Four municipal council members in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district resigned from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and joined the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Friday, a day before the council is due to elect a new acting mayor.

Ahmet Başbaydar, Ayhan Aydın, Hüseyin Kazan and Tahsin Usta formally joined the AK Party at a ceremony held at the party’s Üsküdar district headquarters, according to the AK Party’s Istanbul provincial organization.

The defections narrowed the balance in the Üsküdar Municipal Council to 23 CHP members and 21 members of the People’s Alliance ahead of Saturday’s vote.

Speaking on behalf of the four council members, Usta said they had decided to switch parties because they believed they could better serve Üsküdar under the AK Party.

“We resigned from the Republican People’s Party and joined the AK Party to provide greater service to the people of Üsküdar,” Usta said, acknowledging that the decision had been difficult.

Usta denied that the four had faced pressure, threats or entered into negotiations in exchange for changing parties.

“We were under no pressure, faced no threats and were not involved in any bargaining,” he emphasized. “We aim to better serve Üsküdar, and we believe we can achieve that under this roof.”

AK Party Istanbul provincial Chair Abdullah Özdemir welcomed the four members, saying their experience would contribute to the party’s work in the district.

“We are excited and happy for Üsküdar,” Özdemir said, adding that the party intended to work with the municipal council and local stakeholders to address residents’ needs.

The political shift comes ahead of a closely watched council meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday to elect a new acting mayor following a court dispute over the previous election.

Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş was arrested on July 31 as part of an investigation involving allegations of establishing a criminal organization, bribery and extortion. She was subsequently suspended from office by the Interior Ministry.

On Aug. 5, the municipal council elected CHP council member Sibel Tan Çetinkaya as acting mayor.

The election was later challenged in court, and Istanbul’s 2nd Administrative Court suspended the implementation of the council decision.

Following the court decision, the Istanbul Governor’s Office announced that the municipal council would reconvene on Sept. 5 to elect a new acting mayor under Article 45 of Türkiye’s Municipal Law.

The four defections leave the CHP with a two-seat advantage over the People’s Alliance in the council, raising the stakes ahead of Saturday’s election.

The AK Party has attracted many mayors from the CHP since the 2024 municipal elections. The last high-profile CHP figure to join the AK Party was Burcu Köksal of Afyon province in western Türkiye. The AK Party has also rejected several applications from CHP mayors seeking to join its ranks for various reasons.

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Turkish security forces detained 10 suspects on Friday for allegedly providing financial support to a former military officer accused of taking part in a FETÖ assassination team that targeted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

The suspects were identified as part of an investigation by the Terror Crimes Bureau of the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into people allegedly linked to former army Capt. Burkay Karatepe, according to judicial sources.

Authorities said the suspects provided financial assistance to Karatepe while he was a fugitive.

Five suspects were identified in Istanbul and five others in the northwestern province of Eskişehir. All 10 were detained in simultaneous operations in the two provinces.

Security forces also seized a large amount of digital material during searches of the suspects’ residences.

The detainees are expected to be transferred to Muğla for further questioning and legal proceedings.

Karatepe, who had been wanted for nearly a decade, was captured in the western province of Afyonkarahisar on Aug. 1 and formally arrested in Muğla on Aug. 5.

Turkish authorities accuse Karatepe of being part of a military team assigned to assassinate Erdoğan during the July 15 coup attempt.

The group targeted a hotel in the southwestern resort town of Marmaris where Erdoğan had been staying before he departed shortly ahead of the attack.

Türkiye accuses the FETÖ terrorist group and its U.S.-based leadership of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt, which killed more than 250 people and wounded thousands.

In a separate operation Friday, police in the northwestern province of Bursa captured a fugitive convicted of membership in FETÖ, local authorities said.

The individual, identified by the initials D.Ö., had been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for membership in an armed terrorist organization.

Police detained the fugitive in Bursa’s Orhangazi district as part of operations targeting wanted individuals, according to the provincial police department.

Following police procedures, the convict was transferred to Women’s Closed Prison to serve the sentence.

