Daily Agenda
Sister of famous Turkish-American doctor nominated for deputy position
WASHINGTON

The White House has submitted the nomination of Seval Öz, the sister of renowned Turkish-American heart surgeon and TV personality Mehmet Öz, for a deputy secretary position at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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In November 2024, President Donald Trump appointed Mehmet Öz to lead the country’s public health insurance program.
A specialist in autonomous vehicle technology, Seval Öz has been nominated for a newly created deputy secretary role at the Transportation Department.
Her nomination has been submitted to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Öz served as the head of the program developed for Google’s self-driving car technology from 2011 to 2014.
In 2016, Seval Öz was honored as one of the “30 Most Influential Turkish Women” by TurkOfAmerica magazine.
The Öz siblings’ late father, Professor Dr. Mustafa Öz, was born in Türkiye’s central province of Konya.
US ambassador nominee for Ankara awaits Senate approval
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Meanwhile, the White House has also formally submitted the nomination of Tom Barrack, founder of investment firm Colony Capital, to the U.S. Senate for confirmation as the next ambassador to Türkiye.
Born and raised in California, the 77-year-old Barrack completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California and earned a law degree from the University of San Diego.
He is the grandson of an immigrant family that moved from Ottoman-controlled Lebanon to the U.S. in 1900. Growing up in Culver City, Los Angeles, Barrack’s father worked as a grocer and his mother was a secretary. During his university years, he played rugby before starting a legal career, which included working in Saudi Arabia.
In the 1980s, Barrack served as deputy undersecretary at the Department of the Interior under President Ronald Reagan.
Daily Agenda
I couldn’t smell your scent, daddy – Breaking News
Hatice Hifa Yılmaz, the daughter of Kurra Hafız İbrahim Yılmaz, who walked to martyrdom in front of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) as the target of treacherous bullets during the July 15 bloody coup attempt of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), put on paper her deep longing for her father and her heart that grew with the memories she heard from her mother.
Hatice Hifa, the child of one of the heroes who shielded her chest against the treacherous FETO terrorists who wanted to take Türkiye’s will under their tutelage on the night of July 15, was only a 9-month-old tiny baby on that pitch-black night. Hatice Hifa, who was orphaned before she could get enough of her father’s scent and became one of the symbols of the legal struggle as the “youngest intervener” of the Istanbul Coup Main Case, turned 10 this year. The letter he wrote on the 10th anniversary of his father’s martyrdom once again revealed the deep wounds inflicted by FETO betrayal and the proud stance of the martyrs’ relics.
‘I COULDN’T HEAR YOUR VOICE, I COULDN’T BRING IN YOUR SMELL’
Trying to fill her father’s absence with the memories told by her mother, Hatice Hifa began her letter by expressing her deep longing for her father: “I could never see you, hear your voice, or breathe in your scent, my dear father. But I know you so well… Because my mother never gets tired of telling me about you, with her beautiful eyes shining.”
‘I WILL BE HAFIZ LIKE YOU’
Little Hatice Hifa, who learned from her mother that her martyr father was full of love for the Holy Quran even before she was born, promised him to become a hafiz in order to meet her father at the same high level in heaven.
LETTER WRITTEN BY HATİCE HİFA YILMAZ TO HER MARTYRED FATHER
The following statements in the letter of Hatice Hifa, who tried to alleviate the 10-year longing of Kurra Hafız İbrahim Yılmaz, who died for his country at the age of 25, with prayers and the Quran, made the readers choke:
“Dear daddy,
Today, it has been exactly ten years since you marched to martyrdom for this country.
When you left, I was just a 9-month-old little baby. Now I am approaching my 10th birthday. I have never been able to see you, hear your voice, or smell your scent whenever I remember, daddy.
But I know you so well… Because my mother never gets tired of telling me about you with her beautiful eyes shining. I always learned your soft voice, your naive attitude that doesn’t hurt anyone, from my mother. My mother always tells us about how you say “You are entrusted to me by God”, how you make love by saying “I am your father’s lamb”, but most of all about your love for the Quran. For example, my mother told me that before I was born, she read 30 hatim to me so that I would fall in love with the Quran.
He also explained that the ranks of hafizes and martyrs in heaven are different from everyone else’s. I want to be a martyr like you, but it’s a matter of fate. I was separated from you on earth, I don’t want to be separated from you in heaven. I want to be hafiz to be at least at the same level as you.
