In his post on his NSosyal account, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz evaluated the tourism statistics for the first quarter of the year announced by TÜİK today. Stating that tourism revenues continue their strong performance, Yılmaz stated that the annualized value of tourism revenues, which increased by 4.2 percent on an annual basis in the first quarter of 2026, reached 65.6 billion dollars.

“WE WILL CONTINUE STRENGTHENING THE RESILIENCE OF OUR ECONOMY”

Pointing out that the increase in the number of visitors and the increase in expenditure per capita supported this performance, Yılmaz said:

“Despite the increasing geopolitical tensions in our region, we are taking determined steps to limit the effects on economic activity and strengthen our resilience. In this context, we have launched the Tourism Support Package in order to support the tourism sector, which is an important component of our foreign exchange-earning service exports, and thus provided the sector with an additional guarantee and credit facility of 60 billion lira. We will continue to support our sectors that contribute to reducing the current account deficit, strengthening employment and growth, and strengthen the resilience of our economy without compromising the basic priorities of our program, despite the increasing regional risks.” “We will continue to strengthen it.”

In the joint statement made by the foreign ministers of 11 countries, the following statements were made:

“WE CONDEMN THE ISRAELI ATTACK IN THE STRONGEST WAY”

“The Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Turkey, the Federal Republic of Brazil, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Kingdom of Spain, Malaysia, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Republic of Colombia, the Republic of the Maldives, the Republic of South Africa and the State of Libya condemn in the strongest terms the Israeli attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a peaceful and civil humanitarian initiative aimed at drawing the attention of the international community to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

“NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS SHOULD BE TAKEN”

Israeli attacks on the ships in question and the unlawful detention of humanitarian aid activists in international waters are clear violations of international law and international humanitarian law. Ministers are deeply concerned about the safety of civilian activists and call on the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure their immediate release.

“Ministers also call on the international community to fulfill its moral and legal obligations to uphold international law, protect civilians and ensure accountability for these violations.”

Rear Admiral Zeki Aktürk, Press and Public Relations Advisor of the Ministry of National Defense and Spokesperson of the Ministry, spoke at the weekly press briefing held at the ministry. Stating that the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) continues its duties and activities in order to establish permanent security, Aktürk said, “During the week, 6 more PKK terrorists surrendered, the work to detect and destroy mines and improvised explosives and caves, shelters and shelters in the operation areas continued, and the length of the tunnels destroyed in the Syrian operation areas reached 785 kilometers with the 8 kilometers of tunnels destroyed in Manbij.” he said. Stating that security at the borders has been established at the highest level on a 24/7 basis, Aktürk said, “198 people were caught in the last week, the number of people caught while trying to cross our borders illegally from January 1 to today is 2 thousand 430, and with 1449 people blocked, the number of people blocked at our borders this year has reached 25 thousand 618.” shared his knowledge.

Pointing out that the border troops continue their reconnaissance, surveillance and patrol activities uninterruptedly, Aktürk stated that 388 kilos of narcotics and 3 thousand 485 narcotic pills were seized during the search and screening activities carried out on the Van and Hatay border lines.

Aktürk said that while the Turkish Armed Forces guarantee national security with its high deterrence capacity, it continues to make strong contributions to regional and global peace with its cooperation with friendly and allied countries, training-consultancy activities and its active role in multinational missions.

TRAINING AND DRILLS

Rear Admiral Aktürk said that the Turkish Armed Forces continues its training and exercise activities uninterruptedly in order to maintain its high level of readiness.

Stating that the EFES-2026 Exercise, which was carried out between April 20 and May 21, under the command and management of the Aegean Army Command, with the participation of friendly and allied country elements, continued successfully in Western Anatolia, Central Aegean, Izmir Bay and Doğanbey Firing and Exercise Zone, Aktürk said:

“Our national elements and observers, troops and elements from 45 countries are participating in EFES-2026, which is one of the largest combined and joint exercises of our Turkish Armed Forces. TurAz Eagle Air Defense Exercise is being held in Azerbaijan between 27 April and 2 May, Flintlock held in Libya and Ivory Coast between 13-30 April, and Spanish held in the Western Mediterranean between 27 April and 8 May, hosted by Spain.” Participation in Minex Mine Operation exercises is provided. Our TCG Amasra mine hunting ship, which is in the NATO Standing Mine Countermeasures Task Group-2 (SNMCMG-2) participating in the Spanish Minex Exercise, will make a port visit to Spain between 1-3 May. Participation in Steadfast Deterrence in Norway and Ukrainian Volunteers Coalition Computerized Command Post exercises to be held in France between 5-13 May. is planned.”

Aktürk also stated that the Turkish Stars aerobatic team will perform a demonstration flight in Konya as part of the “Mevlana Welcoming Ceremonies” on May 3.

Stating that the General Directorate of Mapping continues to offer accurate, up-to-date and reliable data to the public by constantly improving its institutional capacity in the field of geographical information production and cartography, Aktürk said, “Our General Directorate of Mapping has updated the 1/1,000,000 scale Turkey Population Distribution and Density Map, the Turkey Population Change Map has been prepared and the Turkey Building Density Map has been published, thus three more valuable studies have been made available to the public.” he said.

Rear Admiral Aktürk also congratulated the Turkish Armed Forces Sports Force Shooting Team, which participated for the first time in the “Lapua Berlin 2026 International Shooting Competition”, which was held in Germany between 19-27 April and included 450 athletes from 22 countries, and became the champion in the Air Rifle Mixed Team category.

