Politics
US allocates $130 million for PKK terrorist offshoot YPG in Syria
Under the “Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund,” the Pentagon has set aside some $130 million for groups in Syria, including the YPG, the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group.
According to a Department of Defense document on the justification of its 2026 budget, the fund aims to support the training, equipment and monthly stipends of the U.S.-backed YPG and “Syria Free Army” based in southeastern Syria, along with “vetted partner forces” in Iraq and Lebanon.
Indicating that the allocation includes light weapons along with medical supplies and facility repairs, it said a Daesh “resurgence is a threat to U.S. national interests, the people of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and the global community.”
Of the $130 million earmarked for Syria, $7.42 million was allocated to the “Syrian Free Army,” according to the document, which indicated that the group is expected to “extend its reach” against Daesh elements in the Badiyah Desert region.
The total budget the Pentagon allocated for groups, including the PKK/YPG terrorist group under the pretext of fighting Daesh in Syria, was $147.9 million in 2025 and $156 million in 2024.
For the first time, the Pentagon’s budget also includes $15 million in support for the Lebanese Armed Forces to strengthen their counterterrorism capacity, particularly in the southern Litani area near Israel. The document notes that Daesh continues to exploit the porous Syria-Lebanon border for logistics and recruitment.
In its 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants and the elderly.
Last month, the terrorists announced they would lay down their arms and dissolve the organization as part of a “terror-free” initiative launched in Türkiye late last year. Ankara expects the YPG to follow suit and fulfill a March agreement it struck with Damascus to integrate into the new Syrian army after former regime head Bashar Assad was unseated in December.
Washington’s support for the YPG strains Turkish-U.S. ties as Ankara warns its NATO ally against aiding terror elements that threaten its national security, something Washington continues to do despite promising to remove the group from the Turkish border area.
Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu voiced concern over Israel’s growing presence in the Greek Cypriot-administered south, saying expanding military ties could undermine security on the divided island.
Ertuğruloğlu made the remarks during a meeting with Turkish journalists in Washington, D.C., as part of his U.S. visit following the U.N. General Assembly meetings.
Responding to a question about the impact of the Greek Cypriot administration’s growing military ties with Israel and other countries on security on the island, Ertuğruloğlu said Turkish Cypriot authorities were concerned about Israel’s increasing involvement.
“We are, of course, not pleased with Israel becoming so influential in southern Cyprus,” he stated, “This is a relationship that puts the island’s security at risk.”
He also criticized the Greek Cypriot administration’s military cooperation with France, U.S. arms sales and military training, as well as British policies involving its bases on the island.
Ertuğruloğlu said such developments risked disrupting stability but argued that Türkiye had taken necessary measures to preserve the military balance.
He emphasized that Turkish Cypriots remained confident about their security despite regional tensions, citing the presence of Turkish forces on the island and Türkiye’s role as a guarantor.
Two-state position unchanged
Ertuğruloğlu further noted the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) would maintain its current foreign policy position on the future of the Cyprus issue, reiterating its call for two sovereign, equal states with equal international status.
“The point we have reached in foreign policy is final: two sovereign, equal states with equal international status,” he said. “There is no option of establishing a new partnership with the Greek Cypriots. That is over.”
He underlined that Turkish Cypriots had previously attempted to establish a partnership with Greek Cypriots, referring to the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960 and the intercommunal violence that began in 1963.
Ertuğruloğlu argued that the Greek Cypriot side’s approach to the Cyprus dispute had not changed and said the international community’s policies encouraged it.
He also pointed to military cooperation between the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel, as well as the expected participation of U.S., British and French military personnel in anniversary ceremonies in southern Cyprus.
Ertuğruloğlu said future relations on the island could instead be based on good, neighborly ties between the two states.
“There can now be neighborly relations on the island,” he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Izmir Mayor Cemil Tugay, who resigned from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in June, at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Wednesday.
“We informed the president about important issues on Izmir’s agenda and our projects for the city’s future,” Tugay noted in a written statement, thanking Erdoğan for the meeting and his interest in Izmir.
