The hearing of the case regarding the allegation of corruption with the criminal organization founded by Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was suspended from his post as the President of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and arrested, continues on its 64th day. At the hearing held in the hall of the Marmara Prison campus in Silivri, the defendant İmamoğlu, whose turn it was to defend, took the podium.

Defendant İmamoğlu said that he wanted to express some of his objections regarding the decision of the court panel to end the hearing on the 9th of the month. The presiding judge said, “We said we would finish it on July 9, it is your discretion whether to make a defense or not. If you do not want to make a defense, let’s write down the minutes stating that you have exercised your right to remain silent, and let’s close the session. This is not the place for you to bargain.” he said.

İmamoğlu: “I do not use my right to remain silent.” When he reacted by saying, the President said, “Mr. Ekrem, why are you insistently trying to avoid making a defense? Let’s get your identification and start your defense. I have never bargained with any defendant on the stand, ‘Will you defend me?’ he said. Thereupon, İmamoğlu said, “I will not defend, I will judge, I will judge. I will also judge those who made the indictment.” he said.

The president of the court said, “This is not the office where you will judge, you came here to be tried. This is not the office where you will judge, and we do not sit in the office where you will judge. I applied Article 203 on him, let’s take him out of the courtroom. Let’s take his lawyers too.” Using his statements, he decided to remove İmamoğlu from the courtroom on the grounds that he disrupted the order of the hearing.

Meanwhile, the president said, “This will not become normal with your attitudes.” When asked, İmamoğlu said, “What a shame for you.”

The court adjourned the hearing and the hall was evacuated.

BREAKING NEWS… The 36th NATO Summit started hosted by Ankara. Before the leaders’ meeting, US President Trump and NATO Secretary General Rutte answered journalists’ questions.

“THE CEASE CEASE WITH IRAN HAS ENDED”

US President Trump made critical statements by saying “I’m sorry for NATO.” Making evaluations about the Iran War, Trump used the following statements in his statements:

I think the ceasefire is over. Sick people rule Iran. If they had nuclear weapons, they would use them. As far as I’m concerned, this is over. The Iranians made a fake deal. We made an agreement with the Iranians. They continued to act like we never talked. They can meet. But they waste time. They are liars, cheats and sick. They killed 35 thousand people.

People also started to question. How can they not take over this state? People died. I don’t want to waste my time with these people. Our team can continue the conversation. I don’t like Iran anymore. They did not treat the USA fairly at all. I love Erdoğan.

“I AM NOT SATISFIED WITH SPAIN”

Spain is a truly terrible NATO ally. I don’t want anything to do with Spain. Spain stands out the most and there are other countries that behave badly. Spain is clearly behaving badly. They will come back saying ‘Please we want to trade with you’.

“WE SPENT 1 TRILLION DOLLARS LAST YEAR”

We spent 1 trillion dollars in the past short term. To protect these countries from Russia. Mark understands my problems. We will solve this somehow. We were covering 100 percent of NATO. Some countries paid nothing. I called England and talked to Germany, they didn’t want to help. Some smaller countries wanted to help. Even though I’m angry at NATO and I’m paying millions of dollars, I say they’re not fair. NATO is very lucky to have such a leader.

GREENLAND ISSUE

Greenland is very important to the USA. He shouldn’t have given Greenland away. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t give up the Panama Canal.

Türkiye WILL BUY F-35s

Türkiye has a huge military power. Türkiye will purchase F-35s.

Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler, at the “Allies in Ankara” event, organized within the scope of the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, in cooperation with the Presidential Directorate of Communications, Munich Security Conference (MSC) and the Foundation for Politics, Economics and Social Research (SETA).
participated in the programme. Speaking here, Güler said, “While most of Europe was downsizing its armed forces after the Cold War, Turkey increased its preparedness level, invested in the defense industry and maintained its ability to operate in difficult environments. The continuity enjoyed with these broad opportunities and capabilities has turned into a strategic advantage for both Turkey and the Alliance today.” Güler said, “We welcome Europe’s stronger contribution to defense. However, this contribution should not compete with NATO, but should strengthen NATO. European security initiatives should be open to all non-EU NATO allies with relevant capabilities. Excluding Türkiye will not make Europe safer. Our expectation is clear. NATO-EU cooperation should be inclusive, integrative and mutually reinforcing. For a stronger, more realistic and more balanced NATO, the equal participation of all Allies and the equal participation of all Allies. “It is necessary to take full advantage of its capabilities,” he said.

