Politics
Turkish suspect in kidnapping of Syrian defectors faces life in prison
An indictment by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara asks prison terms of between 35 years and life for Önder Sığırcıkoğlu, a former intelligence personnel accused of abducting two Syrian defectors and handing them over to the Baathist regime in Syria.
Sığırcıkoğlu was captured on the Syrian-Lebanese border, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) announced in March, in a joint operation with the post-Baathist Syrian intelligence.
He was accused of kidnapping Hussein Harmoush and Mustafa Kassoum, two commanders of the opposition Free Syrian Army, at the height of the Syrian civil war and handing them over to the oppressive Assad regime. Harmoush later died of torture by the Baathist regime. Sığırcıkoğlu was sentenced in 2013 to 20 years in prison for “deprivation of liberty through force, threat, or deceit,” but he escaped from Osmaniye prison in southern Türkiye, where he was held in 2014. Subsequent investigation discovered that suspects linked to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) helped him escape.
The indictment against him, released on Wednesday, charges Sığırcıkoğlu with political espionage. It says the suspect lived in several regions of Syria between 2014 and 2024, under the protection of the Assad regime and supplied information about MIT to Russian intelligence during that period.
In the indictment, it was stated that between the years 2014–2016, the defendant acted in concert with Mihraç Ural, the ringleader of the THKP-C/Acilciler terrorist group, and Yusuf Nazik, the perpetrator of the terror attack in the southern Turkish town of Reyhanlı, who was captured in 2018, and that during that period, he conducted a black propaganda campaign against Türkiye by giving interviews.
The indictment says that following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Sığırcıkoğlu first fled to Lebanon, then to Russia, and after living in Russia for a while, returned to Lebanon, where he was captured at the Syrian-Lebanese border.
In the indictment, which states that the defendant transferred information to foreign intelligence services that should have remained confidential for the security, internal, and external political interests of the State of the Republic of Türkiye, the following findings were included: “It has been understood that Sığırcıkoğlu began working within MIT in 1993, worked at this institution until 2012, and following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, was assigned to the refugee camps in the Yayladağı district of Hatay. It was determined that the defendant began transferring the information of Assad regime opponent refugees, which should have remained confidential for the interests of the state, along with institutional studies and MIT reports to the (Assad) regime intelligence, using the convenience provided by his duty to collect them.”
“It was determined that the defendant recorded his meeting with a Syrian tribal leader using a pen capable of audio and video recording and delivered it to Syrian intelligence, and that he ensured that Free Syrian Army (FSA) commanders Hormoush and Kassoum, with whom he established contact due to his duties, were abducted from Hatay in 2011 and delivered to the Syrian regime. It was established that while the suspect, whose actions contrary to Türkiye’s international positioning led the Assad regime to display force against opponents and put psychological pressure on refugees, was serving his sentence resulting from this incident, he took advantage of the travel permit granted in 2014 to report to an open prison, fled to Syria, and was welcomed there by regime intelligence.”
In the indictment, which states that Sığırcıkoğlu operated as an intelligence operative in various parts of Syria using the means allocated to him by the Assad regime after fleeing to Syria, it was reported that the defendant gave various information about MIT that should have remained confidential and, aiming to prove his loyalty to the regime, disclosed the names of some MIT personnel in an interview he gave to a journalist.
Özgür Özel is almost cocksure to get back his chair as the legal battle on the matter lingers. The former chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was forced to leave his office when a court ruled for the reinstatement of Özel’s predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, last month, in a case where the Özel administration is accused of buying votes in a 2023 intra-party election. He now mulls founding a new party, though he also remains determined to remain in CHP.
Özel was defiant on Tuesday as he held his first parliamentary group meeting at the party where he now serves as the said group’s chair. On Wednesday, he met a group of journalists and answered questions about his future and rumors of the establishment of a new party by his loyalists. “We are not committed to setting up a new party,” he told journalists, while underlining that it might be “worst-case scenario.”
