Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş received the final decision of the Gaza Tribunal from the head of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) during a meeting at Parliament, officials said Thursday.

According to a statement from the speaker’s office, ICYF President Taha Ayhan briefed Kurtulmuş on the findings of the independent initiative and formally presented the tribunal’s final ruling, announced in Istanbul on Oct. 26, 2025.

The tribunal’s conscience jury concluded that Israel and those supporting its actions were responsible for ongoing genocide and serious international crimes in Gaza.

The ruling highlighted alleged violations, including the use of starvation as a weapon, widespread destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, environmental devastation, attacks on health facilities and personnel, and the targeting of journalists and educational institutions.

Evidence and witness testimonies collected during the proceedings were compiled by legal experts and are set to be submitted to relevant international bodies, including the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, for use in ongoing or potential legal cases.

The Gaza Tribunal was established in London in November 2024 as an independent people’s court initiative led by global civil society in response to what organizers described as insufficient enforcement of international law.

Chaired by former U.N. special rapporteur Richard Falk, the process included hearings in Sarajevo in May 2025 and final sessions in Istanbul attended by thousands of participants and dozens of experts and victim witnesses.

Officials said the initiative aims to strengthen international accountability efforts and raise global awareness of alleged violations in Gaza.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief adviser Akif Çağatay Kılıç on Wednesday received Igor Khovayev, Moscow’s special representative for the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia

Kılıç said on the social media platform NSosyal that he received Khovayev along with the Russian delegation at the Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara.

The meeting addressed the bilateral relations between Ankara and Moscow, the ongoing Baku-Yerevan normalization process aimed at establishing lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the latest developments in the South Caucasus, he noted.

On Aug. 8, 2025, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Washington under U.S. mediation and signed a joint declaration reaffirming their commitment to ending decades of conflict. On the same occasion, the foreign ministers of both countries initialed a peace agreement, underscoring a shared determination to advance toward full normalization.

Türkiye and Armenia have held five rounds of normalization talks in recent years, seeking to restore diplomatic ties and reopen borders closed since the early 1990s.

The two countries share a complex history. Armenia, for a long time, has accused Türkiye, or rather, the Ottoman Empire, of committing “genocide” against the Armenian population in the country during World War I. Türkiye has repeatedly denied the claims, although it has acknowledged a high number of deaths among Armenians due to isolated incidents and diseases.

Borders have remained closed since 1993 following Armenia’s illegal occupation of the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh. Relations began to thaw after the 2020 Karabakh war, with both sides appointing special envoys to pursue normalization talks and negotiating the reopening of their land border. So far, limited agreements have allowed third-country citizens and diplomats to cross, but a full reopening remains elusive.

Despite the hurdles, there have been tentative gestures toward cooperation. The Margara border crossing has been used twice in recent years for humanitarian purposes: in February 2023 to deliver Armenian aid trucks following a devastating earthquake in southeastern Türkiye, and in March 2024 for humanitarian aid shipments to Syria via Türkiye. Armenia has also upgraded the crossing in anticipation of future use.

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The mayor of Nizip in southeastern Türkiye is facing backlash after appointing several relatives and close associates to senior municipal posts following his election in March.

Ali Doğan of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) won the Nizip mayoral seat in the March 31 local elections, marking the first time since 1994 that the party secured the municipality. Doğan previously served as mayor of nearby Karkamış between 2019 and 2024.

According to the reports of Sabah newspaper, shortly after taking office, Doğan appointed two sons-in-law of his brother, his brother-in-law, another in-law, a former driver from his previous term and a childhood friend to various department head positions within the municipality.

The posts include security, science center, information technology, purchasing, parks and gardens, garage services and neighborhood affairs units.

Only one of the appointees was previously employed as a civil servant at another public institution before transferring to the municipality, while the others reportedly began working at City Hall after Doğan assumed office.

The appointments have drawn criticism, including from within his own party. Nizip Municipal Council member Habeş Doğan, also from the CHP and not related to the mayor despite sharing the same surname, resigned from both the council and the party this week.

In a social media post announcing his resignation, the council member criticized what he described as favoritism, alleging that the newly appointed officials receive monthly salaries of TL 75,000 to TL 80,000 (nearly $2.000).

He called for transparency and urged authorities to address public concerns over the appointments.

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Türkiye aims to strengthen its close partnership with Azerbaijan through expanded education cooperation, a senior Turkish lawmaker said during a visit to Turkish-run schools in the Azerbaijani capital on Wednesday.

