Politics
Austrian chancellor meets Erdoğan as countries seek to build on good ties
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker made his inaugural visit to Türkiye since taking office last year and met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex on Monday. The visit comes at a time of flourishing relations between the two countries whose ties deteriorated in the past decade. The last Austrian chancellor to visit Türkiye was Karl Nehammer, who was the first Austrian official in that post to visit Türkiye in 2023, after a 22-year hiatus.
Türkiye and Austria turned their hostilities in the Middle Ages into somewhat steady relations in the 18th century. This evolved into an alliance in World War I, and in 1924, the fledgling Republic of Türkiye signed a friendship agreement with Austria.
Quoted by Austrian media before his trip to Ankara, Stocker stated that the main topics he would discuss with Turkish officials would be the economy and migration. Stocker defined Türkiye as “an important economic partner” and hailed good relations between the two countries. He stated that Austria and Türkiye had more potential, especially in tourism and Austrian investments in Türkiye.
Stocker is accompanied by Peter Hanke, minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, and Wolfgang Hesoun, vice president of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. He will meet Erdoğan for the second time since he took office, after a May 2025 meeting in Albania on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit.
Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger sought to upgrade relations between the two countries as she met her Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Türkiye last April.
Austria and Türkiye’s trade volume exceeded $4.3 billion in 2025, and the countries aim to elevate it to $5 billion in the short run. Foreign direct investment in Türkiye by Austria surpassed $11.2 billion between 2005 and 2025, while the Turkish investments in Austria in the same period were $887 million.
Turkish and Austrian officials will also hold a high-level roundtable meeting on economic ties during Stocker’s visit. Türkiye is among key export markets outside the European Union for Austria.
Austrian officials say that Hanke’s meeting with Turkish Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Abdülkadir Uraloğlu would focus on cooperation on modernization of transport infrastructure, especially railways.
Austria also has a large Turkish community numbered around 350,000 people, while Türkiye is popular among Austrian tourists. In 2025, more than 563,000 Austrian tourists visited Türkiye.
The Turkish Parliament passed a critical law early Monday for the martyrs’ and veterans’ families to boost their rights and benefits, particularly in financial terms.
The General Assembly approved the law just hours before it was set to vote on a law as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
Martyrs are mostly members of the security forces, including military personnel and law enforcement officers, who were killed in counterterrorism operations or terrorist attacks, as well as civilians killed in such attacks.
In the past few decades, the terrorist groups PKK and Daesh have been primarily responsible for deadly attacks, both across the country and abroad, targeting Turkish nationals.
The new law passed with the votes of 382 lawmakers in the 600-seat parliament. It provides for increases in monthly payments to the families of martyrs. The total payment to the parents of martyrs will be no lower than the net monthly minimum wage, which is currently slightly above TL 28,000.
The additional payment provided to veterans and people left disabled by injuries sustained in terrorist attacks and who require personal care will also be increased. The payment for people in these groups will be raised to 2.5 times the net minimum wage.
Monthly payments for noncommissioned officers, village guards (local civilians, particularly in eastern and southeastern Türkiye, who are employed to defend rural areas against attacks by the PKK and other terrorist groups), military cadets and civilians who were left disabled on duty will also be increased.
Monthly pensions will be granted to those injured while carrying out counterterrorism duties but who are not considered disabled under existing laws.
Monthly pensions will also be granted to public servants and civilians who were injured while attempting to thwart the July 15 coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) or terrorist attacks but are not considered disabled under the law.
Commenting on the law, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said a new era was beginning in strengthening the rights of the families of martyrs and veterans.
In a statement posted on her social media account Monday, Göktaş said they were providing the families of martyrs and veterans with stronger rights.
She said the new regulations would improve monthly payments to the parents of all martyrs so that they would not fall below the minimum wage.
She added that those injured in the fight against terrorism but not classified as disabled would, for the first time, receive monthly pensions, along with social benefits such as free public transportation and discounts on electricity and water bills.
“Under the leadership of our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we will continue to stand by the precious families entrusted to us by our martyrs and our heroic veterans,” the minister added.
Suspended Menderes Mayor Ilkay Çiçek in the western city of Izmir announced Monday that he had resigned from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) after being jailed pending trial in a corruption investigation involving bribery and extortion allegations.
The Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had ordered the detention of 16 suspects, including Çiçek, as part of an investigation into alleged offenses including forming and joining a criminal organization, bribery, extortion, forgery of official documents, abuse of office and causing zoning pollution.
All 16 suspects were referred to court following proceedings by the gendarmerie. Ten, including Çiçek, were arrested pending trial, while six others were released under judicial supervision.
The Interior Ministry later suspended Çiçek from his post as Menderes mayor as a temporary measure.
Çiçek said he reluctantly resigned from the CHP after the party referred him to disciplinary proceedings seeking his expulsion without first obtaining his defense.
Çiçek was elected mayor of the small Aegean coastal district in the 2024 municipal elections, replacing another CHP mayor in a district that has been a stronghold of the opposition party for years.
Over the past months, dozens of CHP mayors have been the subject of criminal investigations, and many have been detained or arrested on corruption charges, along with a sizable number of municipal bureaucrats.
Once Türkiye’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) is now a pale shadow of its former self after former Chair Özgür Özel left the party and founded the New Party (YP). Lawmakers and other members resigned from the CHP en masse to join Özel in his new party, but party sources say most of them were not longtime members of Türkiye’s oldest political party. Instead, a significant portion of those who resigned had joined the CHP during Özel’s tenure as chairperson, which began after an intraparty election in November 2023.
The CHP and the YP have been engaged in a bitter dispute since Özel sought to reclaim the chairmanship he lost following a court ruling in May. Özel appealed the verdict, while his predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, returned to office and pledged to weed out “corrupt” members, referring to officials close to Özel whose names became entangled in corruption investigations. Before and after Özel established the YP, a wave of resignations and expulsions swept through the CHP.
The YP claims that nearly 700,000 people have resigned from the CHP, while CHP officials reject that figure and maintain that resignations have largely come to a halt. As the debate continues, the CHP leadership is also carrying out an internal review of the resignations. According to the CHP’s findings, the vast majority of recent resignations involve individuals who joined the party between 2024 and 2026, during Özgür Özel’s tenure as chairperson. Approximately 450,000 new members joined the CHP during that period.
Shortly after assuming the party leadership, Özgür Özel carried out what was described as a historic purge of supporters of former Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Between 2024 and 2026, he expelled nearly 2,500 party members and placed newcomers, many of whom had never previously been part of the CHP’s ranks, in key positions within a significant number of local party organizations.
It is alleged that the majority of recent resignations from the CHP involve these “stacked members,” who were reportedly recruited by certain local political figures close to Özel in order to secure victories in internal party elections. It is also claimed that nearly all of those who resigned belong to the same group that has been helping establish the YP’s new local organizations.
Türkiye marked on Monday 12 years since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as Türkiye’s first president elected directly by popular vote, a period that has seen the country overhaul its system of government and expand its diplomatic and defense footprint.
Erdoğan was elected Türkiye’s 12th president on Aug. 10, 2014, following a 2007 constitutional amendment that allowed the president to be chosen directly by voters for the first time in the country’s history.
He won 51.79% of the vote, receiving more than 21 million of about 40.5 million valid ballots.
Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran on Monday described the 2014 election as a major turning point in Turkish democratic history, saying the direct election of the president strengthened the role of the popular will in governing the country.
Duran said Erdoğan’s election marked the beginning of a new period in which Türkiye increasingly determined its own priorities and shaped its future through the will of its people.
He said that process continues under Erdoğan’s “Century of Türkiye” vision.
“Türkiye is resolutely advancing toward a more effective, more independent and stronger position in its region and the world,” Duran said.
Shift to presidential system
Erdoğan’s presidency has coincided with a fundamental transformation of Türkiye’s system of government.
On April 16, 2017, voters approved constitutional amendments replacing the country’s parliamentary system with an executive presidential system. The referendum passed with 51.41% voting in favor and 48.59% against.
Türkiye held its first presidential and parliamentary elections under the new system on June 24, 2018.
Erdoğan, backed by the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) ally, won the presidential election. He was later sworn in as the first president under the new system, and the first Cabinet under the presidential system was unveiled in July 2018.
Türkiye returned to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections in May 2023.