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New Party Chair Özgür Özel on Thursday dismissed speculation of a political reconciliation with Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, saying their recent handshakes were merely acts of courtesy and that there was “not even a pinhead-sized place” left for Kılıçdaroğlu in his heart.

Özel, speaking in an interview with Sözcü TV, said the encounters were a matter of courtesy and that his political differences with Kılıçdaroğlu remained unchanged.

The two politicians were seen shaking hands twice within a week, first at the funeral ceremony for former CHP senior official and lawmaker Cevdet Selvi at Parliament in Ankara on Aug. 31 and later at a ceremony marking the opening of the 2026-2027 judicial year.

The encounters drew attention because relations between the two have remained strained since Özel and his supporters left the CHP and established the New Party following a court ruling that reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu and the party’s previous leadership.

Özel said refusing to shake Kılıçdaroğlu’s hand at a funeral would have been disrespectful to the family.

“Reflecting a political tension onto a funeral would be disrespectful to the funeral and the bereaved family,” Özel noted. “If someone extends his hand, leaving it hanging is something I could never accept.”

He gave a similar explanation for their second encounter at the judicial year ceremony, saying Kılıçdaroğlu approached him and extended his hand in front of other senior officials.

“Not returning a greeting or leaving an extended hand unanswered is simply not in my nature,” Özel said.

But he rejected suggestions that the exchanges indicated an easing of their political dispute.

“There is not even a pinhead-sized place left for Kemal Bey in my heart,” Özel said, accusing Kılıçdaroğlu of dividing and damaging the CHP after returning to its leadership.

“You came and ruined the party. You divided it, expelled our colleagues and removed provincial chairs,” Özel said.

A court ruling in a case concerning alleged irregularities at the CHP’s November 2023 convention declared the congress null and void and reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu and the previous party administration.

Özel and his supporters initially rejected the ruling and said they would remain in the CHP. Following escalating tensions within the party, Özel and 91 lawmakers resigned and established the New Party.

Özel also addressed Türkiye’s ongoing “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, saying the process must succeed while avoiding steps that could offend the families of fallen soldiers or veterans.

“Everyone needs to do more than their part,” he said, calling for greater tolerance and an easing of social tensions surrounding the process.

On the other hand, according to a report by the Sabah newspaper, the CHP has accused members of the New Party of taking party property, damaging vehicles and transferring leases on local offices following the split in the main opposition party, with local CHP organizations filing criminal complaints over the allegations.

The accusations follow earlier disputes over control of the CHP’s social media accounts and funds belonging to its parliamentary group after a group of lawmakers and officials left the party to establish the New Party.

According to the CHP, furniture, computers, sound systems, air conditioners and other equipment belonging to its provincial and district organizations remain unaccounted for. Party officials allege that property worth millions of Turkish liras was removed from CHP offices and transferred to newly established New Party provincial and district headquarters.

The CHP has also raised allegations concerning hundreds of party-owned vehicles that had been allocated to local organizations across Türkiye.

Some of the vehicles were allegedly deliberately damaged before being returned or transferred following the party split. The CHP claims sugar was poured into the engines of some vehicles, while others had their undercarriages damaged or electrical cables cut. Batteries were also allegedly removed from several vehicles.

According to the party, individuals who later joined the New Party reached agreements with some property owners to change rental contracts without informing the CHP leadership, effectively transferring control of the premises to the New Party.

Local CHP representatives have filed criminal complaints with prosecutors across Türkiye over the alleged removal and damage of party property, according to party officials.

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Türkiye’s Defense Ministry on Thursday criticized Israel for its military activities in the region, accusing the Israeli government of pursuing “expansionist and aggressive” policies that threaten regional and global stability.

The ministry’s weekly press briefing was held at Baykar’s Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center in Istanbul, highlighting Türkiye’s growing defense and aerospace capabilities alongside developments in counterterrorism, border security and international military cooperation. Defense Ministry spokesperson Zeki Aktürk made the remarks during the ministry’s weekly press briefing.

Aktürk said the Israeli government was continuing what he described as an effort to turn the entire Middle East into an area of conflict.

