Politics
Four detained for PKK propaganda in southeastern Türkiye
On alert against provocations aimed at disrupting the terror-free Türkiye process, authorities on Sunday announced that four suspects who were hanging pictures of PKK terrorists on walls in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır had been detained.
The Diyarbakır Governor’s Office, in a province with a large Kurdish population, said in a statement that the incident was “isolated” and took place “only in a few small streets.”
On Sunday, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said in a social media post that authorities would not tolerate anyone trying to thwart the terror-free Türkiye process. The initiative seeks the full disarmament of the terrorist group and recently took a new turn with the introduction of a new law concerning the future status of PKK members. The law defers the prosecution and sentencing of PKK members who were not involved in acts of terrorism.
The PKK stepped up its propaganda activities after the law was introduced, as a party aligned with the group held “remembrance events” for slain PKK terrorists. The events angered critics of the initiative.
Çiftçi said that “every provocateur attempting to poison the climate of national unity and brotherhood will be subject to the treatment he/she deserves.” Proponents of the initiative, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, say the process will strengthen unity between Turks and Kurds. The latter has been exploited by the PKK for decades, as the terrorist group claims to fight for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast.
“As the Ministry of Interior, we are working in full coordination with all institutions and bodies of our state to completely rid our country of terrorism, remove violence entirely from our agenda and strengthen our social cohesion. The terror-free Türkiye process is an opportunity to open a new chapter that will free our country from the shackles holding it back and provide peace and prosperity for every one of its citizens.
“We are closely and resolutely monitoring the process to ensure that this sensitive period remains free from all forms of provocation and exploitation. We now face a new period that will further strengthen our brotherhood and enable us to channel our energy toward development, production and the prosperity of our nation. In this historic process, everyone, from political parties and civil society organizations to our citizens, has an important responsibility to fulfill,” Çiftçi said in his social media post.
The number of irregular migrants intercepted at sea in Türkiye fell 53% in the first eight months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according to Coast Guard Command data, as authorities intensified efforts against irregular migration and migrant smuggling.
Coast guard teams intercepted 5,984 irregular migrants in 256 incidents through Aug. 30 this year, compared with 12,857 migrants in 494 incidents during the same period of 2025.
The number of incidents fell 48% year-over-year.
The figures also showed a broader decline since 2024. Authorities recorded 2,011 irregular migration incidents involving 55,726 migrants in 2024, while 20,078 migrants were intercepted in 767 incidents in 2025.
August recorded the highest monthly number of interceptions this year, with 988 irregular migrants apprehended at sea, followed by June with 942 and July with 902.
The coast guard, which operates around the clock to prevent unauthorized sea crossings and combat migrant smuggling, carries out patrols and surveillance using maritime and aerial assets.
Despite the decline in crossings, dangerous journeys continued to claim lives. Forty-six irregular migrants died at sea through Aug. 30 this year, according to the data. Türkiye recorded 44 deaths in 2024 and 59 in 2025.
Authorities also detained 143 suspected migrant smugglers in maritime operations through August this year, compared with 484 in 2024 and 363 in 2025.
Coast guard operations have also extended to land in coordination with police and gendarmerie units in an effort to prevent migrants from reaching the sea.
In 141 joint operations through Aug. 30, authorities intercepted 3,153 irregular migrants before they could set out to sea and detained 221 suspected migrant smugglers. August recorded the highest number of land interceptions, with 744 migrants apprehended.
The coast guard also continues search-and-rescue operations for people in distress at sea using boats, ships and aircraft.
A new police operation in the southern province of Antalya has revealed that Muhittin Böcek, former mayor of the Mediterranean city for the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was allegedly involved in a sex-for-hire scheme. Seven suspects have been detained as part of the investigation.
Böcek, who is already jailed on corruption charges, reportedly sought to have sex with 11 young women who were promised jobs at municipality-run companies by Böcek’s subordinates.