Erdoğan finished first in the initial presidential vote on May 14 with 49.52%, followed by then-main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu with 44.88%. Neither candidate secured the majority required to win outright.
Erdoğan defeated Kılıçdaroğlu in the May 28 runoff, winning 52.16% of the vote against his rival’s 47.84%, securing another term as president.
Growing diplomatic role
Foreign policy has become a major component of Erdoğan’s presidency, with Türkiye seeking a more active role in regional and international crises.
Ankara has pursued diplomatic initiatives surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel’s attacks on Gaza, while also engaging in regional diplomacy amid tensions involving Iran. Türkiye was also a major supporter of Azerbaijan during its conflict with Armenia over Karabakh.
Most recently, Erdoğan hosted NATO leaders in Ankara for the alliance’s 36th summit on July 7-8.
The gathering at the Presidential Complex brought together leaders from NATO’s 32 member countries, with Erdoğan holding a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines as Ankara sought to underline Türkiye’s role in the alliance and regional security.
Erdoğan also signed a trilateral defense agreement in Mecca on Aug. 7 with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement is aimed at strengthening defense cooperation, burden-sharing and collective security among the three countries, according to Turkish officials.
Defense industry expansion
Türkiye has also expanded its domestic defense industry during Erdoğan’s presidency, increasing production of drones, missiles, naval platforms and other domestically developed systems.
The country has emerged as an increasingly prominent defense exporter and now ranks among the world’s top 15 countries in terms of defense production capacity.
Duran pointed to advances in the defense industry, domestic technology, energy, the “Blue Homeland” maritime strategy and space technologies as examples of Türkiye’s transformation over the period.
The government has also focused on reconstruction following the devastating earthquakes that struck southeastern Türkiye on Feb. 6, 2023.
More than 455,000 independent housing and commercial units have been completed in the earthquake-hit region as authorities continue rebuilding areas affected by the disaster.
‘Terror-free Türkiye’ initiative
Domestic security has meanwhile taken center stage with the government’s “Terror-free Türkiye” initiative, which authorities say is aimed at ending decades of terrorism and strengthening national unity.
A parliamentary commission established as part of the process began work under the name National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission.
On Aug. 8, Parliament’s Justice Committee approved proposed legislation on strengthening national solidarity and social integration as part of the initiative.
Duran said the process reflected the government’s broader emphasis on national unity, security and political stability.
“The strong will demonstrated by our nation is inspiring not only development initiatives but also the goal of a terror-free Türkiye, which strengthens our national unity and solidarity and prioritizes peace and security,” he said.
Twelve years after the landmark 2014 vote, Erdoğan remains at the center of Türkiye’s political system as his government pursues what it describes as a more independent foreign policy, expanded defense capabilities and the “Century of Türkiye” agenda.
On a scorching day with temperatures floating around 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit), lawmakers in Parliament will convene one last time before a summer recess that will end in October. On their agenda is a topic as hot as the Ankara weather: a terror-free Türkiye. Deputies are expected to give overwhelming support to a draft bill that involves the disarmament of the PKK terrorist group and reduced sentencing for nonviolent members of the group.
The passing of the law is a highly critical stage in the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, which has so far advanced through apparently unilateral moves by the PKK after it announced its dissolution last year.
The Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integrity was approved on Saturday by Parliament’s Justice Committee after a quarrel in which lawmakers supporting and opposing the bill engaged in harsh verbal arguments.
On Monday, Parliament’s General Assembly will convene to discuss the draft law, roughly five days before the anniversary of the PKK’s first attack in Türkiye in 1984. Since then, the terrorist group has been involved in the killing of tens of thousands of people across the country, as well as troops conducting counterterrorism operations abroad. Türkiye changed its policy toward the PKK over the following decades, though it firmly opposed its existence due to the group’s separatist ambitions.
As the terrorist group started diminishing in power and influence, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the government-allied Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), informally launched the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative on Oct. 1, 2024, the day Parliament opened its new term. This unexpected foray by a nationalist politician primarily known for advocating the execution of the PKK’s jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan evolved into a state initiative over time. Bahçeli’s call for Öcalan to urge his group to lay down arms met a response in the PKK’s 2025 announcement to that effect. The MHP leader, who has limited his attendance at public events due to frail health, is expected to attend the General Assembly to see what his call has culminated in.