The meeting comes amid speculation over Tugay’s political future following his departure from the CHP.
Tugay resigned from the party on June 18 amid turmoil following a court ruling concerning the CHP leadership and said he would continue serving as Izmir mayor as an independent.
His departure left Türkiye’s third-largest city with a mayor who was not a CHP member for the first time in more than two decades.
Since his resignation, Turkish media reports have speculated that Tugay could join the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
AK Party Izmir lawmaker Mehmet Kasapoğlu, responding to the speculation, said the party would neither attempt to force political developments nor “close the door” on trends emerging naturally in politics.
Erdoğan’s meeting with Tugay follows a Sept. 9 meeting with Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, who later announced his resignation from the CHP and said he would continue his political career as an independent.
Morning raids on Thursday netted Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Vahap Seçer, along with the mayors of the Yenişehir and Mezitli districts in the province.
Authorities announced that a total of 59 suspects were detained in an investigation into corruption in the municipalities.
Seçer, Yenişehir Mayor Abdullah Özyiğit and Mezitli Mayor Ahmet Serkan Tuncer are all members of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), whose new chair, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has pledged to cleanse the party of corruption after taking office last May.
The investigation into Mersin municipality, a city of about 2 million people, found that violations of regulations in 13 public tenders and 63 acquisitions organized by the municipality resulted in a public loss of more than TL 330 million ($6.73 million). Suspects linked to Mezitli Municipality caused a public loss of more than TL 1.1 billion, investigators discovered, again through rigged public tenders and acquisitions, while the figure was TL 105 million at Yenişehir Municipality.
A similar scheme was discovered in most municipalities that faced investigations in the past two years, and almost all of them were run by CHP mayors. In other investigations, prosecutors have accused defendants, including mayors and senior municipal bureaucrats, of running criminal organizations that thrived on bribes in exchange for zoning and building permits, awarding lucrative tenders to businesspeople in exchange for advance payments in violation of tender laws and holding companies hostage over payments for their services, releasing the payments only after the companies paid additional money to the municipalities.
Authorities said Tuncer also faced a separate investigation over allegations that he ordered armed attacks on people with whom he was involved in a feud, as well as on a local office of the New Party (YP), which was founded last July by former CHP chair Özgür Özel, and the offices of a media company.
The CHP seeks to restore its image, tarnished by the arrest of mayors on corruption charges. As promised by Kılıçdaroğlu, the “cleansing process” will now involve preemptive steps to prevent future cases, according to a recent report by Sabah newspaper. Starting next year, the party will introduce a “performance monitoring system” for its mayors, which will serve as a benchmark to assess whether they comply with the CHP’s predetermined criteria.
With this move, the mayors’ past and future performance will come under scrutiny. They will be assessed based on how many criteria they have met, and at the end of the process, they will be given a “report card.”
The mayors will undergo reviews in a number of areas, including project management, financial management, human resources management and public relations. The flow of funds in municipalities, investments and the allocation of tenders are also expected to be examined comprehensively.
Mayors whose activities are deemed suspicious, who fail to meet the established criteria or are found to have performed poorly will not be nominated in the next election. Throughout the process, the main focus will be on clean politics and financial transparency.
All of the mayors who remain under the CHP umbrella are individuals who were nominated in the last local elections during Özgür Özel’s tenure as party chairperson. The party leadership also plans to hold a meeting of mayors shortly to strengthen central authority and discuss steps to be taken for the coming year.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler attended the Distinguished Observer Day of the Unity of Strength-2026 military exercise in Azerbaijan on Thursday, alongside senior commanders from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
The exercise, hosted by Azerbaijan with the participation of Türkiye and Uzbekistan, is aimed at improving coordination and joint operational capabilities among the three countries’ armed forces.
Güler visited the exercise area in Shusha with Chief of General Staff Gen. Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu, Navy Commander Adm. Ercüment Tatlıoğlu, Land Forces Commander Gen. Metin Tokel and Air Force Commander Gen. Rafet Dalkıran.