Turkish media outlets reported that testimonies from the alleged victims indicated that Böcek was accused of having group sex and sexual relationships with two sisters and underage girls.
Several people were already arrested in an earlier operation on allegations of prostitution linked to the municipality. Among them was T.G., the director of a youth center run by the municipality. T.G. and four others are accused of organizing the scheme.
Böcek was arrested in 2025 on bribery charges. In an apparent bid for leniency in sentencing, he cooperated with authorities and recently admitted to paying 5 million euros ($5.5 million) to Ekrem İmamoğlu, another former mayor charged with corruption, in exchange for securing a CHP candidacy in the municipal elections.
He told investigators that he had a deal with İmamoğlu, an influential figure in the CHP, to pay 15 million euros in exchange for securing the CHP candidacy for Antalya in the previous elections.
Türkiye and Syria have completed construction of a floating bridge across the Euphrates River as part of growing cooperation between the two countries’ armed forces, Turkish and Syrian officials said on Sunday.
In a post on social media platform X, Türkiye’s Ambassador to Syria Nuh Yılmaz said that the bridge, connecting the two banks of the Euphrates in Syria, was completed on Aug. 30, Türkiye’s Victory Day.
Yılmaz said the bridge was built jointly by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian army to replace a previous bridge destroyed by flooding.
He said the project marked the second bridge constructed through cooperation between the Turkish and Syrian militaries.
“The Turkish and Syrian armed forces are building the future together in peace as well,” Yılmaz said.
Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said separately on X that the bridge was constructed to ease transportation difficulties for residents of the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.
Abu Qasra also thanked Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler for his efforts to strengthen trust and cooperation between the two countries.
“I extend my sincere thanks to my brother, Turkish Defense Minister Gen. Yaşar Güler, for his intensive efforts in strengthening trust and cooperation between our countries,” Abu Qasra noted.
Nuh Yılmaz, Türkiye’s ambassador to Damascus, previously said that relations between Türkiye and Syria are developing rapidly in line with the political will expressed by the two countries’ presidents, adding that the necessary legal framework is also being established.
Ankara was the main backer of the opposition forces that overthrew Assad and has since pledged to help Syria’s reconstruction and economic revival.
Commercial ties between Türkiye and Syria gained momentum after the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad in late 2024. Bilateral trade with Syria reached $3.75 billion in 2025, up 42% year-to-year. The two neighbors are aiming to reach a $10 billion trade volume in the near future.
Top officials from the countries party to the historic Mecca Joint Defense Agreement convened in Istanbul on Monday on the occasion of the first meeting of the Strategic, Political and Defense Committee established to advance the deal. An army of journalists, including Daily Sabah managing editor Batuhan Takış, covered the key meeting highly anticipated by friends and foes of Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
Speaking after the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said they decided to name the alliance the Mecca Defense Alliance. He said the first secretary-general of the alliance would be a Pakistani official and the secretariat’s offices would be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He emphasized that the alliance would “reduce uncertainty and instability” in the region.
Along with Fidan, the meeting was attended by Türkiye’s National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and Chief of the General Staff General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir and Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, and Chief of the General Staff General Fayyadh bin Hamed Al Ruwaili.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the “Joint Defense Agreement” in Mecca on Aug. 7.
“We took a historic step in Mecca under the leadership of our President. The agreement is a product of the principle of regional ownership. As we have always stated, attempts to impose solutions on our region from outside do not provide remedies to our problems, on the contrary, they can lead to the payment of a heavy price. It has become an urgent necessity for the countries of the region to act together for security, stability, prosperity, and lasting peace, and to give an institutional character to the steps they take in this direction. With this agreement, the process of establishing a new security and cooperation architecture in our region has thus begun,” Fidan said in a news conference following the meeting.
He stated that the alliance will seek to establish a security architecture. In response to questions, he said they were open to expansion, underlining that its main purpose was to include more countries. He said that the alliance would reduce uncertainty, instability in the region and they hoped that it would be key to peace. Turkish officials have earlier stated that they were open to expanding the alliance to include other countries, particularly Egypt.
