrats of IBB. Media outlets reported that the footage emerged in the investigation into the former mayor’s alleged wrongdoings, raising suspicions about the nature of the meeting, which was followed and preceded by more at the same hotel. Some reports claimed that the meeting and others were the venue of discussions on how to share illegal profits Imamoğlu and others gained through graft, from rigging public tenders to bribery in exchange for building permits.
“You see what happened to profiteers, you see what state they drove Istanbul into. We witnessed how they terrorized the squares. They do not tolerate anyone other than themselves. They try to bully anyone who disagrees with them, they attack anyone who does not side with thieves,” Erdoğan said. The CHP held pro-Imamoğlu rallies, claiming the innocence of the mayor, after Imamoğlu’s arrest in March. Rallies in Istanbul and other cities escalated into violent riots. The CHP supporters also launched social media campaigns against celebrities not endorsing the rallies, while the party’s leader, Özgür Özel, called for a boycott of companies he accused of serving the government’s interests, as well as against broadcasters not broadcasting the rallies live.
The president stated that they witnessed a new act of corruption surfacing “almost every day” in the investigation into what he called a criminal organization. “You see how they looted Istanbul’s resources. (The authorities) reveal tentacles of an octopus extending from Istanbul to other cities, to abroad. Their own friends confess how they extorted money and received bribes,” Erdoğan said.
Ertan Yıldız, a top IBB bureaucrat, has also recently collaborated with authorities and unveiled a scheme of tender rigging and bribes organized by Imamoğlu and his associates at the municipality.
“Their former partners in crime speak about cash carried by suitcases, about a mob order established in Istanbul. But the CHP has no shame. They are supposed to apologize to the people of Istanbul they betrayed, but instead, they threaten judges and prosecutors and journalists,” Erdoğan said, referring to past remarks by Özel and other top names of the CHP who threatened judiciary members with being tried in the future for the investigation into Imamoğlu’s alleged wrongdoings.
“Their friends who confess are accused of defaming (the detained municipal officials). Özgür Özel is acting like a messenger for a criminal organization, not as a main opposition leader. It is worrying. It is worrying to see this sorry state the CHP was pushed to,” Erdoğan said.
“You can’t remove this stain of corruption. You can’t escape being held accountable. The Turkish judiciary’s job is to stop hands from stealing from public funds. We will not turn a blind eye to this banditry. Nor will we leave our Istanbul to its fate,” Erdoğan added.
Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), founded under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 14, 2001, marked its 25th anniversary Friday, completing a quarter-century in which it has won every general election it has contested and reshaped the country’s political landscape.
Established as Türkiye’s 39th political party by a movement led by Erdoğan, then a former Istanbul mayor, the AK Party entered national politics with a pledge for sweeping political change.
“From now on, nothing in Türkiye will be the same,” Erdoğan said at the party’s launch. Two days later, he was unanimously elected its chair.
Just 15 months after its establishment, the AK Party won the Nov. 3, 2002, general election with 34.28% of the vote. Erdoğan was barred from running because of a political ban, and Abdullah Gül formed the 58th government.
Erdoğan enters Parliament
After legal changes lifted his political ban, Erdoğan won a parliamentary seat in a rerun election in the southeastern province of Siirt on March 9, 2003.
Following Gül’s resignation as prime minister, Erdoğan formed Türkiye’s 59th government on March 15, beginning more than a decade as premier.
The AK Party consolidated its position in subsequent elections, receiving 41.7% in the 2004 local elections and 46.58% in the 2007 general election.
The party faced one of its most serious legal challenges in 2008 when Türkiye’s chief prosecutor filed a case seeking its closure and political bans for 71 figures, including Erdoğan and Gül.
Six Constitutional Court judges voted to close the party and five opposed the move, falling short of the qualified majority required for a ban.
Referendums, election victories
A constitutional referendum in September 2010 became another milestone for the party, with 57.88% voting in favor of a package of constitutional amendments.
The AK Party subsequently received 49.83% of the vote in the 2011 general election, one of its highest nationwide vote shares.
In 2014, Erdoğan shifted from the prime minister’s office to the presidency. He won 51.79% of the vote on Aug. 10, becoming Türkiye’s first president elected directly by popular vote.
