Politics
Özgür Özel pushes for reelection as uncertainty reigns in Türkiye’s CHP
The office of Özgür Özel, who was ousted from his post as chair of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) last May, announced that they would seek an extraordinary congress in a reelection bid. They formally applied to a local court for an order to the new administration to hold the congress.
An Ankara court has ruled that Özel’s tenure was null and void in a case where his associates were accused of buying votes during a 2023 intraparty election. Özel won that election, ending the lengthy rule of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Kılıçdaroğlu was reinstated to the office after the May verdict. Since then, Özel and his supporters have been plotting a return to the administration of Türkiye’s oldest party.
Kılıçdaroğlu has signaled that his administration may soon hold a congress for a new election, but Özel, who is now reduced to the job of parliamentary group chair of the CHP, sought to speed up the process before the 2028 general elections, which may also be rescheduled to 2027.
Özel’s office said they collected signatures of 833 delegates for a petition for a new congress. The statement said the signatures were delivered to the Kılıçdaroğlu administration on June 17, in line with the legal deadline, but the administration failed to act upon the call. “In line with Article 75 of Turkish Civil Law, application by one member of the administrative board of the party is sufficient to hold a meeting, for formation of a delegation to organize the congress,” the statement said.
Özel and Kılıçdaroğlu are engaged in a well-publicized row over the future of the divided CHP. Kılıçdaroğlu earlier vowed to “cleanse” the CHP of corruption associated with Özel supporters in the party while Özel accused him of serving the interests of the government to disrupt what he calls CHP’s rise to power.
Özel has signaled earlier that he may establish a new party. Speaking to private broadcaster TV100 on Monday, Kılıçdaroğlu said he would respect Özel’s “fight” within the party. “But they have no right to run a parallel structure in the party,” he said, referring to Özel’s nationwide campaign to seek support while the Kılıçdaroğlu administration continues to expel provincial branch directors of the CHP loyal to Özel.
“We may have a debate among ourselves, but we cannot be divided. If they decided to split because I am purging the corrupt ones, this is a grave situation,” he said. “You cannot remain in the party, remain its parliamentary group chair while working to establish a new party,” he stated.
TCG Istanbul, a frigate of the Turkish navy, made a port visit to Syria’s Latakia on Monday, the Ministry of National Defense announced. Aboard it was Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, head of the Turkish Naval Forces Command.
The ministry said it was the first time the navy visited neighboring Syria since the collapse of the Assad regime in 2024.
Latakia has long been a stronghold of Bashar Assad, an avowed enemy of Türkiye, which sought diplomacy with the Assad regime in the first years of the civil war to end the conflict.
After forces led by incumbent President Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew the Baathist regime, Türkiye rekindled relations with Syria, pledging to help with its rebuilding.
Last week, an engineering brigade of the Turkish army set up a 240-meter-long floating bridge on a part of the Euphrates River in Syria’s Deir Az-Zour.
Al-Sharaa was in Türkiye last week, where he met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the margins of a NATO summit in Ankara.
In 2025, two countries signed a comprehensive security agreement that includes joint military training and exchange of expertise and know-how in matters of security.
Latakia, where the frigate anchored at, also carries significance for Türkiye as a major hub in the Eastern Mediterranean where Turkish interests are abundant. Türkiye has been vigilant against Israel-Greek Cypriot cooperation in the region and seeks to defend the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the divided island, especially in terms of maritime borders where Greek Cypriots seek to exploit hydrocarbon resources unilaterally.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Doha on Tuesday to offer his condolences following the death of the country’s former emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Upon arrival, Erdoğan met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Sheikh Hamad, who ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013, died Sunday at the age of 74 after a prolonged illness. He was laid to rest at Lusail Cemetery in Doha, while Qatari authorities declared four days of national mourning.
The former emir stepped down in 2013, handing power to his son, the current Emir Sheikh Tamim.
In a condolence message shared Sunday, Erdoğan described Sheikh Hamad as “a very valuable friend” and credited him with making significant contributions to the development of Türkiye-Qatar relations.
The Turkish president said the former emir had played an important role in advancing political, economic, military, humanitarian and cultural ties between the two countries during their years of cooperation.
Erdoğan also praised Sheikh Hamad’s efforts for the stability of the region, the well-being of the Qatari people and peace across the Islamic world.
“Türkiye’s place is not in the waiting room of Europe,” Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said Tuesday.
The government ally lamented that the European Union acted with political calculations instead of seeing the reality about Türkiye. “Türkiye’s membership process has been assessed based more on political judgment than technical criteria,” he told a parliamentary group meeting of his party in Ankara. “They blocked chapters of accession, postponed their responsibility and have not fulfilled their promises while Türkiye’s fair expectations have been overshadowed by (Europe’s own) agenda,” he said.
Bahçeli’s remarks are a reflection of Türkiye’s oft-repeated frustration with the bloc and come at a time when Türkiye strives for another shot at membership as the continent explores collaboration options, especially for security in the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Earlier this month, Türkiye hosted a NATO summit attended by EU heads of state and government. The summit was also an occasion for Türkiye to call for more cooperation with European Union countries, especially in defense.
The MHP itself has been a target of European Parliament reports critical of the country, with calls for the criminalization of Ülkü Ocakları or Idealists’ Clubs, known as Grey Wolves in Europe, an affiliate of the party.
“Europe narrowed its strategic horizon by keeping Türkiye in its waiting room. They think Europe will remain strong by excluding Türkiye, but I suggest they see the security and stability challenges they face now. Europe is increasingly facing a strategic uncertainty,” Bahçeli stated.