“Nobody can stop the wind,” he said, referring to his call for a new election in the party, which he is confident of winning. “We are engaged in a great march to govern. We will not do this by leaving the party,” he said.
CHP trails ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in most opinion polls, but it has suffered successive election defeats in more than the past two decades, except for a strong comeback in 2024’s municipal elections. Özel advocates an early election, ahead of the 2028 presidential vote.
Özel’s camp within CHP took their case to the Supreme Court of Appeals, challenging the absolute nullification verdict by a lower court. The higher court is expected to tackle the case before the start of a judicial summer holiday beginning on July 20. The lower court has not referred the case to the Supreme Court so far. The Supreme Court may issue one of four rulings, according to legal pundits. It may uphold the absolute nullification verdict, it can overturn it, overturn the verdict partially in terms of ouster of the Özel administration while upholding the verdict on annulment of the 2023 election and finally, it can overturn the verdict in terms of interpretation of the case. The last verdict will likely require a retrial in the case. Supreme Board of Election (YSK) on Wednesday announced that it rejected an appeal by CHP, citing that the Board was not the appeals authority for the lawsuit.
Although it is unclear when the Supreme Court would respond to the appeal, several politicians were quick to urge the court to make up its mind soon. Among them was Devlet Bahçeli, chair of government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Bahçeli on Tuesday said the top court should issue the verdict as soon as possible, saying that it was a sensitive matter. Bahçeli reasoned that the matter was urgent as it had the potential to hurt the democracy and may lead to riots. Tuncer Bakırhan, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) echoed the same concern and called the Supreme Court to end “this bizarre situation.”
Latest developments, however, show that it will be an uphill battle for Özel, who may even lose his immunity from prosecution as a lawmaker. Two suspects testified in a case regarding the vote-buying on Tuesday and statements by one of them indicate the corruption in the 2023 intra-party vote. Özkan Yalım, former mayor of the western city of Uşak for CHP who was recently arrested in a separate case of corruption, told investigators how he worked to sway the vote for Özel. His statements reported by the Sabah newspaper on Tuesday show Yalım was among the supporters of Özel who obtained written pledges from 115 delegates eligible for voting in the 2023 election to vote for Özel. Yalım admitted that the Özel camp also offered jobs at CHP-run municipalities for children of at least one delegate. He also told investigators that Özel asked him to pay cash to cover expenses of the congress where the intra-party election was held and he handed TL 1 million to a suspect who was arrested last month, to be delivered to Özel.
On Wednesday, the Sabah newspaper reported that the Özel camp would also attempt disobedience against the new administration. Özel reportedly told the party’s chairs at the branches in 81 provinces and their districts not to comply with orders, decisions by the Kılıçdaroğlu administration. Party sources told the newspaper that this means branch chairs would not evacuate the offices if they were asked to resign by Kılıçdaroğlu. Several chairs already sided with Özel. Özcan Dağıstanlı, the party’s chair for the northern province of Düzce, was quoted last week as saying that he would not “give a f…” if Kılıçdaroğlu ousts him. According to the Sabah report, Özel offered future candidacy for parliamentary seats to branch chairs in return for disobeying the orders of the Kılıçdaroğlu administration.
CHP’s internal affair
On Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been less vocal about the state of the CHP since Kılıçdaroğlu’s return, elaborated more on the matter but insisted that it was the CHP’s internal affair. Özel stepped up anti-Erdoğan rhetoric after he lost his seat and claimed that the case against him was politically motivated. While his supporters openly branded Kılıçdaroğlu as a “traitor,” Özel took aim at the government instead.
Speaking at an event in Ankara, Erdoğan said the CHP must get accustomed to such “scenes of shame,” referring to the feud between Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu, “as long as they see politics as a way to make a career and money instead of a way to serve the public.
