Türkiye should develop its own technopolitical doctrine that combines strategic capability, secure artificial intelligence design and public legitimacy as AI reshapes global power, according to a report published Friday by the National Intelligence Academy (MIA).

The report, titled “Technopolitical Order Debates in World Politics and Türkiye,” argues that artificial intelligence has evolved beyond a technological innovation into a strategic asset that influences state capacity, economic competitiveness, social trust and the balance of power in international politics.

The publication comes as governments around the world compete to secure leadership in AI, semiconductor production, critical minerals, energy resources and data infrastructure, areas increasingly viewed as central to national security and geopolitical influence.

In the report’s foreword, MIA President Prof. Dr. Talha Köse said future international competition would be shaped not only by AI technologies but also by advanced chips, critical minerals, energy supplies, data infrastructure and robotic systems that enable them.

Köse said debates over technology policy are becoming the defining framework for global politics, economics and society, adding that Türkiye must become an active participant in the emerging technological order to avoid strategic surprises and capitalize on new opportunities.

The report describes AI as one of the primary determinants of strategic capacity, arguing that competition now extends beyond technological superiority to include governments’ ability to make data-driven decisions, the growing influence of private technology companies over public life, the preservation of democratic legitimacy and the role of human agency in an increasingly automated environment.

Researchers identify three major schools of thought shaping the emerging technopolitical order.

The technorealist approach views AI primarily as a source of geopolitical and military advantage for states. The technopragmatist perspective emphasizes secure, reliable and governable AI systems. The technohumanist approach prioritizes human dignity, individual freedoms and social justice in technological development.

Rather than adopting a single framework, the report argues that Türkiye should combine the strengths of all three approaches to build a balanced and realistic national strategy.

According to the study, Türkiye already possesses several advantages, including experience gained through its defense industry, AI-assisted decision-making capabilities, operational expertise and accumulated data resources. Cooperation between public institutions and the private sector, along with a growing pool of qualified professionals, was also identified as a competitive asset.

At the same time, the report points to structural challenges, including fragmented data governance, inconsistent standards among institutions, uneven data quality and the need for greater transparency and accountability. It says technological capabilities should be reinforced through stronger institutional governance.

The report argues that Türkiye’s long-term position in the AI era will depend on developing an original technopolitical model that integrates strategic capacity, secure system design and social legitimacy within a single institutional framework.

It also warns that treating AI solely as an instrument of technological superiority could reinforce new forms of global hierarchy. Instead, the report says Türkiye’s civilizational heritage and human-centered approach could enable it to offer an alternative governance model while evolving from a country that primarily adopts AI technologies into one that shapes its own doctrine and governance framework.

Among its policy recommendations, the academy calls for strengthening Türkiye’s national AI infrastructure, improving data governance, expanding interdisciplinary education and increasing the country’s technopolitical diplomatic capacity. It also recommends adopting a risk-based AI governance model, establishing common standards across public institutions, reducing technological dependence on foreign suppliers, playing a more active role in international technology governance and transferring innovations developed in the defense sector into civilian applications.

The report concludes that the technopolitical transformation driven by artificial intelligence extends far beyond technological advancement, affecting national strategy, economic resilience, social structures and international influence. It says Türkiye’s long-term strategic interests will depend on becoming one of the countries helping shape the emerging global AI order rather than simply adapting to it.

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The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said on Thursday it would not recognize or engage with the EU’s “special representative for Cyprus,” stressing that the appointment carries no legitimacy because it was made without their consent.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry of the TRNC said the EU’s decision to appoint Raffaele Fitto, an executive vice president of the European Commission responsible for cohesion and reforms, as its representative was made at the request of the Greek Cypriot administration.

The ministry described the move as another attempt by the bloc to interfere in the decades-old dispute.

The statement came ahead of Fitto’s planned trip to the island and after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare, two-day visit earlier this week.

The ministry said the EU had lost its neutrality on the Cyprus issue when it admitted the Greek Cypriot administration to the bloc in 2004, disregarding the will of the Turkish Cypriot people.

It stressed that the “strategic mistake” further emboldened the Greek Cypriot side’s “uncompromising attitude,” deepened the inequality between the two sides and became one of the main obstacles to reaching a settlement.

The TRNC also said it was unacceptable for the EU to appoint a special representative when the United Nations itself had refrained from appointing a special envoy.

“The appointment of a so-called Cyprus special representative at the request of the Greek Cypriot administration, without the consent of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and while completely disregarding the will of the Turkish Cypriot people, has no legitimacy from our perspective,” the ministry said.

It added that the government would not accept any activities Fitto may carry out in that capacity or any attempt to intervene in any process concerning the island. “There is also no question of engaging with him in any way,” the statement said.