Bahçeli also hit out at Greece’s stance on Türkiye’s relations with the European Union. “It is neither smart nor sustainable to limit Europe’s security with political calculations of Athens,” he said.
“Third countries cannot hold Turkish-European relations hostage,” Bahçeli added. Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration often oppose Türkiye’s ambitions for EU membership or the expansion of security and defense cooperation between the bloc and Ankara.
“No country has the right to present its own problems with other countries as a joint security challenge for the entire Europe,” he underlined.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir, chief of defense forces, at the Ankara Airport on Tuesday. Erdoğan was about to leave for Qatar on an official visit, while Munir is on a two-day official visit to Türkiye that began on Monday.
The meeting was closed to the press and was also attended by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Turkish Chief of General Staff Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) director Ibrahim Kalın. Munir has held a separate meeting with Bayraktaroğlu on Monday.
Munir raised his profile in recent months as he played a key role in Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts for mediation between the U.S. and Iran.
Türkiye-Pakistan relations reached to new highs under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who was also in Türkiye earlier this month.
Türkiye and Pakistan enjoy close and friendly ties, which in recent years have further expanded to also include a new grouping – the Regional Four (R-4), a diplomatic partnership – also involving Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Defense cooperation stands out as one of the strongest pillars of relations between the duo.
Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis defended his country’s foreign policy regarding neighboring Türkiye and stated that closing the communication channels with the country, as government critics said would be “a policy of destruction.”
Türkiye and Greece pursue rapprochement in their relations after decades of hostilities, but thorny issues between them appear to take time to be resolved. Among them is the maritime borders across the Aegean, the sea dividing two countries. Greece’s attempt to expand those borders led Türkiye to declare casus belli or cause of war in the 1990s, and it still remains in place. In an interview with Greece’s ERT, the top diplomat said it has been a “huge burden” on relations and it was “long overdue” to remove the casus belli.
The countries, which came close to an all-out war in the 1990s over the Aegean Sea, remain vigilant, with Türkiye concentrating on developing a domestic defense industry. Greece relies on foreign partners to boost its defenses. Embracing the doctrine of being effective and powerful at sea, as its predecessor, the Ottomans, were, Türkiye in the past two decades, has developed an independent defense industry capable of operating in open waters, thereby shifting geopolitical balances in its favor. The navy plays a critical role in ensuring the security of maritime trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, promoting regional stability.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in Ankara earlier this month for the NATO summit and was welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Answering questions on a possible decision by the United States to sell F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, Mitsotakis has called on NATO to be sensitive toward “an open threat of war.”
Turkish authorities have detained 25 suspects in a sweeping operation linked to the long-running investigation into the 2009 helicopter crash that caused the death of the former Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said Monday.
The arrests were made as part of an investigation transferred last month from the Kahramanmaraş Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Gürlek said in a statement shared on social media.
According to the minister, prosecutors identified 29 suspects believed to have committed the offenses of establishing, leading or being a member of an armed terrorist organization and premeditated murder.
Police carried out simultaneous raids at 30 addresses across 10 provinces, including Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Balıkesir, Adana, Antalya, Çanakkale, Bursa, Isparta and Afyonkarahisar.
Gürlek said 25 suspects were taken into custody. Two suspects were already in prison, while two others were determined to be abroad. Efforts to locate and detain the remaining fugitive suspects are continuing, he added.
During searches of the suspects’ homes and workplaces, officers seized 20 handguns, 2,507 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, 35 magazines and two shotguns, prosecutors said.
In 2009, during the local elections, Yazıcıoğlu rented a helicopter to attend a rally in Kahramanmaraş. His helicopter, along with five others, tragically crashed in the Göksun district after leaving a rally in Çağlayancerit. Following extensive search efforts, their bodies were discovered on Keş Dağı Kurudere Kanlıçukur.
Yazıcıoğlu was laid to rest on March 31, 2009, with a ceremony at Kocatepe Mosque and buried at the Taceddin Dergahı, as per his wishes. His coffin, wrapped in the Turkish flag, was adorned with flowers by mourners.
Yazıcıoğlu’s death and rescue efforts in its aftermath courted controversy and his friends had claimed he was “killed” by his opponents. Several public officials linked to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) face trial over abuse of duty for charges stemming from closing the case about the crash on a snowy mountain and for hindering rescue efforts after the crash.
The investigation examined military jet pilots who were found to have flown over the crash area on the day of the incident, as well as personnel assigned to a military crash investigation team sent to the site after a military helicopter dispatched to the area was reportedly damaged.
Prosecutors also assessed civilian crash investigators suspected of acting together with the military team to remove devices from the wreckage, along with personnel from the General Directorate of Security who were responsible for determining the crash coordinates.
The prosecutor’s office said evidence indicated that the suspects may have committed premeditated murder as part of activities linked to FETÖ.
Known for his principled stance and opposition to military coups, Yazıcıoğlu remains an unforgettable figure in Turkish politics. His legacy lives on through his contributions to the political scene and his firm beliefs in democracy and national unity.
Gürlek described the case as one that has left a deep mark on the public conscience and said judicial authorities and law enforcement agencies were continuing to work in close coordination to establish the material facts and ensure that anyone responsible is held accountable.
“No matter how many years pass, no case will be allowed to remain in darkness and no suspicion will be left unanswered,” Gürlek said, adding that authorities would pursue the investigation until every aspect of the incident is clarified.
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