Ahmet Davutoğlu succeeded Erdoğan as AK Party chair. After the June 2015 election produced no single-party government, the AK Party regained its parliamentary majority in the Nov. 1 snap election.
Binali Yıldırım became party chair and prime minister in May 2016.
Presidential system changes
Türkiye’s political trajectory changed sharply with the July 15, 2016, coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Erdoğan called on citizens to take to the streets and public squares, while resistance to the coup attempt helped foster closer political cooperation between the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), laying the groundwork for the People’s Alliance.
A constitutional referendum on April 16, 2017, approved a shift to an executive presidential system with 51.41% support.
The changes also allowed the president to retain party membership. Erdoğan rejoined the AK Party after 979 days and was reelected its chair at an extraordinary congress in May 2017.
The AK Party and MHP contested the June 24, 2018, elections under the People’s Alliance, as Türkiye held presidential and parliamentary elections simultaneously for the first time.
Erdoğan won the presidency with 52.59%, becoming the first president under the new system, while the AK Party received 42.56% in the parliamentary vote.
The alliance continued into the 2019 local elections, in which the AK Party received 44.33% nationwide.
The COVID-19 pandemic later disrupted the party’s congress process, but its seventh ordinary congress was eventually held in March 2021, with Erdoğan again elected chair.
Erdoğan wins new term in 2023
Türkiye returned to the polls in May 2023 for presidential and parliamentary elections.
Erdoğan received 49.52% in the first presidential round, forcing a runoff. The AK Party received 35.62% of the parliamentary vote and secured 268 seats.
Erdoğan defeated his challenger in the May 28 runoff with 52.18%, securing another presidential term.
The victory extended the AK Party’s record of finishing first in every general election it had contested since its establishment and maintained its position as the longest-governing party since Türkiye entered its multiparty era in 1946.
The March 31, 2024, local elections represented a setback for the AK Party, which received 35.49% of the vote and won 24 provincial and 357 district municipalities.
Erdoğan acknowledged the message delivered by voters and pledged to evaluate the results, after which the party began replacing provincial and district officials.
That renewal accelerated at the AK Party’s eighth ordinary congress on Feb. 23, 2025. Thirty-nine new members joined its Central Decision and Management Board, renewing 52% of the body.
Further organizational changes followed, including replacements of provincial chairs in 15 provinces.
‘Terror-free Türkiye’ initiative
One of the latest chapters in the AK Party’s quarter-century in politics has been the “Terror-Free Türkiye” initiative, which followed a call by MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli in October 2024 and was subsequently backed by Erdoğan.
A parliamentary National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission began work in August 2025 to address terrorism, social integration, national unity, democracy and the rule of law.
The commission adopted its report in February 2026.
A bill setting out the legal framework for the process was submitted to Parliament on Aug. 5, 2026. The legislation links its implementation to an official determination that the PKK terrorist group and affiliated structures have ended their operational existence and surrendered weapons under their control.
Parliament approved the legislation on Aug. 10 with 467 votes in favor, 87 against and seven abstentions.
Turkish Cypriot leaders on Friday commemorated the victims of the 1974 killings in the villages of Muratağa, Sandallar and Atlılar, marking the 52nd anniversary of one of the deadliest episodes of intercommunal violence on the divided island.
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhürman and Prime Minister Ünal Üstel paid tribute to Turkish Cypriots killed on Aug. 14, 1974, according to the Turkish News Agency Cyprus (TAK).
Commemoration ceremonies were held at cemeteries in Muratağa, Sandallar and Atlılar, where officials laid wreaths, observed moments of silence and attended prayers for the victims.
Speaking at the Muratağa-Sandallar cemetery, Erhürman said the victims represented the suffering endured by the Turkish Cypriot community during the conflict.
“Each of our martyrs lying here is the most concrete indication of the suffering experienced and the heavy price paid by the Turkish Cypriot people,” Erhürman said.
He criticized what he described as international silence over the killings, saying the lack of acknowledgment raised questions about the international community’s approach to the events.
Üstel, in a separate message marking Aug. 14, described the date as one associated with both resistance and deep suffering in Turkish Cypriot history.