DEFENSE INDUSTRY

Stating that the modern and effective defense force of the Turkish Armed Forces continues to be strengthened with the high-tech products of the domestic and national defense industry, Aktürk said:

“Various quantities of KARAOK Anti-Tank Weapon Systems have been completed and taken into inventory by the Land Forces Command after the inspection and acceptance activities have been completed. Today, the first delivery of the GÖKBEY General Purpose Helicopter, produced by TAI with local and national resources, to our Land Forces Command will be made. The delivery of various quantities and diameters of weapons and ammunition has been completed by our Machinery and Chemical Industry (MKE) Joint Stock Company within the week, and the HAR-66 Light Anti-Tank Rockets Deliveries for export to Malaysia continued, and a Memorandum of Understanding covering the maintenance, repair and technical support processes of defense products jointly produced and sold in the field of defense industry was signed between our company and the Malaysian public company ‘Melaka Corporation’ at the Asian Defense Services Fair and Conference held in Malaysia between 20-23 April.

Stating that the products of the Ministry of National Defense and its affiliates will also be exhibited at the SAHA-2026 Defense, Aerospace Industry Fair, which will be held in Istanbul under the auspices of the Presidency, Aktürk said, “Our TCG Anadolu and TCG Istanbul ships belonging to our Naval Forces Command and our TCG Pirireis submarine will also participate in SAHA-2026 and will be opened to the public. During the fair, our Mehteran Unit Command and the 1st Army, Northern Sea Field and Air Forces Command will participate in SAHA-2026.” Concerts will be performed by our Military Academy band commands.” he said.

Çiftçi, who attended the Türkiye-Bulgaria-Greece Tripartite Mechanism Meeting held yesterday in Athens, the capital of Greece, answered the questions of the Turkish press in Athens after the meeting.

Minister Çiftçi said about the meeting held within the framework of the tripartite mechanism: “This meeting was a very productive meeting, mostly in terms of combating irregular migration between Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria, preventing pushbacks as much as possible, and further deepening the fight against irregular migration.” he said.

Stating that they decided to hold the next meeting in Istanbul, Çiftçi said the following regarding the continuation of this mechanism:

“We decided to continue the relations at this meeting because all countries have a common interest in this. Our country has become a role model for the whole world in the fight against irregular migration. Irregular immigrants can no longer enter our country easily. They cannot move around freely, and when they are caught somehow, they are deported. Our country is now carrying out a very successful fight against irregular migration in this regard.”

The first of the tripartite mechanism meeting, which was held for the third time in Athens yesterday, was held in Istanbul on January 14, 2025, and the second was held in Sofia on June 24, 2025.

While the accident took place in Antalya, the location where the images were taken was Göcek Merdivenli Bay, which brought about a debate about distance. The minimum journey time of 4 hours indicates a time period that can extend up to 5-6 hours with the preparation and sailing processes. This picture strengthened the claims that they left the region during the crisis.

“WE WERE FAMILY” DEFENSE STARTED A NEW DEBATE

Basarir’s words, “We were with our family”, opened the door to a new discussion rather than a defense. The resulting picture was interpreted as indicating that a previously planned organization was not cancelled. While a great disaster was occurring, the continuation of the program started a “priority questioning” in the public.

The distance between the accident point and the boat became one of the most critical topics of the discussion. Allegations intensified that some people left the crisis area early and participated in the program. This situation raises the question “was the priority rescue efforts or the planned event?” brought the question to the agenda.

TENSION IS INCREASING WITHIN CHP; EYES ON THE ORGANIZATION: “IS THE LEAK FROM THE INTERNAL?”

According to what is said behind the scenes in Ankara, it is stated that CHP Chairman Özgür Özel and Veli Ağbaba openly reacted to Basarir due to the images. The assessment that the images harmed the party and that serious mistakes were made in crisis management comes to the fore.

Allegations that the boat organization was organized by businessman Hazım Giray drew attention to this name. Giray, who is known to be close to Basarir, asked “were the images served from the inside?” The question began to be voiced louder behind the scenes.

Breaking news: The hearing prosecutor gave an opinion in the case where 414 defendants, 92 of whom are detained, are on trial regarding the İmamoğlu profit-oriented criminal organization. In the opinion, İsmet Korkmaz, data expert at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Emrah Yüksel, software coordinator at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Mehmet Çağlar Kuru, computer engineer at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, City Planner Nuri Cem Ceylan, Ulaş Yılmaz, Social Media Consultant of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Yusuf Utku Şahin, İmamoğlu’s bodyguard Çağlar Türkmen, businessman confessor Adem Soytekin, Seyhan Özcan, Private Secretary of Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney, present evidence. Their release was requested, taking into account their situation and duration of detention.

REQUEST FOR RELEASE FOR 9 DEFENDANTS, INCLUDING THE CONFESSIONER

Among the defendants, Ismet Korkmaz, data specialist at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Emrah Yüksel, software coordinator at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, computer engineer Mehmet Çağlar Kuru at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, City Planner Nuri Cem Ceylan, Social Media Consultant Ulaş Yılmaz of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Yusuf Utku Şahin, İmamoğlu’s bodyguard, Çağlar Türkmen, businessman Adem Soytekin, and Seyhan Özcan, Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney’s Private secretary and their release was requested, taking into account their detention period.