Politics
Iranians seek temporary refuge in neighboring Türkiye
Escalating conflict between Israel and Iran raises concerns for Türkiye, the northwestern neighbor of the latter. Another angle of the tensions is the potential flow of refugees from there.
After crossing into Türkiye from Iran on Monday, Shirin Talebi was anxiously waiting for her children and grandchildren to arrive from Tehran at the same border point. The family are planning to stay for a month or two in Türkiye, seeking temporary refuge from the escalating conflict.
Observers in Türkiye say the arrivals have increased since Israel on Friday launched strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear program and military officials. However, Turkish officials dismiss social media reports of a large-scale influx of refugees.
Türkiye, which shares a 569-kilometer-long (348-mile-long) border with Iran, has expressed deep concern over the escalating Iran-Israel exchanges. There are fears in Türkiye that a prolonged conflict could threaten Türkiye’s own security, cause energy disruptions and lead to refugee flows.
“I’m here because of safety. They are bombing. My children have small children of their own,” said Talebi, speaking at the Gürbulak-Bazargan crossing after arriving from the Iranian city of Urmia.
“Hopefully, it is over in one or two months so we can return to our country,” she said.
Iran has retaliated to Israel’s barrages by firing waves of ballistic missiles at Israel and the conflict is now in its fourth day.
In telephone calls with U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has offered to act as a “facilitator” toward ending the conflict and resuming U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations, which were called off on Sunday.
In a televised address following a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Erdoğan warned Israel that it was putting its own future at risk with its military actions. Iran’s nuclear program should be dealt with through negotiations, he said.
“We have argued from the very beginning” for negotiations, Erdoğan said. “Today, we are at the same point.”
He also slammed the West and Israeli actions in Gaza.
“Israel, which attacks Iran with the unlimited support from the West, destroys Gaza, and bullies every country in the region, is not aware of what it is doing,” Erdoğan said. “Perhaps it will realize its mistake in the future, but we are afraid that by then it will be too late.”
Türkiye has not provided any official figures for arrivals from Iran, with the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications saying “there is no unusual movement, congestion or irregular crossings.”
The country allows Iranians to enter the country without a visa for tourism purposes and stay for up to 90 days.
At Gürbulak, one of the busiest crossings between Türkiye and Iran, bus driver Ferit Aktaş had just brought a group of Iranians from Istanbul and was waiting to pick up others. He said 10 days ago, three to five Iranians would arrive for shopping or tourism.
Now, “there are at least 30 Iranians in my vehicle per day,” he said. “They say, ‘We are not safe there and we are forced to come.’ Most of them want to go to Europe, they want to go to Europe through Türkiye.”
Mejid Dehimi, also from Urmia, arrived for a weeklong break Monday, not to escape the conflict, he said and expressed support for Iranian leaders.
“We are not afraid of death,” he said. “We will stand against Israel until our last breath and for as long as our lives allow.”
The spokesman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) issued a strong warning over efforts to integrate the PKK-linked Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into official Syrian state structures, calling the moves a direct threat to Syria’s territorial integrity and a potential sabotage of ongoing disarmament efforts in the region.
In a news conference on Wednesday, Ömer Çelik said that proposals to fold the SDF into Syria’s army, under a U.S.-backed transition plan, are unacceptable and violate the principles of national unity and sovereignty.
“These so-called local governance models being floated are merely a cover for imperialist and Zionist agendas,” Çelik said. “We will not allow any effort that delays or derails the path toward a Terror-Free Türkiye and a terror-free region.”
He noted that Türkiye is closely monitoring developments along its southern border, including recent movements between the Suwayda region and SDF-held areas, which he described as “provocative and opportunistic.” He reiterated that all branches and affiliates of the PKK must disarm and disband for any peace model to be legitimate.
PKK disarmament and ‘Terror-Free Türkiye’
Çelik emphasized that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made it clear that the country’s priority is to see the PKK terrorist group and all its offshoots fully disarmed, in line with the work of a newly established parliamentary commission.
“Our aim is clear: the dissolution of the PKK and its surrender of arms,” he said, warning against political actors attempting to redefine or dilute the mission of the commission. “The process is not a negotiation — it is a national objective.”
He added that Türkiye’s vision of a terror-free state would also serve as a model for surrounding countries battling similar threats.
