Politics
CHP refers 5 mayors to discipline board, seeks expulsions
Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) referred five district mayors to its disciplinary board Wednesday and called for their expulsion, as the party moves against members accused of supporting rival political movements.
CHP spokesman Müslim Sarı announced the decision following a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Board (MYK), chaired by party leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
The mayors facing disciplinary proceedings are Mesut Kösedağı of Istanbul’s Kadıköy district, Alper Yeğin of Sancaktepe, Mustafa Oktay Aksu of Sarıyer, Cem Kotan of Antalya’s Konyaaltı district and Osman Tarık Özçelik of Alanya.
Sarı said working for another political party while remaining a CHP member constituted a clear disciplinary offense.
“No one can remain within the Republican People’s Party while trying to provide logistical support to another party or contributing to it,” he said.
Sarı also criticized CHP mayors who have left the party to join the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), saying there could be “no explanation” for such moves.
The spokesperson said the party would continue monitoring its members, adding that the latest disciplinary referrals would not be the last.
Sarı also confirmed that Kılıçdaroğlu would attend events marking the opening of the new legislative year in Parliament, including the General Assembly session and evening reception.
Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the Azerbaijan-hosted the “Unity’s Strength-2026” military exercise, involving forces from Türkiye and Uzbekistan, was continuing successfully, with designated targets hit during drills in Nakhchivan.
The ministry released footage of activities conducted as part of the exercise, highlighting what it described as “joint training, strong coordination and high readiness.”
“Unity’s Strength in the field,” the ministry noted in a social media post accompanying footage from the drills.
The exercise, which runs from Sept. 21 to Oct. 1, is aimed at improving the participating forces’ ability to counter hybrid threats and strengthening their capacity to plan and conduct joint military operations, according to the ministry.
Elements of the Turkish General Staff, Land Forces, Naval Forces and Air Forces Commands are participating in the exercise.
The drills are designed to enhance interoperability and coordination among the participating countries’ armed forces through joint training and operational scenarios.
The National Security Council (NSC), chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will meet on Wednesday.
Media outlets reported that the meeting would focus on the terror-free Türkiye initiative that involves the disarmament of the terrorist group PKK. Participants will also discuss U.S.-Iran tensions, the state of the Strait of Hormuz, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, maritime security in the Black Sea affected by the said conflict, developments in Gaza and Yemen, measures to protect the rights of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, and measures for economic security.
The council is comprised of ministers and other top officials and serves as a guide for policymakers, especially on security-related matters.
The council will also discuss the implications of the National Solidarity and Social Integration Coordination Board meeting held at the beginning of the week, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. The board is tasked with setting a road map and coordinating the terror-free Türkiye process.
Diplomatic efforts aimed at returning to negotiations amid tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as well as the impact of intermittent clashes on the security of the Strait of Hormuz, will be assessed at the meeting. Mediation efforts aimed at securing peace in the Russia-Ukraine war will also be on the NSC’s agenda. The council will also discuss possible steps to ensure navigational safety in the Black Sea.
The latest developments regarding efforts to end cease-fire violations in Gaza and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region will also be discussed. The impact of the Houthis’ wave of attacks targeting Saudi Arabia on regional stability in Yemen will also be assessed. Joint military cooperation steps that could be taken with regional countries under the framework of the Mecca defense pact will also be on the agenda, media outlets reported.
Türkiye’s Constitutional Court struck down a provision allowing courts to award post-divorce poverty alimony indefinitely, ruling that the measure could impose a disproportionate financial burden on the paying spouse.
The decision, published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday, annulled the phrase “indefinitely” in Article 175 of the Turkish Civil Code, which regulates poverty alimony following divorce.
The ruling removes the requirement that such payments be awarded without a predetermined time limit and clears the way for a new legal framework under which the duration of payments can be determined according to the circumstances of individual cases.
The annulment will take effect nine months after its publication, on June 30, 2027, giving Parliament time to adopt new legislation and prevent a legal vacuum.
Under the existing provision, a spouse who would fall into poverty as a result of divorce may request financial support from the other spouse, provided that the requesting party is not more at fault for the breakdown of the marriage. The amount is determined according to the financial capacity of the paying spouse.
The court said the current system could require a former spouse to remain financially responsible for the consequences of a marriage for the rest of their life without requiring judges to assess specific criteria when determining the duration of payments.
It said a fair balance should be established between the interests of the spouse who risks falling into poverty and those of the spouse required to pay alimony.
The court said factors including the length of the marriage, the spouses’ ages and health, their economic and social circumstances, their ability to participate in the workforce and the impact of the alimony obligation on their post-divorce lives should be considered.
Under current law, periodic alimony automatically ends if the recipient remarries or either party dies. A court may also terminate payments if the recipient lives with another person as though married, is no longer in poverty or leads what the law describes as a “dishonorable life.”
The Constitutional Court said that outside those circumstances, the obligation could continue throughout the payer’s lifetime.
It also noted that the person required to pay poverty alimony does not necessarily have to be at fault for the divorce.
The court said requiring indefinite payments categorically and without criteria could place an excessive burden on the paying spouse and upset the balance the state is required to maintain between competing rights.
The ruling also leaves open the possibility of lifetime alimony in certain cases. The court said lawmakers could establish a system that allows payments to be limited to a specific period, depending on individual circumstances, while also permitting extensions, including potentially for life, when legally defined conditions are met.