The island has been mired in a decadeslong dispute, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks that began in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at the annexation of Cyprus by Greece led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.

As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983. The country is recognized only by Türkiye, which does not recognize the Greek Cypriot administration in the south.

The island has seen an on-and-off peace process, but negotiations have been stalled since 2017.

During his visit, U.N.’s Guterres said resolving the island’s division is “absolutely crucial” for stabilizing a turbulent region where persistent conflicts have the potential to escalate.

Guterres, whose term as U.N. chief expires at the end of the year, said he’s prepared to call a meeting of the 5-plus-1 group – the Turkish Cypriot President Tufan Erhürman, the Greek Cypriot administration head Nikos Christodoulides, the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Greece, and Britain, plus the U.N. secretary-general – in hopes of resuming full-fledged peace talks.

But Guterres said more preparations are needed to ensure the meeting’s success.

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The Republican People’s Party (CHP) has “cleansed itself,” its chair, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, recently claimed, but the new era of calm within the party may not last long. After losing its status as the main opposition party, the CHP is now bracing for another potential bout of internal strife following the departure of former Chair Özgür Özel, who founded the New Party (YP). Media outlets reported this week that a group of lawmakers plans to challenge Kılıçdaroğlu in a future intra-party election. The move may threaten Kılıçdaroğlu’s efforts to reset the party by unloading those associated with corruption allegations.

Kılıçdaroğlu was reinstated as party chair in May after a court ruling nullified Özel’s chairmanship over allegations of vote-buying in the party’s 2023 leadership election. Before his departure, Özel called on the Kılıçdaroğlu administration to convene another party congress, expressing confidence that he could win the next leadership race. The CHP had earlier announced that preparations for the congress would begin in September, and Kılıçdaroğlu’s challengers are reportedly already working behind the scenes.

One of them is Gürsel Erol, a lawmaker representing Elazığ province, who recently lost the race for the post of CHP parliamentary group chair to Faik Öztrak. Erol won the first two rounds of voting before withdrawing from the third. After the election, he made a pointed statement, claiming there was a “monopoly” within the party without naming anyone directly.

Ali Öztunç, a lawmaker representing Kahramanmaraş province, made similar remarks in an interview with a pro-CHP YouTuber, saying the party is not “anyone’s property.”

“We stayed in the CHP so it would not be shut down, but some people see it as their own property. Now they will face intra-party opposition,” he was quoted as saying.

Öztunç and Erol were among the lawmakers who remained with Kılıçdaroğlu’s CHP, while Özel took nearly 100 lawmakers with him to the YP. Öztunç has emphasized that they will continue pushing for a party congress as soon as possible “to reinvigorate the CHP.”

Media outlets reported that Öztunç, Erol and like-minded lawmakers would try to persuade Kılıçdaroğlu not to seek re-election as party chair. The Turkish service of the BBC reported on Thursday that around 15 of the CHP’s 44 lawmakers, who describe themselves as proponents of a “third way,” would soon release a joint declaration outlining their position. According to the report, they neither support Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership nor are they willing to join the YP. It added that they could leave the CHP to sit as independents or join the YP if Kılıçdaroğlu refuses to meet their demands.

So far, Kılıçdaroğlu has remained vague about whether he will seek another term as party chair, though he said in a recent interview that he would “consider running” if nominated by other party members.

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The New Party (YP), founded by Özgür Özel after his departure from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), began setting up offices across the country last Friday. As the party seeks to attract voters, its chairperson, Özgür Özel, found himself in hot water, at least among some supporters, after a video showing him performing Islamic ablution circulated on social media.

The video shows the YP chair washing his face, arms, feet and head, following the rules of the Islamic ritual required before performing prayers almost to perfection. Some of Özel’s supporters accused him of resorting to a ploy to attract conservative voters, who have traditionally favored the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) over the CHP, which advocates a more secular ideology and seeks to keep religion out of the public sphere. Before establishing the YP, Özel pledged to adhere to his former party’s ideological principles while also seeking to appeal to a broader cross-section of voters.

Some social media users claimed the video was a public relations stunt, while the YP released a statement saying it had been recorded before the party’s foundation by a supporter during Özel’s visit to the northern city of Kastamonu. The party said it had not approved the video’s release and insisted that Özel was unaware he was being filmed while performing ablution. Özel’s staunch supporters said the video was quite natural and highlighted the everyman image of the chairperson.

Özel was also photographed praying at the tomb of a Muslim mystic in Ankara on the day the party was founded, an image that contrasted with an earlier video showing him drinking rakı beside the grave of a former lawmaker, footage that had angered many pious Turks.

Whether it was a PR stunt or not, Özel will need as much voter support as possible ahead of the 2028 general election, his first major electoral test as leader of the YP and of the country’s main opposition party.