The draft bill will come into force once authorities verify that the PKK and all of its regional affiliates have fully dissolved and handed over all weapons and munitions to security forces, and this verification is published in the Official Gazette. The bill covers crimes including founding and running the PKK, aiding and abetting the group, producing propaganda for it, and funding its operations. Suspects who were prosecuted or investigated for those crimes will have their sentences deferred for five to 10 years. The deferral period will be longer for those prosecuted for crimes carrying prison terms of over 15 years.
PKK members involved in killings, as well as those prosecuted and sentenced for crimes bearing sentences like life imprisonment before June 1, 2005, will be exempt from deferrals. This includes most senior cadres of the PKK currently in hiding in northern Iraq, as well as Abdullah Öcalan, who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment and is currently held in an island prison near Istanbul.
Those benefiting from deferrals will have certain political and civil rights suspended for two to three years. PKK members seeking to benefit from deferrals will be allowed to apply at Turkish diplomatic missions in their current countries of residence.
Türkiye will also set up two boards to monitor the process: a monitoring board chaired by the vice president and a parliamentary board comprised of 17 members. Authorities will log every weapon, piece of ammunition, explosive and piece of equipment declared by PKK members into a registry to monitor the dissolution process.
During Saturday’s session, the Justice Committee approved the bill, which bore the signatures of 367 lawmakers, with votes in favor cast by the AK Party, the MHP, the PKK-aligned Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Lawmakers from the New Party (YP) were divided over the bill, with one lawmaker voting “yes” while two other party members on the committee abstained. However, YP lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu, who observed the committee’s session, announced that they would vote in favor once the bill reached the General Assembly.
The Good Party (IP) did not participate in the vote, although its members clashed with proponents of the bill during Saturday’s session. Addressing the committee, Mehmet Ökmen, director general of legislation at the Ministry of Justice, said the monitoring board would not issue any judicial decisions and would only be tasked with making suggestions regarding the process. Stating that under the Turkish legal system there is no deprivation of rights during the investigation and prosecution phases, Ökmen noted that exceptions exist under certain special laws, citing the Legal Profession Law as an example. Explaining that under this law, deprivation of rights exists while prosecution, meaning the court process, is ongoing, Ökmen noted that there are also deprivations of rights under other statutes in Turkish law.
Following the approval of the bill, Cüneyt Yüksel, chair of the Justice Committee, said they had completed work of historical significance.
“Together, we have crossed a crucial threshold toward leaving behind a heavy burden that our nation has carried for more than 40 years. I believe the determination displayed here will hold an exceptional place in Türkiye’s political and social history,” he said.
Abdülhamit Gül, deputy parliamentary group chair for the AK Party, echoed his remarks. “Today, we have carried out the first stage of an important key, an important lock opening Türkiye’s doors. We are talking about a legislative proposal submitted with 367 signatures. According to our Constitution, the signatures of 200 members of Parliament are sufficient even to submit a constitutional amendment proposal. Today, a legislative proposal has come before our Parliament with a strength greater than that of a constitutional proposal,” he said.
Türkiye on Friday firmly rejected claims that its new joint defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan conflicts with NATO commitments or creates a rival alliance, calling such assertions a deliberate attempt to manipulate public perception.
The Presidential Communications Directorate issued the statement in response to claims circulating on social media that the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement signed by Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan contradicts NATO’s Article 5 and establishes a parallel alliance structure.
The directorate described the claims as “completely false,” saying their origin and intent were evident and accusing those behind them of seeking to shape public perception through misinformation.
It stressed that the agreement does not contradict any of Türkiye’s existing international alliance commitments, including its obligations as a NATO member.
Instead, Ankara views the pact as a complementary cooperation mechanism designed to strengthen regional security, the directorate said.
“Türkiye’s development of regional partnerships is not an alternative to its NATO membership,” the statement said.
The directorate also rejected portrayals of the agreement as an aggressive military bloc, saying it is a defense-oriented arrangement aimed at strengthening deterrence.
It said the pact does not target any third country or alliance and is instead intended to deepen defense industry cooperation, military training and technology sharing while contributing to regional stability.
The directorate urged the public to disregard what it described as baseless claims and manipulative social media posts surrounding the agreement.
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