Politics
Constitution, terror-free Türkiye dominate parties’ Eid visits
On the second day of the Muslim holiday Qurban Bayram, or Eid al-Adha, on Saturday, parties across Türkiye’s wide political spectrum continued a longstanding tradition: exchanging Eid greetings. Leaders and senior figures of parties, from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to opposition parties, great and small, visited each other’s headquarters.
Unlike heated debates at Parliament or election campaigns, the atmosphere was warm as politicians traded jokes and wishes for wellness instead of pointed barbs.
The meetings started with casual talk, but politics eventually made its way to the conversation, just as Eid get-togethers in most Turkish households. Hot topics such as efforts for a new constitution and progress in the terror-free Türkiye initiative that involves an expected end to the campaign of violence by the PKK terrorist group were informally discussed during the meetings.
As it did in Ramadan Bayram, or Eid al-Fitr, earlier this year, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) abstained from Eid visits. The CHP has, however, taken the unprecedented step of visiting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and hosting him at its headquarters in a softening climate in politics following the 2024 municipal elections. However, after the arrest of its Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, in March, the party decided to skip Eid visits, particularly to the AK Party, reasoning that Eid was not an occasion of joy for them due to the arrest of the metropolis’s mayor and other mayors of the party.
The AK Party hosted representatives of nine political parties at its headquarters in the capital, Ankara. Deputy Chair Belgin Uygur was the main host for the party during visits, while the party’s chair, President Erdoğan, chose to spend Eid with his family in one of his rare vacations. Erdoğan was in Marmaris, a popular vacation resort in the southwest, a first in years for the leader who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt while vacationing there at the time of an attempted coup in 2016.
The AK Party’s first guest on Saturday was a delegation from government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). AK Party and MHP officials underlined the spirit of solidarity and unity on occasions like Eid, while the conversation eventually drifted into grave matters and how to resolve them.
Uygur highlighted the fact that this was the fourth Eid al-Adha where they are praying again for the liberation of the people of Gaza from attacks by Israel and subsequent genocide. “God willing, this will be the last Eid before they find liberation. People there have a righteous resistance, conduct a strong struggle. But they are deprived of their most basic human rights under constant bombing. Attacks target humanitarian aid delivery nowadays. Under the leadership of President Erdoğan, we always exhibited a clear and decisive stance against this cruelty. We are praying that the international community will not remain quiet in the face of attacks and Gaza will be free again,” she said.
Terror-free Türkiye
Uygur also spoke about the terror-free Türkiye initiative launched by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli last year.
“We made remarkable progress in the goal of terror-free Türkiye thanks to the president’s call for a unified home front and subsequent historic call by Mr. Bahçeli (for a terror-free Türkiye). When the initiative made tangible progress after (the PKK terrorist group’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, called them to lay down arms in February), we already had significant democratic gains to move this process forward. Democracy will be strengthened further in the next stage of the initiative,” she said. Speaking of democracy, Uygur moved on to renew the AK Party’s call for support to draft a new constitution.
“We hope to leave behind the coup-era Constitution and move toward a new constitution shaped by the contributions of the entire society and all political parties. Whatever our names may be, our name is ultimately brotherhood, and our surname is Türkiye,” she said, using the AK Party’s slogan for Eid greetings.
“All 86 million of us, with all our differences and all our colors, will continue walking together, united and strong, on the path to a strong and great Türkiye. We will continue to discuss, debate, evaluate and resolve our issues more effectively within the realm of politics,” she added.
The AK Party is set to convene a first meeting of its 11-person commission tasked with discussing a constitutional overhaul in the coming weeks.
The commission, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, includes AK Party Deputy Chairs Efkan Ala and Mustafa Elitaş, as well as Hayati Yazıcı, Ali Ihsan Yavuz, party spokesperson Ömer Çelik and other deputy chairs. The first meeting, set to be held at the Presidential Complex, is expected to tackle the commission’s method of operation.
In meetings, the commission will develop comprehensive strategies for a new constitution.
AK Party’s chair, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, could also chair some of the meetings scheduled for the following months, party insiders have said.
Lawmakers, academics, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and representatives of various social groups will be in constant contact and utilize ongoing studies and accumulating knowledge, according to the vice president, who spoke to reporters after a recent Cabinet meeting.
“The commission will contribute to the process politically and legally,” he added.
The AK Party has long campaigned for a constitution, including a declaration announced during its 2023 election campaign. The “New Constitution for the New Century of Türkiye” declaration, which refers to the second century of the Republic of Türkiye, underlined the need for a new constitution.
“Establishing a constitutional order based on human dignity for the prevalence of developments in the field of rights and freedoms is necessary,” the 2023 declaration said.
The declaration also said the constitution would preserve democratic gains acquired during the AK Party’s governance and would ensure a high-standard democracy, guarantees for freedoms and the supremacy of law.
The government has been pushing to overhaul the Constitution for over a decade now, which was enforced in 1982 following a military coup that led to the detention of hundreds of thousands of people along with mass trials, torture and executions, which still represents a dark period in Turkish political history.
The AK Party has a comprehensive draft prepared by a scientific council during the pandemic, which it’s hoping to submit to Parliament. The MHP also announced a constitutional draft that includes over 100 articles from the past.
The Constitution’s first four articles, which state the essential tenets of the Turkish republic, have been subject to debate for years. CHP has repeatedly accused the AK Party of aiming to change the articles, which the ruling party flatly rejects.
The current 1982 Constitution’s first three articles regulate the basic principles of the country, namely: that the country is a republic; that it is a democratic, secular and social state governed by the rule of law; that its language is Turkish, its capital is Ankara and that the first three articles cannot be altered.