‘Türkiye Century’ campaign launched
The comments came as the AK Party unveiled a new nationwide initiative titled “Türkiye Yüzyılı Buluşmaları” (Century of Türkiye Meetings), set to run from Aug. 8 to Sept. 15. The campaign will involve outreach across the country by Cabinet ministers, lawmakers, and party leaders to engage directly with citizens and families of fallen soldiers.
Çelik said the campaign, coordinated by Deputy Chair Ahmet Büyükgümüş, will combine political dialogue and personal interaction to deepen public engagement during the summer months.
Civilian constitution main goal
Çelik also reiterated the party’s long-standing push for a civilian constitution to replace the current military-era charter, calling it essential for Türkiye’s democratic future.
“This is not just a political goal — it’s a societal necessity,” he said, adding that the AK Party will continue working with all segments of society during the upcoming meetings to build consensus on the issue.
Fake diploma probe: ‘We will go to the end’
Commenting on the ongoing fake diploma scandal, Çelik said state institutions had detected the issue over a year ago and have been investigating under the coordination of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. He emphasized that all involved would be held accountable.
“The state was ahead of this. Deliberate misinformation is being spread — such as false claims of 400 academic appointments. None of it is true,” he said. “This network of forgers will be rooted out completely. The judiciary, Interior Ministry, YÖK, and all relevant bodies are acting in full coordination.”
Gaza and global accountability
On foreign policy, Çelik condemned Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza and accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of leading a “massacre network” that should be prosecuted for genocide.
“This is no longer just a humanitarian issue — it is a global justice issue,” he said. “Netanyahu’s government must face international courts just as the Nazis did. Those who support or excuse this will face historical reckoning.”
Çelik welcomed the growing international momentum toward recognizing the State of Palestine, praising countries expected to take formal steps in September. “This sends a clear message that the Zionist network’s ambitions will not succeed,” he said.
Recently surfaced documents have revealed a curious connection between the chairperson of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Özgür Özel, and Aziz İhsan Aktaş, a controversial figure under investigation for alleged involvement in organized crime and corruption within Istanbul municipalities run by the CHP.
According to documents released by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Aktaş is reported to have allocated a luxury armored vehicle for Özel’s use during a 1.5-year period. The vehicle, specially equipped with bomb-resistant features and bearing the license plate 34 AKT 500, was reportedly used by the CHP leader during his trip to southeastern Diyarbakır province.
The revelations, also brought to light by former Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) MP Arzu Erdem and veteran journalist Nuray Başaran during a live television broadcast, have raised eyebrows over the nature of the relationship between Özel and Aktaş, particularly as investigations deepen into irregularities at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and several district offices, all under the CHP’s control.
“The documentation is explicit. The license plate, route details and usage timeline all match. This is not a coincidence. The public deserves clarity,” Başaran said.
Erdem echoed the sentiment, urging transparency: “Silence is no longer an option. The CHP chair must come forward and explain his association with Aziz Ihsan Aktaş. This goes beyond protocol; it’s a question of political ethics.”
In response, CHP spokesperson Deniz Yücel flatly denied the allegations, stating that Özel’s official vehicles are registered with the party headquarters and are issued plates by the police department. “Our chair does not use any vehicle outside of the official fleet,” he said, calling the claims “baseless slander.”
Still, the timing of the documents’ release, coinciding with Özel’s recent public comments targeting judiciary figures, has led some to question whether the vehicle arrangement is part of a deeper, undisclosed political entanglement.
Aziz Ihsan Aktaş, identified by the Istanbul prosecutors as a purported leader of a criminal organization, is accused of orchestrating lucrative public contracts in exchange for bribes. His cooperation with prosecutors, through multiple confessions, has triggered investigations that led to the arrest of several CHP-affiliated municipal figures, including mayors and party insiders.
Since the new round of Palestine-Israel conflict began in October 2023, Türkiye has delivered more than 101,000 tons of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Among it is more than 25,000 tons of food aid, 3,171 tons of drinking water and 25,180 tents.
Türkiye also hosted 430 patients evacuated from Gaza as health care facilities in the enclave are heavily damaged in Israel’s reckless attacks. In addition, in cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the country delivered more than 65,000 tons of flour to Palestinians. The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) leads the humanitarian efforts for Gaza.
Anadolu Agency (AA) reported that Türkiye has sent 14 planes and 16 vessels loaded with aid to Gaza so far and has also sourced aid materials from the Palestinian territories to be delivered to the enclave.
A total of 25,729 tons of food, 3,171 tons of drinking water, 351 containers turned into temporary shelters, 113,608 blankets, 25,180 tents, 19,798 sleeping bags and 151,445 pieces of shelter material, along with three mobile kitchens, have been delivered to Gaza. Additionally, 469,486 pieces of clothing and 1,083 toy sets for children were sent.