“We held a comprehensive exchange of views on the concrete steps we will take in the implementation of the agreement. As of today, we have also begun work on establishing the institutional structure envisaged by the agreement. First and foremost, we reached an agreement on the official name of our alliance. The official name of our alliance is the Mecca Defense Alliance. As you know, the Mecca Defense Alliance Agreement envisaged the establishment of a secretariat. It was decided that this secretariat would be established in Riyadh. There had also been a general agreement that the first Secretary-General would be a Pakistani colleague. In the discussions we held today, we reached preliminary decisions on the steps to be taken from this point forward, including which steps would be taken and when in order to institutionalize the alliance. Our brothers expressed their views during the meeting with a great deal of harmony and depth. I once again wish that the decisions taken here will be auspicious and beneficial, and I would like to extend my sincere thanks in advance to everyone who has contributed to the efforts to institutionalize the alliance,” Fidan added.
“Signed with our vision of a secure, stable, and prosperous future, this alliance is defense-oriented. The alliance is based on principles of international law, including respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and non-interference in their internal affairs. We would like to emphasize once again here that the alliance is not directed against any state, on the contrary, it is open to all states in our region that abide by these fundamental principles. It is our shared aspiration to advance the peaceful vision put forward by the Mecca Defense Alliance together with other friendly countries that share the principles at the heart of the agreement,” he said.
As the news of the alliance circulated, speculation was rife that it was squarely aimed at deterring Iran amid the U.S.-Iran war that spilled into U.S. allies in the region. The three countries rejected this but underlined that an attack on one country party to the agreement would be deemed as an attack on all.
Fidan also clarified that the alliance did not contradict Türkiye’s membership of NATO. “It does not eliminate or replace Türkiye’s obligations arising from NATO, in particular, or from its other alliances and agreements. Rather, it is complementary to all of them,” he said.
“With today’s inaugural meeting of the Strategic Political and Defense Committee of the Mecca Defense Alliance, we have demonstrated that we are ready to assume responsibility for regional peace, security, and stability. We will continue to ensure close cooperation and coordination with friendly countries, particularly Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” he stated.
In response to a question, Fidan slammed the Israeli administration, singling out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “This murderer should be stopped. He is the common enemy of humanity,” he said.
“From the moment the electoral process began (in Israel), there has been an increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Türkiye from the Netanyahu government, including Netanyahu himself and his supporters, as well as approaches targeting our President and some of our colleagues. We have been following this from the very beginning.
“Netanyahu, the murderer and perpetrator of genocide, is not a person who should be taken seriously. He has become a common enemy of humanity, the international community, and global security. The principal party Netanyahu is accountable to is the international community and the international system. Because Netanyahu, his mentality, and the genocidal group acting alongside him constitute a threat not only to Türkiye but to global security as a whole. It would be a major mistake to think of this as merely Türkiye’s problem. Therefore, the international community must fulfill the responsibility it has failed to fulfill until now and stop this murderer, this perpetrator of genocide.
“It is now necessary to prevent this perpetrator of genocide from causing further harm to the region, to Israel, to the Jewish people, and to the entire world. In other words, this murderer, who takes pleasure in spilling Palestinian and Muslim blood, must now be stopped.
“The continuation of this situation is also causing great harm to Israel, while it is already causing immense harm to the Palestinians and the region. When you look at his statements, he does not want a Palestinian state to be established, nor does he want the ongoing occupation of countries in the region to come to an end. He wants the continuation of a genocidal and expansionist approach that threatens regional and international security,” he said.
In a move likely to anger Ankara, Israel and Greece signed a 3-billion-euro ($3.48 billion) defense deal on Monday under which Israel would build a “multilayered” defense system for Greece, according to a statement by Israel’s defense ministry.
The statement said a supplementary deal valued at 26 million euros would see Israel sell Greece Drone Dome systems to protect strategic sites against drones and reinforce existing defenses.