Fuat Oktay, head of the Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, visited several Turkish educational institutions in Baku while attending the 10th trilateral meeting of the foreign affairs committees of Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Georgia

At the Baku Turkish Anatolian High School, affiliated with Türkiye’s Education Ministry, Oktay met teachers and students and received briefings on academic activities. He later said the school reflected the “strong brotherly ties” between the two countries and expressed satisfaction with efforts to raise well-equipped future generations.

Oktay and the parliamentary delegation also toured the Azerbaijan International Maarif Schools youth campus, operated by the Türkiye Maarif Foundation. Students presented robotics and artificial intelligence projects along with cultural performances.

“These institutions carry strategic importance for our shared future,” Oktay said, adding that cooperation in education would further reinforce fraternal relations between Ankara and Baku.

Speaking to reporters, Oktay said the visit confirmed that Türkiye-Azerbaijan ties “stand firm and are stronger than ever,” noting that the partnership would continue to deepen.

He also said discussions at the trilateral parliamentary meeting focused on regional development and connectivity projects, including transport links such as the proposed Zangezur corridor, which Türkiye views as a key initiative for regional peace, economic growth and closer integration across the region.

Oktay expressed hope that normalization efforts in the South Caucasus would shift the region’s agenda toward “peace, prosperity and development.”

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A new debate has emerged in recent days over school activities related to Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, after a group of 168 signatories, including journalists, artists and academics, issued a statement titled the “Secularism Declaration.” The statement, which critics said echoed the rhetoric of the Feb. 28 postmodern coup era, sparked widespread public reaction. Experts, however, argue that such informational and cultural activities are not in violation of secularism.

“If a declaration interprets secularism in a way that categorically excludes the public visibility of religion, or disregards the constitutional framework concerning religious education and religious practices, such an approach contradicts the freedom of religion guaranteed under Article 24. It even amounts to an assault on fundamental freedoms,” Zakir Avşar, a professor from Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, told Daily Sabah.

In the statement titled “We Defend Secularism Together,” 168 writers, artists, academics, journalists and representatives of professional organizations claimed that Ramadan activities were a violation of a secular state, saying, “We will not surrender to darkness.”

Reminding that Article 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye stipulates that everyone has the right to declare, practice and worship in accordance with their religious beliefs and religious and moral education shall be conducted under the supervision and control of the state, and that compulsory courses on religious culture and ethics shall be included in the curriculum, Avşar stressed that, “Secularism does not mean hostility toward religion; rather, it signifies that the state maintains equal distance from all beliefs and ensures freedom of religion.”

National Education (MEB) Minister Yusuf Tekin also said the declaration reminded him of the Feb. 28 process, describing it as a malicious statement based on mind-reading.

“In their view, celebrating Christmas or Halloween is not contrary to secularism, but when it comes to Ramadan activities that reflect the continuation of our cultural heritage, secularism somehow comes to mind.”

Tekin also announced that he would initiate legal proceedings against the signatories, arguing that the text was ill-intentioned and ideological.

“Just as they exercise their democratic rights, I will exercise mine,” Tekin said.

Avşar noted that the Feb. 28 process marked a period in Türkiye when secularism was applied within a rigid, exclusionary and prohibitive framework. In the field of education in particular, practices such as persuasion rooms, headscarf bans and the coefficient system, along with restrictive measures targeting religious practices, resulted in violations of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Given this historical background, he said, “any tendency to reinterpret secularism through a prohibitive and uniform approach inevitably evokes memories of that era.”

On Feb. 28, 1997 military memorandum was issued by Türkiye’s National Security Council (MGK), which has since been dubbed the “postmodern coup.” The coup was no different than others otherwise. It targeted certain members of the public and kept fear of military intervention alive whenever powerful generals disliked the government.

During the period, the lives of millions took a sharp turn after the Turkish army, then still adhering to a tradition of self-claimed “tutelage” of Türkiye’s secular elite, joined forces with the judiciary organs in vehement opposition to what they called “reactionary forces” in power. This especially affected women expelled from schools for wearing headscarves and men deemed “too conservative” to hold public sector jobs and were fired, as well as others who suffered threats and lengthy legal processes.

Moreover, Tacettin Kutay, an academic at Turkish-German University and a columnist expert argued that the core characteristic of French Enlightenment thought and its model of secularism is built on disregarding the “other” and, if possible, eliminating elements associated with it.