The total amount of humanitarian aid materials, sent via ship voyages, an air bridge, local procurement and in cooperation with UNRWA, has reached 101,271 tons.
Within the scope of medical aid, eight field hospitals, 53 ambulances and 247.5 tons of medical supplies have been sent to Gaza.
To improve hygiene conditions in the region, 281,238 hygiene kits and 550 tons of hygiene materials have been distributed. Aid supplies also included one forklift and 1,451 generators for energy needs.
Under the coordination of the Ministry of Health, 430 patients and 450 caregivers were transported to Türkiye via nine flights.
Of the 1,369 individuals brought to Türkiye from Gaza through an evacuation operation carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1,229 were provided with accommodation and food services in Istanbul.
Currently, a total of 1,834 people from 613 families have been provided with housing in Ankara, Istanbul, Konya and various other provinces. Cash support was also provided by the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the AFAD through Esenkart cards.
A total of $7.5 million was donated to the Egyptian Red Crescent, with $7 million from the AFAD and $500,000 from the Turkish Red Crescent.
Furthermore, $3 million in financial support was provided for the sea logistics of 30,000 tons of flour, which is being delivered in cooperation with the AFAD and UNRWA.
In the coming period, approximately 250 tons of fuel are planned to be sent to Gaza as fuel support, procured locally.
At least 61,258 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, including 197 who have died from hunger, Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday.
A ministry statement said 100 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 603 people were injured, taking the number of injuries to 152,045 in the Israeli onslaught since October 2023.
The ministry also said that four more people died from starvation and malnutrition over the past day, pushing the death toll since October 2023 to 197, including 96 children.
A medical source told AA that 16-month-old Mohammed Zakaria Asfour lost his life at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis as a result of starvation-related complications amid a severe shortage of food and medicine due to the Israeli siege.
Activists shared videos on social media showing Mohammed’s extremely frail body and protruding bones.
The ministry also said that 51 Palestinians were killed and 230 injured while trying to get humanitarian aid in the past day, bringing the total number of people killed while seeking aid to 1,706, with over 12,030 others wounded since May 27, when the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2, has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and worsening conditions for the territory’s 2.4 million population.
According to Gaza’s government media office, Israel allowed just 92 aid trucks on Wednesday, far short of the 600 trucks needed daily to meet the needs of the residents.
The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18, breaking a cease-fire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January. Efforts for another truce, led by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, have so far not yielded any results.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday received Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko at the Presidential Complex in Ankara.
Sonko was personally invited to Türkiye by Erdoğan as the two countries seek ways to improve ties. Sonko and Erdoğan were scheduled to sign several cooperation agreements after discussing relations, regional and global issues, the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications said earlier.
Developing relations and cooperation with African countries is one of the cornerstones of Ankara’s multidimensional foreign policy.
Türkiye’s engagement with the African continent has been gaining pace over the years. Since assuming office nearly two decades ago, first serving as prime minister, Erdoğan has been fostering ties with Africa, presenting Türkiye as a fairer player than the continent’s former colonial powers.
Ankara has emphasized its desire to advance relations with the continent based on a win-win relationship and equal partnership while maintaining mutual respect. Both sides have been vowing to tap into their greater potential for further expanding and deepening relations.
The Turkish Embassy in Dakar, which was established in 1962, is one of the first Turkish diplomatic missions on the African continent.
Senegal, which gained independence from France in 1960, stands out in West Africa owing to its stability and institutionalized democracy.
In 2018, Erdoğan paid an official visit to Senegal, accompanied by several Cabinet ministers, and Senegal’s then-President Macky Sall visited Istanbul for the opening of the Çamlıca Mosque in 2019.
Erdoğan paid another official visit to Senegal in 2020, which included a business forum. Private sector representatives annually hold business forums in Senegal.
Economic cooperation with Türkiye is key for indebted Senegal, which unveiled an economic recovery plan on Aug. 1. The West African country faces a deteriorating economy, marked by a 14% budget deficit and outstanding public debt that represents 119% of GDP, said Senegal Economy Minister Abdourahmane Sarr at the ceremony to unveil the plan. At the same event, Sonko declared that under the new economic plan, “90% of resources are expected to come from the mobilization of internal resources and without external debt”.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Sonko claim to have inherited a heavy burden from their predecessor, President Macky Sall.