Both countries are at odds with Türkiye, though Greece seeks to mend ties after years of hostilities. Ankara has repeatedly warned against Israel’s expansionist goals across the region. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has previously warned that Türkiye may be the next target of Israel after the Netanyahu administration launched a genocidal campaign in Gaza.
Israel’s Defense Ministry said it was Israel’s largest-ever defense export deal with Greece and one of the biggest in the country’s history.
Amir Baram, director general of Israel’s defense ministry, said the so-called Achilles Shield deal reflected “Israel’s technological edge and the proven track record of our defense systems in the field.”
Under the deal, Israel will supply Greece with the David’s Sling and SPYDER systems produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the BARAK MX system made by Israel Aerospace Industries, as well as MMR multimission radars for air surveillance, manufactured by IAI unit ELTA Systems. David’s Sling was used by Israel to intercept Iranian missiles during the war with Iran this year. Greece becomes the second customer for the system after Finland.
Greece spends nearly 3.5% of its gross domestic product on defense, a higher proportion than many NATO allies due to its long-standing dispute with neighboring Türkiye.
Athens plans to spend about 28 billion euros by 2036 to build the Achilles Shield multilayered anti-ballistic, anti-aircraft and anti-drone system, and to buy up to 40 F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. and frigates from France and Italy.
Under Monday’s deal, Greece will also receive a new national command and control system, developed by Rafael, to integrate the country’s air defense capabilities.
Israel will also expand defense-industrial cooperation with Greece, including transfers of technology and expertise to local industry.
Greece and Israel, which have strong economic and diplomatic ties, operate an air training center in Greece, hold joint annual military exercises and cooperate on anti-drone systems and cybersecurity. Last year, Athens bought 36 Israeli-made rocket artillery systems for approximately 650 million euros.
In June, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned that Israel and its “accomplices” were engaged in starting “a fire” in the Mediterranean, especially on the island of Cyprus, and said they were following the developments. Türkiye is a guarantor state on the divided island and recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It has no ties to the Greek Cypriot administration based in parts of southern Cyprus.
The president said, “some small circles whose ambitions are bigger than their size” have jumped on the Israeli bandwagon and served as “contractors of Zionism.”
“They are chasing dreams in the Eastern Mediterranean. Let me be clear: Do not engage in military adventurism, do not ride on the tails of the Zionist network of murderers. Our response to the attempts at the rights and sovereignty of Türkiye and Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean will be clear and very strong,” he warned.
Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia agreed Monday to further institutionalize their defense cooperation under the Mecca Agreement, taking new steps aimed at strengthening solidarity and boosting the credibility and effectiveness of their collective deterrence and defense, according to a joint statement released after the meeting.
The agreement came during a meeting of the Strategic Political and Defence Committee in Istanbul, bringing together the three countries’ foreign and defense ministers as well as their chiefs of defense forces and general staff.
The meeting marked a push by Ankara, Islamabad and Riyadh to transform their trilateral defense cooperation into a more structured framework focused on collective deterrence, defense capabilities and regional security.
Under the measures agreed Monday, the three countries will establish a permanent secretariat in Saudi Arabia to support and coordinate cooperation under the Makkah Agreement.
The secretariat will initially be led by a secretary-general from Pakistan for a three-year term, the joint statement said.
The three countries also agreed to strengthen the capabilities and cohesion of their armed forces through joint activities, while expanding defense industry cooperation, including joint technology development and production.
The measures are intended to reinforce the three countries’ ability to act together and strengthen the effectiveness of their collective defense and deterrence framework.
At the same time, Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia stressed that their cooperation is aimed at supporting regional stability rather than escalating tensions.
Acting on the principle of regional ownership, the three countries reaffirmed their commitment to sustainable peace and stability and pledged to support de-escalation, restraint and the peaceful resolution of regional crises.
They said closer implementation of the Mecca Agreement would also contribute to cooperative regional security and efforts toward a just, inclusive and lasting peace.
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