“Unfortunately, in Türkiye, those who describe themselves as secular have largely shaped their intellectual framework based on French Enlightenment traditions and therefore do not operate outside that practice. For this reason, we consistently witness that those involved in these debates express discomfort with the very existence of the other side,” he said.

Previously, Suat Özçağdaş, head of the Education Policy Board of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), told reporters at Parliament that the government prefers opening Quran courses and described those as structures of “unclear nature.” Accusing the Education Ministry of paving the way for religious orders and communities, Özçağdaş said, “You are hostile to secular education; you are hostile to Türkiye’s secularism.”

Kutay further remarked that it remains unclear what, specifically, has caused discomfort over Ramadan-related activities in schools. “Was any child forced to fast? Was there an imposition outside the curriculum? No,” he said, adding that the reaction appears to stem from unease among those who do not accept that religious elements are also part of cultural heritage.

He concluded that Islam, which constitutes a part of Türkiye’s cultural heritage, is consistently rejected by what he described as an aggressive minority, whose demands are being imposed despite representing a minority view.

“As in nearly every year, the approach of Ramadan in 2026 has prompted statements from circles that describe themselves as secular,” he said, characterizing the circles as hostile toward the nation’s religious beliefs and values.

“It is not surprising,” Ekrem Kızıltaş, a columnist and author, said, commenting on the declaration.

According to Kızıltaş, this year’s debate appears to have been fueled by the fact that Ramadan began close to the anniversary of the Feb. 28 process and by the Education Ministry’s circular encouraging broader coverage of Ramadan-related themes in schools.

Last week, speaking at the Governors’ Meeting Program, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said they would organize various school activities to ensure that children, the guarantee of our future, are aware of the significance of the holy days of Ramadan and benefit from what he described as their atmosphere of spiritual abundance.

“There is no debate on secularism in Türkiye, and freedoms are in no way restricted,” Erdoğan said. “We will never deviate from what we believe is right, without paying heed to the ravings of an aggressive group that cannot tolerate our nation living its faith freely.”

On the other hand, Kızıltaş also pointed out that the anger stemming from the detention of several mayors from the CHP on charges such as bribery and corruption may also have played a role in prompting such statements. The group in question, he added, lacks any connection to objectivity, noting that both the president and the education minister have already delivered the necessary responses.

Regarding the critics of the Ramadan activities at schools, he concluded: “It can also be said that, beyond being alienated from the beliefs and values of a nation that is 99% Muslim, their aggressive tone causes them to undermine their own position the more they speak.”

The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) said its Imrali delegation and co-chairs will hold a news conference on Feb. 27 to mark the anniversary of a call for a “peaceful and democratic society,” with a new message from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan expected to be read.

The event, scheduled for 11 a.m. in Ankara, will include members of the DEM Party’s Imrali delegation along with co-Chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, the party said in a statement.

It was stated that the gathering will assess developments over the past year under what they describe as the “Peace and Democratic Society Process.”

They added that topics outlined by Öcalan during his most recent meeting, referred to as “steps required in the second phase,” are also expected to be addressed.

Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on Imralı Island since 1999, remains a central figure for Kurdish political actors despite Ankara’s designation of the PKK as a terrorist group.

In 2024, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli launched the terror-free Türkiye initiative, and in another parliamentary group meeting of the MHP, he called upon the PKK’s jailed ringleader, Abdullah Öcalan, to order the group to lay down arms after more than four decades of violence. Öcalan responded with a call to the PKK in February 2025 to dissolve itself. The PKK has largely complied with the call and held a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq last summer where its members burned weapons.

Türkiye has made progress in the disarmament of the PKK terrorist group after a parliamentary committee agreed upon the guidelines for Parliament in the terror-free Türkiye initiative.

The report finalized by the parliamentary Commission on National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy last week, after months of deliberations since Aug. 5, 2025, outlines a road map for the continuation of the process. It stresses that legal arrangements can move forward only after the disarmament of the terrorist organization is verified and confirmed.

Addressing the parliamentary group meeting of the MHP, Bahçeli said the terror-free Türkiye goal confirmed the might of the Turkish state and nation and charted the road for a new century of Türkiye with “unwavering unity.”

He hailed the fact that Parliament took the highest level of initiative and all political parties except a few acted responsibly on the matter. He said that the committee’s report made up the most important leg of sincere efforts to achieve the goal of a terror-free Türkiye and slammed those criticizing the report.

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