He said Turkish Cypriots had refused to abandon their homeland, freedom or future despite years of violence and pressure, adding that they continued to show the same determination in the face of what he called “unjust isolation and embargoes.”
On Aug. 14, 1974, armed Greek Cypriot groups, including members of the ultranationalist EOKA terrorist group, attacked the three Turkish Cypriot villages.
A total of 126 Turkish Cypriots, many of them women and children, were killed. The youngest victim was 16-day-old Selden Ali Faik, while the oldest was 95-year-old Hüseyin Osman.
A mass grave in Atlılar was discovered on Aug. 20, 1974, after the second phase of Türkiye’s operation on Cyprus began.
The victims in Muratağa and Sandallar were discovered in early September after a shepherd noticed a hand protruding from the ground.
The mass graves were later opened in the presence of United Nations observers, and the remains of the victims were identified before being reburied at cemeteries.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Thursday with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy and Egyptian General Intelligence Service chief Maj. Gen. Hassan Rashad in the coastal city of el-Alamein, the Foreign Ministry said.
Fidan began a two-day visit to Egypt on Thursday.
During the visit, Fidan is scheduled to be received by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and meet senior Egyptian officials, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources.
He will discuss bilateral relations, review the current status of agreements under negotiation and encourage mutual investment in line with a common goal of increasing bilateral trade volume to $15 billion, diplomatic sources said.
The Turkish foreign minister will also discuss cooperation in hydrocarbons, electricity grid integration, energy infrastructure and mining, according to the sources.
Fidan will assess steps that can be taken to advance existing cooperation in the military and defense industries and emphasize the importance of addressing regional issues through dialogue and diplomacy on the basis of regional ownership and shared responsibility, the sources said.
He will also underline Türkiye’s determination to continue joint efforts bilaterally and through multilateral platforms such as the R4 initiative, which brings together the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The visit will include the second meeting of the Türkiye-Egypt Joint Planning Group, co-chaired by Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, according to the sources.
The meeting will review the outcomes of the second meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, held in Cairo in February, and prepare for a third meeting planned in Türkiye in 2028.
Fidan will express support for diplomatic efforts aimed at restoring the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the sources said.
He will also stress the importance of immediately halting ongoing attacks in Gaza, fully implementing the ceasefire and ensuring the uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid.
The minister is expected to exchange views on implementing the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan and Israel’s attacks on Palestine, Lebanon and Syria, according to the sources.
Fidan will underline the need to continue joint efforts to ensure lasting stability and security in Libya based on the country’s territorial integrity and political unity.
He will also reaffirm Türkiye’s support for Sudan’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, the sources said.
Fidan will share assessments on the roles and contributions Türkiye and Egypt can make toward establishing lasting peace and stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, members of the PKK-linked Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party’s (DEM Party) Imralı delegation, and held a meeting with the families of fallen soldiers and veterans at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Thursday.
The closed-door meeting lasted about one hour and 40 minutes and was also attended by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) acting Chair Efkan Ala and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalın.
No statement was immediately issued following the meeting.
Buldan and Sancar have served as intermediaries in contacts with jailed PKK terrorist ringleader Abdullah Öcalan on Imralı Island as part of Türkiye’s terror-free initiative.
Later Thursday, Erdoğan received families of fallen soldiers and veterans at the Presidential Complex.
Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş attended the meeting and said Türkiye would continue to honor the memory of its fallen soldiers, recognize the sacrifices of its veterans and stand by their families.
In a statement on social media, Erdoğan later said that he had met with the families of fallen soldiers and veterans at the Presidential Complex.
“The homeland where we live freely, in peace and security, is entrusted to us by our fallen soldiers and veterans. The families of those who sacrificed their lives and shed their blood to protect the unity and integrity of this country are also entrusted to us,” Erdoğan said.
He said the state had mobilized all available resources to support veterans and the families of fallen soldiers and would continue to do so.
Referring to Türkiye’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, Erdoğan said Parliament had taken an important step this week as part of efforts to eliminate terrorism from the country.
“Türkiye has reached this stage, above all, thanks to the heroic struggle of our nation’s sons and daughters, the resilience of your families and the achievements our state has made, particularly in the defense industry in recent years,” he said.