Parliament is expected to determine the new rules governing the duration of poverty alimony before the annulment takes effect.
Greece and France have discussed a possible adjustment to the route of a planned undersea electricity cable linking Greece, the Greek Cypriot administration and Israel, as Athens seeks to manage tensions with Türkiye in the Eastern Mediterranean, according to Greek media reports.
Kathimerini reported that Athens and Paris had considered a “light redesign” of the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) that would keep the cable outside an area covered by Türkiye’s Fethiye-Kaş marine park, declared south of the Greek island of Meis in August. The newspaper said the proposed adjustment was intended to reduce the risk of a new dispute rather than signal Greek recognition of Turkish jurisdiction in the area.
On Aug. 16, two presidential decrees published in the Official Gazette have reaffirmed Türkiye’s maritime rights in the Aegean Sea.
One decree designated an area between the Fethiye district of Muğla and the Kaş district of Antalya in the south of the Aegean as a national marine park, while another applied the same designation to an area in the North Aegean Sea, near the coasts of Tekirdağ and Çanakkale.
The project, intended to connect the island of Cyprus with Europe’s electricity grid and eventually extend to Israel, has faced geopolitical and financial challenges. French infrastructure investor Meridiam acquired a 66% stake in GSI in August, increasing Paris’ involvement in the project.
Athens and its partners decided to alter the route of the planned undersea cable following objections from Ankara, according to reports.
The reported decision to adjust the route came after a warning issued by Türkiye’s Defense Ministry on Sept. 24.
In the statement, the ministry said any cable- or pipeline-laying activities within Türkiye’s continental shelf must be coordinated with Ankara, also underlining that Türkiye would continue to protect its rights and interests stemming from its maritime jurisdiction and continental shelf in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“No unauthorized activity that disregards our country’s rights will be permitted,” the ministry said.
Kathimerini also reported that Athens was considering extending its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles south and west of Crete before new seabed surveys begin.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris on Sept. 9, with talks focusing on energy infrastructure, regional developments and bilateral cooperation.
According to Greek media, Mitsotakis and Macron discussed steps toward implementing the GSI. The meeting came after French investment group Meridiam reached an agreement to become the majority shareholder in the company responsible for developing the GSI project.
The Paris talks took place at a critical stage for the project, particularly as stakeholders consider the resumption of seabed surveys needed for the planned cable.
Separately, Greek newspaper Ta Nea recently published a hypothetical four-stage military scenario involving a “preemptive strike” in the event intelligence indicated an imminent Turkish attack.
The scenario was based on assessments by military analysts and remarks by Greek Chief of the National Defense General Staff Gen. Dimitrios Houpis about Greece’s capacity to conduct strikes at strategic depth.
Ankara and Athens seek to improve relations after years of hostilities, but maritime jurisdictions remain a thorny issue. The countries, which came close to an all-out war in the 1990s over the Aegean Sea, remain vigilant, with Türkiye concentrating on developing its domestic defense industry. Greece, on the other hand, relies on foreign partners to bolster its defenses.
Two former mayors from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) were among 15 suspects remanded into custody on Tuesday on charges of corruption.
Authorities in Kırıkkale, a province neighboring the capital Ankara, have earlier detained 35 suspects in connection with corruption allegations at province’s Yahşihan district. Former Mayors Ahmet Sungur and Osman Türkyılmaz were among them.
Sungur and Türkyılmaz were detained along with their deputies, municipal assembly members and businesspeople on Sept. 24. They are accused of running a criminal organization, bribery, rigging public tenders and fraud.
A crackdown on municipalities where mayors are suspected of corruption began a few years ago in Istanbul and soon spread across the country. Most of those arrested or detained for corruption are from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). Probably most notable among them is Ekrem Imamoğlu, mayor of Türkiye’s most populated city, Istanbul. Imamoğlu was arrested last year.
Türkiye’s highest legal body, the Constitutional Court, gave the main opposition New Party (Yeni Parti), abbreviated as YP, 30 days to present a defense in a lawsuit over its name. The Innovation Party (Yenilik Partisi), also abbreviated as YP, requested that New Party change its name, filing a complaint with the General Prosecution Office of the Supreme Court of Appeal, citing concerns that the name of the party founded last July may cause confusion among voters. The office asked New Party to change its name, stating that a request by another political group seeking to establish a “New Party” in 2024 was rejected upon the objection of Innovation Party. The General Prosecution Office is the top authority for registering political parties. When New Party failed to comply with the order, the office took the case to the Constitutional Court.
After New Party presents its defense to the Constitutional Court, the court will reassess whether the name violates laws governing the names of political parties. If a violation is found, the New Party will be mandated to change its name.
The Innovation Party was founded by former Ambassador Öztürk Yılmaz in 2020. Yılmaz served as a lawmaker with the Republican People’s Party (CHP) between 2015 and 2018, before Özgür Özel became CHP chair. Özel was forced out of office last May when a court ruled that his tenure should be nullified over allegations of vote-buying in a 2023 intra-party election. Özel initially planned to fight the verdict through an appeal process but later declared the founding of the New Party with the participation of dozens of lawmakers from CHP, now making it the main opposition party in Parliament.
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