Güler and Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov also inspected weapons, ammunition and military technologies displayed and used during the exercise.
Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said Turkish and Azerbaijani air forces struck simulated ground targets on their first attempts during the drills. The ministry also said troops conducted urban warfare training as part of the exercise.
According to the ministry, participating units trained under challenging scenarios designed to improve coordination, speed and their ability to conduct joint operations.
More than 3,500 military personnel from Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have taken part in the joint exercises, which began Sept. 21, according to Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, noting the drills marked the first military exercise of this scale to include territories retaken by Azerbaijan.
More than 130 unmanned aerial vehicles, 70 armored vehicles, 90 artillery systems and 20 aircraft are participating in the exercise, along with more than 30 electronic warfare, reconnaissance and surveillance systems. The drills also involve more than 15 air defense systems, eight sets of engineering equipment and more than 20 naval vessels, the ministry said.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that work was underway on the possible transfer of Türkiye’s Russian-made S-400 air defense systems to a third country, a move that could help address a longstanding dispute between Ankara and Washington over Türkiye’s participation in the F-35 fighter jet program.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the issue was “on the agenda” and that discussions were taking place.
“Relevant work is being done, and appropriate contacts are taking place,” Peskov noted when asked about the possibility of transferring the systems.
His comments came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow could consider allowing the S-400 systems to be transferred to another country.
Lavrov said any recipient would need to act responsibly and maintain friendly relations with Russia, adding that Moscow would consider such a transfer if a request were made.
Türkiye agreed to purchase the S-400 air defense system from Russia in 2017 and acquired the system in 2019.
The acquisition drew criticism from the United States and other NATO allies, which argued that operating the Russian system posed risks to NATO defense systems and the F-35 program.
Washington subsequently removed Türkiye from the F-35 program and imposed sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Ankara has long sought to resolve the dispute and return to the F-35 program. Yet, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering allowing Türkiye to rejoin the F-35 program at the NATO summit in Ankara in July.
Speaking alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the Presidential Complex after arriving in Ankara for the summit, Trump said the time had come to remove sanctions that have strained relations between the two NATO allies.
“We’re going to lift the sanctions,” Trump said. “We don’t want to sanction our friends. I don’t want to choke my friend with sanctions.”
Calling Türkiye a militarily powerful country under Erdoğan’s leadership, Trump remarked that relations between Washington and Ankara were at their strongest point in years.
Yemen is seeking to expand cooperation with Türkiye to rebuild state institutions and improve essential public services as the war-torn country grapples with persistent security and humanitarian challenges, Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba said.
Al-Zouba made the remarks during a meeting with Türkiye’s Ambassador to Riyadh, Emrullah Işler, Yemen’s official SABA news agency reported.
The two officials discussed recent developments in Yemen and the wider region, as well as ways to strengthen bilateral relations and broaden cooperation.
Al-Zouba praised Türkiye’s support for Yemen and its internationally recognized government, including Ankara’s backing for the Presidential Leadership Council.
She stressed the importance of strengthening political and diplomatic coordination between Türkiye and Yemen amid regional and international developments, saying closer ties could support efforts to rebuild state institutions and bolster regional security and stability.
The Yemeni government is particularly interested in expanding cooperation with Türkiye in strengthening state institutions and improving basic services to help ease hardships facing the population, al-Zouba said.
The foreign minister also raised the impact of Houthi attacks on security in Yemen and the wider region, including threats to international trade and maritime traffic in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
She warned that indiscriminate missile launches by the Houthis posed growing risks to civil aviation and international air travel, saying weapons that fail to distinguish between civilian and military targets endanger passenger aircraft and civilian lives.
Işler, for his part, reiterated Türkiye’s support for the Yemeni government and for Yemen’s security, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He also reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to expanding bilateral cooperation and supporting the Yemeni government’s efforts to rebuild state institutions and restore security and stability.
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