He accused Israel of violating the territorial integrity of Syria and Lebanon through its military activities while encouraging what he called “illegal settler terrorism” in Palestine.

The ministry also criticized Israel over what he described as provocative actions in Jerusalem that violate the historical and legal status of Muslim holy sites.

“Israel’s actions, which harm not only regional stability and security but also global stability and security, are increasingly undermining the region’s faith in international law,” Aktürk said.

He said Türkiye would continue its efforts to promote peace and stability in the region and press the international community to take action.

“We will continue to remind the international community that it has a shared responsibility to take concrete and effective measures against Israel’s expansionist and genocidal approach,” Aktürk stressed.

Meanwhile, an analysis published by Israel’s Channel 12 (N12) highlighted Türkiye’s growing influence in the Middle East and internationally, warning that treating Ankara as a military threat could amount to a “serious strategic mistake” for Israel.

The analysis, citing assessments by former Israeli Military Intelligence chief TamirHayman, examined Türkiye’s expanding military and political influence across the Middle East and Africa.

It said Türkiye currently maintains a military presence in at least 13 countries, operates more than 100 military facilities across the Middle East and is also active in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

According to Hayman, Israel risks making a mistake by viewing Türkiye’s growing power primarily through the lens of a direct military threat or hostility.

He warned that applying Israel’s security doctrine, which places military power at the center of foreign policy, to its approach toward Türkiye could have potentially dangerous consequences.

Hayman argued that Türkiye should not be incorporated into Israel’s threat assessment or effectively turned into an enemy state.

Doing so, he said, would constitute a “serious strategic mistake” for Israel.

YPG claims denied

On Syria, the Defense Ministry said it is closely following the dissolution of the YPG terrorist group as part of efforts to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and strengthen the principle of “one state, one army.”

It specifically rejected reports claiming that foreign elements affiliated with the YPG would leave Syria and that some would travel to Türkiye, calling the allegations untrue and urging the public to rely only on official statements concerning the process.

“Claims that foreign members of the YPG will leave Syria and that some of them will come to Türkiye do not reflect the truth,” the ministry underlined.

Mecca Defense Alliance

The ministry also provided details on the Mecca Defense Alliance established between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, saying the three countries are moving to give the cooperation a more institutional structure.

Defense and foreign ministers, as well as chiefs of general staff from the three countries, met in Istanbul on Aug. 31 under the alliance framework. During the meeting, the parties discussed steps to institutionalize cooperation and agreed to establish a secretariat in Saudi Arabia under a secretary general.

The secretary-general position will rotate among the three countries, with Pakistan set to provide the first secretary-general for a three-year term, according to the ministry.

The agreement aims to increase interoperability through joint military planning, training and exercises, while strengthening cooperation in the defense industry through joint production, technology development and the sharing of expertise.

The ministry stated that the mechanisms are expected to strengthen the alliance’s defense capacity and deterrence while also contributing to regional peace and stability.

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Türkiye on Thursday strongly condemned a recommendation by the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality to allocate funds in the 2027 EU budget for a monument planned by the Greek Cypriot administration aimed at defaming the Turkish Armed Forces.

The proposed funding, embedded in the committee’s budget opinion, backs a project designed to target Turkish forces who intervened on the island more than five decades ago to stop the systematic persecution of Turkish Cypriots.

“The Turkish Armed Forces prevented the destruction of the Turkish Cypriot people through the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation and brought peace to the entire island, which has endured for over half a century,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, emphasizing that Greek Cypriot claims distort historical facts and weaponize memory for political gain.

Ankara cautioned European leadership against acting as an instrument for factions intent on alienating Türkiye from the bloc, warning that taking sides undermines stability in the region.

“Instead of contributing to a resolution on the Cyprus issue, EU institutions are compromising principles of neutrality and fairness by turning into tools for Greek Cypriot propaganda, which further damages trust between the two communities,” the statement added.

Türkiye has long maintained that a durable settlement on the divided island can only be built on the basis of political equality and the acknowledgment of two distinct sovereign states.