U.S. President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for peace talks at the White House on Friday, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
The official told Reuters it was possible that the framework for a peace agreement could be announced at Friday’s meeting. The Washington Post was the first to report on the talks.
Armenia also confirmed the talks. The trilateral meeting is “aimed at promoting peace, prosperity and economic cooperation in the region,” the government said in a statement posted on its Telegram messaging app.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is travelling to Washington on Aug. 7-8, will also hold a bilateral meeting with Trump, the statement said.
In March, the two sides announced that they had agreed on the text of a draft peace agreement; however, progress has been sporadic and slow since then. The countries’ leaders met in July in Abu Dhabi for talks. Azerbaijan has previously said that Armenia must change its constitution to remove indirect references to Karabakh’s “independence” before signing a peace treaty. Yerevan denies this, but Pashinyan has repeatedly stressed, most recently this week, that the South Caucasus country’s founding charter needs to be updated.
Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions, including Lachin.
Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization talks and the demarcation of their border.
After a series of slow-moving negotiations, Azerbaijan rushed in troops last year in September and swiftly seized back Karabakh, whose entire population of nearly 120,000 people returned to Armenia after rejecting a reintegration program Baku offered.
Earlier in 2024, Armenia withdrew from several Azerbaijani villages it had controlled since the early 1990s as part of the peace process.
Two deputy chairpersons of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) held a news conference on Wednesday in Ankara to introduce a new campaign that will continue until September. The campaign is entitled “Century of Türkiye Meetings” and aims to promote the titular set of reforms unveiled by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ahead of the centenary of the Republic of Türkiye in 2023. In addition, the meeting will bring together AK Party staff from 81 provinces and the public as part of an outreach effort about the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
Ahmet Büyükgümüş, deputy chairperson of the party, said they attach importance to communicating with the public about the services that AK Party governments have provided since they first came to power in 2002. “We will launch a series of events throughout August and September about what is done with the vision of Century of Türkiye in 81 provinces and 973 districts,” he said.
“Century of Türkiye” is a comprehensive list of goals aimed at boosting Türkiye’s global standing, encompassing reforms in public services, health care, education, transportation, energy, agriculture and tourism, as well as targets to enhance the country’s diplomatic influence in global affairs.
The party’s deputy chairs and ministers will lead AK Party delegations to events held in provinces and districts and they will also meet with opinion leaders in each province. The campaign will conclude with a final event in Istanbul, attended by representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
“We are engaged in politics at a time of a very important agenda for Türkiye and a significant transformation in the world. Therefore, developments regarding the terror-free Türkiye initiative and its details will be shared with our nation. We will conduct field trips to explain its meaning and how the initiative will advance,” he said.
The terror-free Türkiye initiative launched by government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli had its first tangible progress in February when the terrorist group PKK’s jailed ringleader, Abdullah Öcalan, accepted Bahçeli’s call and urged the group to lay down its weapons. In May, the PKK announced it would dissolve itself. Last month, some 30 PKK members, including a senior leader, burned their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq. Although symbolic, the gesture marked the first time that the group had laid down arms in its campaign of violence for more than four decades. The PKK has previously announced so-called unilateral truces but has never entirely given up its ambitions.
On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee established exclusively to tackle the initiative held its first meeting, marking another milestone in the process. The committee will examine the fine details of the initiative and provide recommendations to Parliament on advancing the initiative with new regulations. This may or may not include lenient sentences for former members of the terrorist group and a legal framework regarding the status of the terrorist group.
As part of the campaign, the AK Party’s women’s branch will visit families of terror victims and veterans of counterterrorism operations, presenting a letter from President Erdoğan addressed to them in the context of the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
Büyükgümüş said they would also inform the public on the government’s efforts to ensure a permanent drop in inflation. “Under the leadership of President Erdoğan, all relevant ministries endeavor to maintain a fall in inflation and improve welfare. As AK Party cadres, we will inform the public about the point we reached on this matter and future steps,” he said. Inflation dropped more than expected in July to reach its lowest level in almost four years, according to official data released on Monday, which officials say reinforces their forecasts that price growth will slow further by year-end. The increased cost of living and instances of overpricing by certain businesses are major economic challenges for the country, and some political pundits attribute this to the drop in votes for the AK Party in the 2024 municipal elections.
He stated that they would also share details of the government’s National Technology Movement, “which became more significant amid recent geopolitical tensions.” “We will inform the public about steps taken for domestic production and services in the defense industry, digital infrastructure and energy,” he said.
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