I will be a Quran memorizer like you, I promise you, my dear father. While talking to my mother the other day, I shared with her what I was feeling. I said to her, “It’s a good thing we didn’t live in the time of our Prophet, mother.” Because even the pain of your absence is so difficult for us, how could we bear it if we lived in His time and witnessed your death? Now, whenever I miss you, whenever my heart burns with longing for you, I find consolation by thinking about the departure of our Prophet from this world, my dear father.
You have packed so much into your short twenty-five year life. I am also growing up to be a son worthy of your beautiful name. I strive to follow in the footsteps of our Prophet and the Quran, in the way of Allah, as you wish for me. My mother and I carry on our heads the pure and honorable legacy you left us. I am waiting with hope and longing for the day in heaven, under the banner of our Prophet, when I will run into your arms that I have never seen and hug you.
Your daughter who loves you very much and is proud of you at all times,
Hatice Hifa Yılmaz.”
AN HONORABLE LEGACY AGAINST FETO BETRAYAL
The daughter and wife left behind by the hero, who drank the sherbet of martyrdom at the age of 25 from the bullets of traitors on the night of July 15, did not compromise on their upright stance from the first day. These lines, coming from the huge heart of Hatice Hifa, who was only 10 years old, became the most emotional sign of how the country that FETO traitors tried to destroy remained standing on the shoulders and prayers of the children of the martyrs.
Daily Agenda
He gave 100 thousand liras to ‘destroy the body’
Handan Sonel, wife of Tunceli’s former governor Tuncay Sonel, who was detained in the Gülistan Doku investigation, was arrested for the crime of “destroying, concealing or altering criminal evidence”. New details also emerged in the statements. Turan Güler, one of the detained witnesses, said that Handan Sonel gave him 100 thousand liras to take the body and destroy it, saying that his son killed Gülistan Doku by shooting her 2 times.
Among the 17 suspects detained within the scope of the investigation regarding Gülistan Doku, a university student who was found to have been murdered in Tunceli, Handan Sonel, wife of the then Governor of Tunceli Tuncay Sonel, was arrested for the crime of “destroying, concealing or altering criminal evidence”. Judgeship; It decided to arrest Handan Sonel by evaluating witness statements, digital materials seized during searches at the residence, the weapon considered to be unlicensed, the vehicle and communication records subject to investigation, and the expert examinations that have not yet been completed. One of the most serious accusations in the file came from convicted witness Turan Güler. In his statement, Güler claimed that Handan Sonel gave him 100 thousand liras to take the body and destroy it, saying “I did not want my only son to marry that girl. My son killed Gülistan Doku by shooting 2 times.”
HE CAME IN A PANIC STATE
Selvi Yeşil, who works in the kitchen of the governor’s residence, stated in her statement that between 13.00 and 13.30 on January 5, 2020, when Gülistan Doku disappeared, Handan Sonel came to the kitchen in a panic and said, “Mrs. Selvi, leave immediately. Leave it, leave quickly, go home,” and that she left the house at 13.36. Yeşil also stated that Mustafa Türkay Sonel, who always prepares breakfast for himself, did not eat breakfast for 3-4 days after January 5, and also said that he did not leave his room and did not go to school.
4 WHAT WAS IN THE BOX?
Gönül Gülmez, the cleaning staff working in the governor’s residence, claimed that when the news emerged about Gülistan Doku’s disappearance, Tuncay Sonel became very angry with his son and packed the belongings in the room into four boxes and told the employees and guards, “Throw these in the trash.”
CLOSED HIS 15 YEAR OLD PHONE LINE
After the first operation, it was determined that Handan Sonel closed the line she had been using for 15-20 years and started using a new line registered in her daughter’s name. In the meeting they had after her son’s arrest, she said to Mustafa Türkay Sonel, “The cars are coming out clean,” and in the meantime, her son swore at third parties and they argued. Handan Sonel claimed that she did not know where the unlicensed gun seized during the search at her home came from or from whom it was obtained.
Daily Agenda
Minister Tekin met with teacher candidates at Erzurum National Education Academy!
Minister Tekin, in his meeting with teacher candidates studying at Erzurum National Education Academy, pointed out that the teaching profession is a very important responsibility.