His lieutenants met with journalists on Thursday to discuss the party’s road map. Party Secretary-General Yunus Emre said the party’s headquarters had not yet been fully opened and would be ready within a month. YP Deputy Chair Ensar Aytekin told reporters that branches would be established in 60 provinces and their districts by the end of next week.

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The Palestine Convoy, bringing together civil society representatives and volunteers from different countries to draw attention to human rights violations in Palestine and the ongoing humanitarian crisis, entered Türkiye through the Ipsala Border Gate in Edirne after setting off from Srebrenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The convoy, which has brought together civil society representatives from more than 20 European countries in solidarity with Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, crossed into Türkiye on Thursday through the Ipsala Border Gate on the Greek border after departing from Srebrenica. The 85 participants, who traveled through Albania and Greece, will cross Iraq and Jordan before reaching the border of the occupied Palestinian territories on Aug. 21, 2026. They were welcomed at the border crossing by civil society organizations from Istanbul carrying Turkish and Palestinian flags.

Speaking at the border crossing, Palestine Convoy spokesperson and Turkish activist Hüseyin Durmaz said the journey began in Srebrenica, where they commemorated the genocide that took place there 31 years ago.

“There, we commemorated the genocide that took place 31 years ago, prayed for those killed and reflected on the fact that evil is a shared responsibility. We believe our silence contributed to the suffering because we could not intervene or reach those in need at the time. That is why we have taken action so as not to remain silent about what is happening today in Gaza, the West Bank and Palestine. It is our duty to stop a genocide taking place in our own lifetime,” he said.

“Our convoy continues its journey with the participation of activists from many countries around the world. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Greece, it has received tremendous public interest and support across the Balkans,” he said.

Durmaz said the convoy has three main objectives.

“First, we do not want the West Bank to become another Gaza. As you know, Israel is currently pursuing a very serious policy of forced displacement in the West Bank and openly says it intends to turn it into another Gaza. It is our duty to prevent that.

“At a time when Israel should be withdrawing from Gaza following the cease-fire and humanitarian aid should be entering the territory, we see that it is instead expanding its occupation every day and making plans to annex all of Gaza. Humanitarian aid is still not reaching Gaza. Because of the cease-fire, Gaza has also begun to fade from the global agenda, and we want to bring it back into international focus and increase pressure on Israel.”

Durmaz said the convoy has been expanding “like a snowball” by meeting with people and raising awareness of the Palestinian cause.

Durmaz said the convoy’s mission is to help stop what he described as genocide.

“The issue is ending this genocide in our own era. We will continue this journey until it ends. As you know, we have taken part in many global initiatives before, but each time we were only able to go so far. This time we are following a route that has already been tested. We believe the countries along the route will not obstruct our march or our convoy because we are not targeting those countries or their domestic politics. Our only target is Zionism and what we see as its genocidal policies. Our aim is to increase its international isolation and help bring an end to these actions,” he said.

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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Wednesday that Lebanon is counting on Türkiye to contribute to its economic recovery, support the implementation of the U.S.-mediated framework agreement and help strengthen stability in southern Lebanon.

Ahead of his first official visit to Türkiye on Thursday since taking office in January 2025, Aoun told an interview with the Anadolu Agency (AA) that Lebanese-Turkish relations have “the potential to move to advanced levels of cooperation.”

“Türkiye has a central position in the current regional scene, and coordination with it is a strategic necessity, not a temporary option,” he said.

Lebanon and Israel signed the U.S.-sponsored framework agreement on June 26. The deal provides for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory in return for the deployment of the Lebanese army there, along with the disarmament of armed groups, including Hezbollah.

“Türkiye’s NATO membership and broad regional ties qualify it to play a supportive role in the international promotion of the framework formula and to encourage relevant parties to fully comply with its terms,” Aoun said.

“Türkiye can contribute to the success of this track, especially since the framework that emerged from negotiation rounds in Washington and Rome requires broad regional and international follow-up to ensure its implementation on the ground,” he added.

The Lebanese president stressed that Beirut is committed to implementing the framework agreement.

“But the success of this agreement depends on clear guarantees, foremost among them a full Israeli withdrawal that is simultaneous with the deployment of the Lebanese army, a permanent halt to violations and attacks in the south, and an effective international mechanism to verify both sides’ compliance, so that Lebanese commitments do not become a unilateral step in the absence of a corresponding Israeli move,” Aoun said.

“We call on Türkiye, given its regional weight and multiple relationships, to support this track politically and diplomatically in a way that strengthens its chances of success, prevents it from becoming an agreement with incomplete implementation, and contributes to supporting Lebanon’s efforts to achieve the Israeli withdrawal and strengthen international efforts aimed at preventing any security vacuum in the south, in line with our keenness to preserve stability in this sensitive area,” the president said.