“God willing, by acting with patience, common sense and composure, we will rid Türkiye of this scourge once and for all,” Erdoğan added.
The talks come after Parliament approved the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration, commonly referred to as the “framework law,” with broad parliamentary support.
Parliament on Monday passed a landmark 12-article law supporting the country’s “Terror-Free Türkiye” initiative, following months of political efforts led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli.
The Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration was approved with 468 votes in favor and 88 against, with six abstentions.
The legislation forms a key part of the legal framework surrounding the ongoing “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, which seeks to bring an end to decades of terrorism and strengthen social integration.
Türkiye and Egypt will continue to deepen bilateral ties based on mutual trust and shared interests as the two regional powers seek to contribute to peace and stability, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Friday following a visit to Egypt.
Fidan said in a statement shared on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal, that the visit provided an important opportunity to discuss what he described as the “excellent level” of bilateral cooperation between Ankara and Cairo, as well as regional developments.
“Strengthening cooperation between our countries serves not only the common interests of our peoples but also the establishment of peace, stability and prosperity in our region.”
The minister noted that Türkiye and Egypt were two major states acting with an awareness of the responsibilities placed on them by their history and geography.
During the visit, Fidan and his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, co-chaired the second meeting of the Türkiye-Egypt Joint Planning Group.
Fidan also held talks with Egyptian General Intelligence Service chief Hassan Rashad and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy.
The two sides signed agreements aimed at increasing bilateral trade, diversifying economic relations and strengthening connectivity between the countries, he said.
It was also added that Ankara and Cairo would continue working “shoulder to shoulder” in line with the vision of their presidents to further strengthen bilateral relations.
Egypt is one of Türkiye’s leading trade and export partners in Africa. Bilateral trade reached about $8 billion in 2025, with the two countries aiming to increase the figure to $15 billion, a target set by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and el-Sissi.
Turkish investments in Egypt have exceeded $4 billion, underscoring the growing economic ties between the two countries. Turkish-owned companies currently contribute to the employment of about 100,000 Egyptians.
Invited by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Ankara on Tuesday.
Erdoğan hosted a welcoming ceremony for Abbas on Wednesday before the two leaders sat down for talks on the future of Palestine and Israel’s actions undermining hopes for a solution.
The two leaders, who were scheduled to hold a joint news conference later on Wednesday, focused on the latest developments regarding Palestine, bilateral ties between Ankara and Ramallah, and regional developments.
Israel’s attacks on Gaza, international efforts against its attempts to annex the West Bank, and steps taken by the Netanyahu government to expel Palestinians from their territories, both through its genocidal campaign in Gaza and through illegal settlements, were expected to be on the agenda during the meeting.
According to the latest U.N. secretary-general’s report on settlements, Israeli authorities advanced or approved plans to build 4,750 settlement units in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, between March 14 and June 12.
On March 25, the Israeli government also approved the establishment or legalization of 34 illegal settlements in Area C of the West Bank, the largest number approved in a single Israeli government decision, according to the same U.N. report.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 affirms that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including occupied East Jerusalem, have “no legal validity” and constitute a flagrant violation of international law.
The meeting was also expected to address attacks on holy sites, such as Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, led by Israeli politicians, the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and initiatives led by Türkiye. The Gaza peace plan and reconstruction efforts in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, were also expected to be discussed.
Türkiye champions the Palestinian cause on every platform and seeks to be a voice for Palestinians in the international community. President Erdoğan raises the issue at international events, and this is also expected to be the case at next month’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.
Thanks to Türkiye’s diplomatic initiatives, the number of leaders and influential figures speaking out against Israel has increased. Ankara continues its efforts to intensify international pressure on Israel while consistently raising the Palestinian cause and Israel’s aggression on every platform.
On Gaza, Türkiye has consistently supported an immediate cease-fire, expanded humanitarian access, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, while remaining among the strongest international critics of Israel’s attacks. Working in close strategic alignment with Doha, Ankara has coordinated joint mediation efforts alongside Qatar and regional partners to enforce a lasting cease-fire, secure uninterrupted humanitarian relief and advance diplomatic channels for a comprehensive regional peace settlement.
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