Stating that the teacher has gone far beyond being an actor conveying knowledge in the current era, Tekin said: At the same time, he has become a guide who builds character among the people he deals with in society, shows direction, and shapes a generation’s perspective on life. Every sentence uttered in a classroom will find its equivalent in the Turkey of the future. Every sentence you use in any environment you are in will be taken as an example by someone for the future of this country. Therefore, every step you take today will have a say in tomorrow’s scientists, tomorrow’s engineers, artists, opinion leaders, and statesmen, in short, in the fate of this nation, this country.”
Minister Tekin said, “At the meetings of ministers of education in different countries of the world at regular intervals, the ministers of education in every country of the world are pursuing steps to reconsider the teacher training process. The National Education Academy was born from such a need in our country. We aimed to bring the teaching profession together with a strong preparation process. If you look from the Ottoman period onwards, the teacher training process in Türkiye has changed at certain intervals, as participation in education and training increased, and as the quality of education and training increased, differences began to emerge in diplomas, especially in the distance to higher education. In-Service Training Center in Erzurum was also established by the academy. “We turned it into an application center and made a plan to employ the friends we could recruit within the capacity of our classroom teachers. Currently, 502 of our teacher candidates are receiving their training here to join us as classroom teachers.” he said.
“WE WILL EXPERIENCE A DETAILED TRAINING PROCESS HERE TOGETHER”
Explaining that they, as the Ministry, launched the National Education Academy with the law enacted in 2024, Tekin continued as follows: “In the education you receive here, what are we trying to do, why are we trying to do, as a support for the programs that the Ministry of National Education will implement in a period of approximately 13 years, including 12 years of compulsory education plus pre-school education? We had the obligation to explain this to you in detail together with our academic friends who are involved in the application and also work on these issues theoretically. During the education process, which will last about a year here.” “This is one of the topics we care about. When you leave here and start working in schools as a teacher, we will all go through a very detailed training process here on what the Ministry of National Education wants to do, based on the parameters, and how to implement the programs it has implemented for what it wants to do.”
“THERE ARE PROGRAMS WHERE WE CHANGE THE TECHNOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN OUR SCHOOLS EVERY 2-3 YEARS”
Tekin emphasized that improving both the physical, technological and human infrastructure of education in Türkiye and increasing the quality of education is the main function of the ministry, and said: “We need to focus on this. These may have been very ideal solutions 30 years ago, but we are all living in a period where life is changing very quickly. Every moment of our social life is changing very rapidly. Look at your clothes in the years when you started your undergraduate education, and compare it to now, many things change in Türkiye in 4 years in terms of fashion perception. Among so many things that change, teachers If we do not take steps in our education process and do not revise our programs and curricula frequently, we do not have the opportunity to create an education and training infrastructure that keeps up with the times and provides education to children and young people in accordance with the values of the age. Look, we change the architectural projects of our school buildings at regular intervals because our needs in schools change. There are software and programs that we change the technological infrastructure in our schools every 2-3 years. Because the program we implemented 3 years ago suddenly becomes obsolete and unusable. “As such, if we do not take steps regarding human resources, we do not have the opportunity to increase the quality of education.”
Minister Tekin said, “Therefore, the second important sign of the National Education Academy is the practical training of up to 600 hours in different types of schools. Hopefully, you will carry out this process together with our veteran teacher friends who have spent a lifetime in the profession. We will continue the in-service training at the National Education Academy at certain periods after starting the profession, based on the reality I mentioned. Therefore, the secondary mission of the National Education Academy is not only the teacher candidates, but also the current teacher friends, who renew themselves in five-year periods, “We will also organize programs where they update their knowledge and review their methodologies at the National Education Academy.” he said.
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Daily Agenda
Ministers Tekin and Çiftçi attended the mass opening ceremony of Aziziye Municipality
Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi and Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin attended the mass opening ceremony of Aziziye Municipality. Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Çiftçi talked about the work he carried out regarding homeless stray animals during his term as governor in Erzurum.