Asked about Türkiye’s possible role in supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty and stability, Aoun said: “Ankara, as an active regional state, has real tools of influence and can contribute to supporting the Lebanese state and its legitimate institutions, foremost among them the army, in a way that strengthens the extension of state authority over all territory.”

“Türkiye can also use its relations to contribute to controlling the eastern and northern borders and preventing any arms smuggling or infiltration that threatens Lebanese security,” he said.

“We are not asking Türkiye for a role that replaces the Lebanese state, but for a supportive and complementary role that aligns with our effort to place arms solely in the hands of legitimacy and stabilize the country after years of war,” he added.

Aoun said Lebanon looks forward to strengthening cooperation with Türkiye in supporting state institutions, especially the army, and opening new horizons for cooperation on border stability and combating the transfer of illegal weapons.

On the economic front, Aoun said Lebanon is counting on Türkiye to contribute to economic recovery in Lebanon through investment, trade and reconstruction.

“This could be done by encouraging Turkish companies to pump direct investments into Lebanon’s productive sectors, activating existing trade agreements, removing logistical obstacles to the exchange of goods in a way that eases the burden on Lebanon’s struggling economy, and benefiting from Türkiye’s wide experience in reconstruction,” he said.

On military cooperation, Aoun said the Lebanese army needs multi-level support to strengthen its deployment and extend state authority.

“The Lebanese army is facing an existential challenge in extending the state’s authority over all its territory,” he said. “This requires multi-faceted support: modern equipment and gear, specialized training, and logistical support that enables it to deploy effectively in sensitive areas, especially in the south, where its deployment is supposed to coincide with a full and simultaneous Israeli withdrawal.

Aoun said he will raise with the Turkish side the possibility of expanding the existing military support and training programs, especially since Ankara has shown readiness to contribute to strengthening the capabilities of the Lebanese military institution.

“But at the same time, we emphasize that any Turkish support comes in addition to existing U.S. and international support, not as an alternative to it,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of Türkiye joining an international force that could replace the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the south, Aoun said: “This file is still under discussion.”

“There are multiple proposals, including one that speaks of a European force led by France and Italy, another that proposes Turkish participation with NATO support, alongside other proposals that include Arab and Islamic countries,” he said.

“For us, the priority is to ensure that no security vacuum occurs after UNIFIL’s mandate ends,” Aoun said. “Any proposal to form an alternative force, including possible Turkish participation, will be viewed from one angle: its ability to support the Lebanese army in extending its authority and ensuring stability in the south.

“We are not in the process of excluding any serious partner in this track, but the final decision remains linked to broader international consensus and to what serves Lebanese sovereignty first,” he added.

“Türkiye has contributed through UNIFIL’s naval force to peacekeeping in the south,” Aoun said. “This participation was effective in controlling maritime movement toward Lebanon over the past years, in coordination with the Lebanese army’s naval forces.”

Asked about Hezbollah’s rejection of any negotiating track with Israel and its impact on efforts to implement cease-fire understandings and address outstanding issues, Aoun said: “The size of this challenge cannot be underestimated, as any negotiation or implementation track needs a minimum level of internal consensus to succeed on the ground.”

“The Lebanese state, represented by the presidency and the government, is the only party constitutionally authorized to make decisions related to sovereignty, security and foreign relations, and this is what we constantly insist on,” he said.

“At the same time, we realize that the success of implementing the ceasefire understandings and addressing outstanding issues, foremost among them placing arms solely in the hands of the state, requires a cumulative approach and continuous internal dialogue, away from confrontation, so that everyone becomes convinced that Lebanon’s supreme interest lies in a strong state with its legitimate institutions alone, not in the continuation of division over decisions of war and peace,” he added.

On reports about a possible Syrian role or mediation in placing weapons under Lebanese state control, despite repeated denials by Damascus, Aoun said: “The decision to place arms solely in the hands of the Lebanese state is an exclusively Lebanese sovereign decision.”

“There is no room for any mediation or external interference in it, whether Syrian or otherwise,” he added.

“The Syrian side itself has repeatedly affirmed, at the highest levels, that it does not intend to intervene militarily in Lebanese affairs, and that its support is limited to backing the principle of placing weapons and decisions of war and peace in the hands of the Lebanese state,” Aoun said. “This is a position we welcome, and it aligns with our vision of the sovereignty of Lebanese decision-making.”

The Lebanese president said he stressed during meetings with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa that coordination between the two countries should be at the level of political leadership and based on respect for each country’s sovereignty and noninterference in internal affairs.

“As for statements or speculation about a broader Syrian role, these are media interpretations that do not reflect any negotiating reality or official position,” he said. “We are always keen to correct any confusion that may arise regarding this sensitive file.”