“They succumbed to a fight for a seat. They call people they once admired ‘traitor’ now,” he said. Without naming Özel, Erdoğan said they would “ignore those who got angry like a child whose candy was taken away and pick on us.”
“Nobody can overshadow the reputation of the politics, the quality of Turkish democracy,” he said. Erdoğan also stated that it was “of no use to anyone to marginalize politics,” referring to the threat of riots by the Özel camp. Özel himself hinted at “street rage” if the legal process against them concludes unfavorably. “May Allah not let this country be governed by those who cannot even come to terms with each other (at the same party),” Erdoğan said.
The Turkish Naval Forces Command will begin its Sea Wolf-2/2026 (“Denizkurdu”) exercise on Thursday, conducting large-scale operations across the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean until June 14.
The exercise will involve 125 naval assets, 60 aircraft and approximately 18,000 personnel from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), including land, naval, air, gendarmerie, coast guard and special forces units, Rear Adm. Alper Doğukanlı said during a briefing at the Naval Warfare Center Command in Gölcük.
Doğukanlı said the drill aims to evaluate the operational command and control capabilities of naval units, enhance combat readiness and improve decision-making skills in a multi-threat environment while testing interoperability among participating forces.
According to the exercise schedule, combat readiness activities and live-fire training will take place from June 4-6, followed by operational scenarios in a multi-threat environment from June 7-10.
A distinguished visitors day will be held in the Gulf of Antalya on June 11, while port visits by participating vessels between June 12 and 14 will conclude the exercise.
The drill will also include the participation of several civilian institutions, including Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the Directorate General of Maritime Affairs, the National Medical Rescue Team, the General Directorate of Forestry and the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay).
A series of live-fire demonstrations featuring domestically developed defense systems are planned during the exercise. Doğukanlı said the distinguished visitors day will include launches of the ATMACA anti-ship missile, the AKYA heavyweight torpedo and the HISAR-D naval air defense missile.
Naval helicopters will also conduct firing exercises with Penguin and TEMREN missiles as well as training torpedoes.
Bayraktar TB3 armed unmanned aerial vehicles operating from the amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu are scheduled to fire MAM-L and MAM-T smart munitions.
For the first time in a Turkish military exercise, a total of eight guided missiles and one torpedo will be fired. The PIRANA kamikaze unmanned surface vessel will also conduct an attack on a surface target from a distance of 3.5 kilometers at a speed of 45 kilometers per hour.
Live-fire activities will be conducted against four real targets in a secured 2,488-square-nautical-mile area of the Eastern Mediterranean protected by 27 ships and four aircraft.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will hold the 33rd edition of its traditional “Consultation and Assessment Meeting” between June 26 and June 28. The meeting, set to be held in the northwestern province of Sakarya, is somewhat of a summer camp for the party’s administrators, chairs of local branches and other top officials, where several topics are discussed thoroughly and the party charts its future moves.
Ahead of the two-day meeting, the party announced a reshuffle in four provinces. Chairpersons of the Adana, Diyarbakır, Giresun and Siirt provinces resigned over the past two days after the central administration asked them to do so. The party said it would soon announce its successors.
The camp, which will be held at a hotel in Kocaeli’s vacation destination Sapanca, will be an occasion where domestic and foreign policies will be discussed, along with the security strategies of Türkiye in the face of regional developments. The party members will also discuss the terror-free Türkiye initiative, which aims to disarm the terrorist group PKK, as well as work on a new constitution, media outlets reported.
In August, AK Party will celebrate its 25th anniversary. Evolved from a modest gathering of the “Movement of the Virtuous,” the party boasts a streak of successive election victories in two decades. It is credited with transforming Türkiye in the first two decades of the 2000s, from education and health care to the arts, democracy, human rights, defense industry and energy.
Nowadays, the party, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is working toward achieving the ambitious Century of Türkiye vision, a new set of reforms aimed at enhancing Türkiye’s standing in the world and improving the lives of the Turkish nation in all fields.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Wednesday that institutions underpinning the current international system have collapsed and failed to address global conflicts, criticizing the U.N. as ineffective in preventing aggression and ensuring accountability.