“ERZURUM WAS THE FIRST CITY TO COMPLETE THIS WORK AMONG THE METROPOLITAN CITIES”
Çiftçi said: “When these studies started in March 2025 in the provinces where the 51 Special Provincial Administrations in Türkiye are valid, we started working on stray animals in Erzurum. We started early. We got the result of our early start. We collected all the stray animals in Erzurum around the end of October or the 6th of November. We took them all to shelters. Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mehmet Sekmen also made great contributions to this. I would like to thank you. When we first started, the capacity of the animal shelter in Erzurum was 150, then it was increased to 1000 and 1500. Thus, we took the animals we collected in our districts to the shelter of Erzurum Metropolitan Municipality. In addition, the Pasin Plain Municipalities Union had an animal shelter. “Our municipality then built the shelters, and the work of Horasan Municipality continues. Today, Aziziye Municipality also commissioned the animal shelter. As a result of these good works, Erzurum became the first province to complete this work. As of November, we have put an end to the problem of stray animals in Erzurum.”
Stating that he had a very good time in Erzurum, Çiftçi said, “I have never felt like a stranger since I came to Erzurum. I saw myself as if I was working in my hometown Konya. We did not have any blood or tissue incompatibility with my brothers and sisters here. Two and a half years came and went, we left here before we could get enough of Erzurum.” he said.
Stating that Erzurum is a city with an ancient history, Çiftçi also talked about the public works carried out in historical areas during his term as governor.
Çiftçi thanked those who contributed to the works to be opened. Following the speeches, Minister of Internal Affairs Çiftçi, Minister of National Education Tekin and their entourage performed a ribbon cutting after the prayer. Governor Aydın Baruş, Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mehmet Sekmen, AK Party Erzurum Deputy Selami Altınok, political party representatives, mayors, representatives of public institutions and non-governmental organizations and citizens attended the ceremony.
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Daily Agenda
First Lady Erdoğan’s message on Lake Van: It is our common duty to protect nature
Emine Erdoğan, wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, stated in her post on her social media account that Lake Van is one of Türkiye’s most valuable natural treasures.
LEADED BY ZERO WASTE FOUNDATION
Stating that the protection of the lake is not only the responsibility of today but also of future generations, First Lady Erdoğan said, “Lake Van is one of the most valuable natural treasures of our country with its unique blue. Protecting this beauty and protecting our water resources and nature is no longer a choice, but a common duty that we must fulfill for future generations.” In her post, First Lady Erdoğan stated that within the scope of the Lake Van Basin Protection works, which were launched in 2021 under the leadership of the Zero Waste Foundation, works such as bottom mud cleaning, integration of treatment facilities and rehabilitation of stream beds are being continued with determination. In its statement, the Foundation stated that work in the field continues uninterruptedly in order to secure the ecological future of Lake Van. Thanking all the institutions and organizations that contributed to the environmental mobilization, First Lady Erdoğan said, “I would like to wholeheartedly thank all our institutions and organizations and environmental friends who have given strength to this great environmental mobilization with their efforts. Let’s protect it together, let’s keep it alive together.”
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Daily Agenda
Masterful restoration of the main dome
Another important stage has been completed in the most comprehensive conservation, restoration and reinforcement works in the history of the Republic, carried out by the General Directorate of Foundations of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the Hagia Sophia Mosque. In order to repair the lead coating on the dome, it became necessary to remove and repair or renew the existing lead coatings. Due to the sensitivity of the applications to be carried out, while the lead cover of the dome was removed, protection measures were evaluated to prevent the structure from being affected by weather conditions and to prevent the mosaics from being damaged. In the meetings, it was decided that the dome surface should be closed temporarily. In this context, the temporary steel roof was started to be covered with a protective tarpaulin meeting high safety standards.
IT WILL LIVE IN ITS ALL ITS MAGNIFICENCE
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy made evaluations about the work in his post on his social media account. Emphasizing that with the application carried out under the guidance of the Scientific Committee, the historical building was protected against climatic conditions, the mosaics were secured and the work was carried out with great sensitivity without damaging the original texture, Minister Ersoy said, “We will continue to transfer Hagia Sophia, one of the most valuable heritages of our civilization, to future generations in the strongest way with the understanding of scientific preservation. Hagia Sophia, entrusted to Mehmet the Conqueror, will continue to live forever with adhan, prayers and all its splendor.” Stating that Hagia Sophia is the legacy of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror and the greatest symbol of the conquest of Istanbul, Minister Ersoy stated that the temple regained its original identity with the historical decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. During the restoration process, Hagia Sophia Mosque will continue to be open to worship and visitors.
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