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The Sivas Congress was the path to the liberation of a nation, according to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Türkiye. Some 107 years later, the convention is remembered as one of the key events leading to the foundation of the republic.

The central Turkish city that lent its name to the congress has hosted several events since Aug. 31 and was scheduled to host more on Thursday to mark the 1919 congress, which was part of the National Struggle led by Atatürk and embraced by the nation seeking to repel invaders in post-World War I Türkiye. Atatürk’s arrival in the city more than a century ago was re-enacted on Wednesday, while the courtyard of the building where the congress was held hosted a fashion event showcasing traditional dresses dating from the Seljuk period to the Republican era.

The Sivas Congress was among a chain of events initiated by Atatürk, who secretly left occupied Istanbul in 1919 under the guise of inspecting Ottoman troops in Anatolia. Planning to mobilize the country to expel the Allied forces, Atatürk, then known as Ottoman commander Mustafa Kemal, advanced this goal with the Sivas Congress, the first public gathering that served as a kind of precursor to the republic’s Parliament by giving the people of Anatolia a say in the future of a country that was in tatters as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing. A Council of Representatives was elected at the congress and served as the top body overseeing the struggle for liberation. It gave legitimacy to the national anti-occupation movement, which would later be based in present-day capital Ankara, where the republic was declared four years later.

Atatürk first arrived in Sivas on June 27, 1919, to organize mobilization for the National Struggle before leaving for the eastern city of Erzurum. He returned on Sept. 2, 1919, and stayed in Sivas, which he described as one of the “safe cities” during the occupation, until Dec. 18, 1919. The congress officially began in a building that now serves as a museum on Sept. 4, 1919. The congress lasted seven days, during which Atatürk, fellow soldiers, and public figures discussed various pressing issues in an effort to realize the goal of liberating the country. It hosted heated debates, including over a proposal that the nation should accept a foreign mandate or protectorate under the control of the occupying powers.

Ultimately, participants rejected any notion of a mandate or protectorate. On Sept. 12, 1919, Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha as he was known at the time, announced the decisions made at the congress. The most important among them was the rejection of a mandate.

This was perhaps best embodied in an exchange between Atatürk and a medical student identified only as “Hikmet” in official records. During the Sept. 8 session of the congress, Hikmet told Atatürk that they should not accept a mandate.

“My fellow students sent me here to represent their efforts for our cause of independence. If anyone here accepts a mandate, we will strictly oppose them. Even if it is you, Mr. Pasha, we will reject and condemn you,” he said.

The words moved Mustafa Kemal, who told the congress to pay attention to the example set by the youth.

“This is the expression of the Turkish nation’s noble blood. So, rest assured. I am proud of the youth, and I want them to know that we will not accept a mandate even if we are to remain in the minority. Our goal will not change: it is either independence or death,” Atatürk said.

Serap Bozpolat Ayan, a lecturer at the Department of Atatürk’s Principles and History of the Turkish Revolution at Sivas Cumhuriyet University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that books would not be enough to fully describe the Sivas Congress.

Emphasizing that the Sivas Congress was where the Turkish nation declared, “I will not surrender,” Ayan said: “At the Sivas Congress, the only concrete option before us appeared to be a mandate or a protectorate. But a Turk cannot live as a captive; a mandate or colonial rule could never be an option for us. Therefore, the Sivas Congress offered a choice between independence and death. In other words, a mandate or protectorate would have been worse than death for us and was not an option. The survival of the Turkish people could only be possible through independence.”

Recalling that Atatürk emphasized that freedom and independence were inherent to the character of the Turkish people, Ayan said: “We were under occupation. Our flag, territorial integrity and independence were under threat, and we were virtually left without a state. We were under serious intervention by the victorious powers. We had entered a period in which they sought to determine our fate. In such an environment, it seemed as though there was a road ahead of us, but it was pitch dark, and we were going through a period in which we could not see our way. Mustafa Kemal’s role was essentially to illuminate that path. The Sivas Congress was one of the most important steps in this process and, in a sense, its beginning.”

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