Within the scope of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, the “Towards the Summit” panel was held within the scope of the “Allies in Ankara” program organized in cooperation with the Presidential Directorate of Communications, Munich Security Conference (MSC) and the Foundation for Politics, Economics and Social Research (SETA). The “Towards the Summit” panel held at Ankara Palas was attended by Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) Turkish Delegation Chairman and AK Party Antalya Deputy Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, British MP Stuart Anderson, US Senator Mike Rounds, US Senate NATO Observation Group Co-Chair and Foreign Relations Committee Senior Member Jeanne Shaheen and Slovakian MP Tomas Valasek. In his speech here, Çavuşoğlu stated that Türkiye’s role will not only be limited to hosting the NATO Summit, but will also continue to serve as a mediator. Shaheen, on the other hand, stated that Americans’ support for NATO is at its peak, and that the defense expenditures of 32 allies have reached 2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and are moving towards the 5 percent target.

Before the 36th NATO Leaders’ Summit to be held today, the heads of government and state of the alliance member countries landed in Ankara one after the other yesterday. The first person to arrive in the capital as part of the summit was NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte the day before.

In addition to US President Donald Trump, who was welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the leaders who will attend the summit started to arrive in Ankara. Members of the Presidential Cabinet welcomed the heads of state and government separately.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as South Korea, Ukraine, North Macedonia,

Heads of state and government who will represent Estonia, Montenegro, Canada, Latvia, Finland, Netherlands, Croatia, Czechia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Albania, Iceland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Denmark, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania, Poland, Belgium, Norway and Greece at the summit also came to Ankara. Towards the evening, the number of leaders who came to Ankara reached 30.

WELCOME WITH THE MEHTER MARCH
President Erdoğan and his wife Emine Erdoğan hosted a reception and official dinner at the Presidential Complex in honor of the heads of state and government and their spouses who came to Ankara within the scope of the NATO Summit. The leaders arrived at the ceremony reception area at the Presidential Complex with their official vehicles. The guests walked up the stairs accompanied by the marches played by the Janissary band. The leaders, who were welcomed one by one by President Erdoğan and First Lady Erdoğan, took a family photo and then went to the hall where the official dinner was held. While NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was the first to arrive at the reception, the last guest was US President Trump. The Erdoğan couple had a friendly conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron. While President Erdoğan went to the dining hall with US President Trump, other heads of state and government were welcomed by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. The reception at the Social Complex witnessed warm dialogues and diplomatic contacts where leaders came together.

ALLIES MUST DO THEIR PART

NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska stated that the NATO Summit is expected to be “a turning point” for the alliance and said that all allies should do their part. Shekerinska spoke at the program organized within the scope of the “NATO Summit Dialogues” event held in Ankara. Pointing out that they expected the summit to be a turning point for the alliance, Shekerinska said, “Last year’s summit in The Hague was not easy, because we had to commit to much stronger investments and expenditures in our defense field.

We made brave and historic decisions, but now in Ankara, we will show the even more important part. “In other words, we will show how we will turn these promises and commitments into concrete results and how we will fulfill the commitments we have made,” she said. Stating that the summit in question will be about “a change of mentality”, Shekerinska noted that the aim is to strengthen collective defense and to have a stronger Europe in a stronger alliance in line with the “NATO 3.0” vision.

In the statement made by the Ministry, it was stated that FTA negotiations were initiated between Türkiye and Canada during the meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney within the scope of the NATO Summit held in Ankara.

The statement reminded that last month, Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat and Canadian Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu published the “Joint Ministerial Declaration” stating that negotiations for a comprehensive FTA had been initiated between the two countries, and the following statements were made:

“THE AIM IS TO FURTHER DEEPENING THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP”

“With the statement they made today, the leaders of the two countries have ordered the official start of FTA negotiations, aiming to further deepen the economic partnership between Turkey and Canada. Turkey and Canada are moving to the next stage with the initiation of negotiations for a comprehensive, modern and mutually beneficial FTA.”

In the statement, it was emphasized that intensive efforts will be made for an agreement that will support Türkiye’s economic growth, contribute to employment creation, increase competitiveness, strengthen global supply chains and improve economic cooperation with Canada.

“In the coming weeks, the technical teams of both countries will carry out the necessary work to determine the scope and objectives of the agreement and prepare for the first round of negotiations. The authorities of both countries have started the necessary preparations for a high-quality comprehensive agreement.”