Speaking at an event titled “Türkiye in a Changing World: A Partner, a Balancer, a Strategic Actor,” hosted by the Finland-Türkiye Interparliamentary Friendship Group, Kurtulmuş said the global order was facing a profound institutional crisis.
“The institutions of the world system have collapsed,” Kurtulmuş noted. He argued that the UN, which was established to prevent conflicts and whose founding principles remain widely respected, had failed to fulfill its mission.
“To put it plainly, the United Nations means little more than an office in New York,” he stated.
Recalling remarks he made at an earlier meeting in Türkiye, Kurtulmuş added:
“Unfortunately, the United Nations is no different from a cafe in New York. It has no influence, cannot resolve any conflict, cannot stop any aggression, cannot tell any criminal that they are guilty, and remains in a state of helplessness.”
Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tchiani will pay an official visit to Türkiye on June 4 at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with the two leaders set to discuss ways to expand bilateral cooperation and exchange views on regional and global developments, Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said Wednesday.
The visit is expected to focus on strengthening ties between Türkiye and Niger, with leaders reviewing bilateral relations across a wide range of fields and evaluating potential steps to further deepen cooperation.
The discussions will also cover pressing regional and international issues, allowing both sides to exchange views on recent developments and areas of mutual interest.
The visit comes as Türkiye continues to expand its diplomatic, economic and security engagement across Africa, while advancing partnerships based on mutual benefit and shared development goals.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to attend the NATO summit in Türkiye’s capital Ankara next month, while emphasizing Washington’s continued commitment to the alliance and warning that Israeli actions in Lebanon could undermine efforts to sustain the Iran-U.S. cease-fire.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV during a visit to Singapore, Fidan said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had spoken with Trump several times over the past month and that the U.S. president reaffirmed his plans to attend the gathering during those conversations.
“As far as we know, yes, he is planning to attend,” Fidan said.
The foreign minister dismissed speculation that Washington could withdraw from NATO, saying he had seen no indication that the United States was preparing to distance itself from the alliance despite political rhetoric surrounding the issue.
Fidan said the United States has continued pressing allies to increase defense spending and assume greater responsibility for their own security, adding that European members had already begun boosting military budgets in response.
“When leaders come together, we will review the progress that has been made,” he said.
Addressing regional tensions, Fidan voiced support for ongoing diplomatic contacts between Washington and Tehran, saying both sides appeared sincere in efforts to preserve the cease-fire and keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
However, he warned that Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon posed a serious risk to the process.
“I am sure that both the Americans and the Iranians are sincere,” Fidan said. “They want the cease-fire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. But I am not sure about Israel’s intentions.”
Fidan said he recently spoke by phone with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi regarding Israel’s expanded military activity in Lebanon.
According to Fidan, Tehran believes it reached an understanding with Washington on achieving a cease-fire across all fronts and views Israel’s latest actions as a violation of that arrangement.
“I think this will make it extremely difficult for them to continue negotiations,” he said.
The foreign minister also recalled Trump’s recent social media statement following a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the U.S. president said the parties had agreed not to attack one another.
Asked about the possibility of renewed U.S. strikes on Iran, Fidan said he hoped such a scenario would be avoided, citing potential consequences for global energy markets, inflation and regional security.
“When we witnessed such a situation previously, we saw its impact on energy, security and inflation worldwide,” he said.
Fidan noted that regional conflicts continue to place pressure on Türkiye’s economy, particularly through rising energy prices, despite the country’s access to pipeline supplies from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran.
He said diplomats were working to prevent further escalation and create conditions conducive to peace, stability, development and trade.
On reports that Türkiye could seek a dollar swap line from the United States, Fidan said he was unaware of any such proposal being discussed by the government.
“I know such an issue has not come onto the agenda,” he said.
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