Last summer, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş oversaw talks between political parties on a constitutional overhaul and met representatives of all parties at Parliament to discuss a new constitution. He has said the general consensus was “positive” but that the CHP “still remains far from the table.”
The CHP is inclined to reject a constitutional overhaul, with its leader, Özgür Özel, claiming such a change has raised “other kinds of negotiations” without elaborating.
At least 400 lawmakers must ratify a new constitution draft in Parliament. Anything over 360 votes would allow a referendum, allowing the people to decide.
Speaking during the visit, MHP Deputy Chair Sadir Durmaz said that as a partner of the People’s Alliance it formed with the AK Party, they were committed to Türkiye’s stance against Israel in the face of attacks targeting Palestinians.
Durmaz also spoke about terror-free Türkiye and said they were hoping to get rid of the terrorism problem, “One of the biggest obstacles on the path to Türkiye’s growth and efforts to develop the country.”
“Support by Mr. President and the state to the initiative after our leader’s call and largely good intentions of relevant sides to the issue instill us with hope. It has been 40 years since the terrorism began, and we all suffered from it. Particularly, people in the region suffered,” he said, referring to southeastern and eastern Türkiye where the PKK launched its first attacks and terrorized the population since the 1980s.
“People born at the beginning of the terrorism campaign are now in their 40s and their children, our children, grandchildren should not suffer from the same fate. We have to be together in pursuing our goal of making Türkiye a strong, leading country in the region and in the world by saving it from these problems,” he said.
On the constitution, Durmaz said they had to work together to get rid of the constitution that still bears the marks of the coup era. “Opposition parties always complain about the Constitution, and we hope they will exhibit sincere support for a new one,” he said.
Another guest of the AK Party was the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which has been the strongest critic of the party over counterterrorism efforts against the PKK. The DEM Party is closely associated with the terrorist group, and several members of another party, which was its spiritual predecessor, were convicted of PKK propaganda. The DEM Party’s spokesperson for its Language and Culture Committee, Cemile Turhallı Balsak, led the party’s delegation during a visit to the AK Party. Extending Eid greetings in Turkish and Kurdish, Balsak said Eids have been an important element of social tolerance, brotherhood and peace.
“The society always knows how to resolve its problems through discussing them. As long as we stay together and remain determined, we can overcome them. We are going through an important process,” she said, referring to the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
“It is very valuable for people of Türkiye, and it is crucial to support it in a transparent manner. Anatolia has always had seeds of peace, and the goal should be growing them. We have a historic responsibility, and we attach importance that the process is discussed at Parliament,” she said. For her part, Uygur said that although their views differ, they were all brothers and sisters and they would debate their problems in the parliament and would move forward.
The MHP and the DEM Party, which were worlds away from each other in terms of politics, visited each other’s headquarters on Saturday in a sign of changing times in Türkiye. The two parties had already come together after the terror-free Türkiye initiative was launched by Bahçeli after he shook hands with DEM Party lawmakers in a surprising sight at Parliament last October.
Bahçeli has been a fierce critic of the DEM Party and its predecessors. At one point, he called for their closure for their support of the PKK. However, he revised his stand when he called for Öcalan to attend a parliamentary group meeting of the DEM Party to make his call to the PKK to dissolve itself. This “normalization” between the two parties was evident in Eid meetings with MHP officials pledging that the process would accelerate after Parliament takes new steps following the PKK’s May declaration of dissolving itself. The DEM Party delegation highlighted the birth of “a new climate of peace.” Sadir Durmaz further broke the ice during a visit to DEM Party’s offices.
“I hope you don’t mind if I prefer weak tea,” Durmaz said as he offered a glass of tea, amid the laughter of DEM Party officials. “Dem,” although an acronym for the party, is also used in Turkish to describe the well-steeped tea.
Doubling down on the terrorist group’s separatist ambitions, YPG leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin has renewed his calls for a decentralized Syria and the removal of “Arab” from the country’s official name.
In an interview with the Istanbul-based Yeni Yaşam newspaper, Şahin argued that the “Syrian Arab Republic” title, in use since 1961, “does not reflect the reality” of the multiethnic nation and should have the word “Arab” removed.
“Syria does not belong only to Arabs. Such radical changes must be made in Syria,” he said.
“(Syria) cannot be centralized and totalitarian like it was during the Baath regime. It must be a decentralized Syria. All provinces in Syria must be able to govern themselves through local governments,” Şahin claimed.
Just last week, Şahin told local media the YPG “defends the slogan ‘one army, one government, one state,’” echoing Damascus’ calls for full national unity.
The shift in tone comes as the group continues to negotiate with Syria’s interim government over the implementation of a March 10 agreement recognizing Damascus’ sovereignty.
Under the deal, signed by Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the YPG pledged to recognize Damascus’ sovereignty and transfer airports, oil fields and border crossings under its control to the central government by the end of the year.
However, the agreement stops short of outlining how the YPG’s armed wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), will be integrated into Syria’s army, a key sticking point. Damascus insists fighters join individually, while the YPG demands entry as a bloc, an issue that threatens to stall the process.
The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which has waged a decadeslong terror campaign in Türkiye and is designated a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Türkiye.
With U.S. support under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the YPG seized large swaths of northern and eastern Syria during the civil war. Turkish cross-border operations have since reduced its territorial grip, but it still holds key oil, water and agricultural resources in the northeast.
Washington has recently acknowledged the group’s ties to the PKK, with Tom Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Ankara and special representative for Syria, claiming the U.S. has no obligation to support “the formation of an independent state by the so-called SDF.”
Last month, Barrack also dismissed federalism as a workable model in Syria.
“The problem is that in all these countries (Iraq and Syria), federalism does not work and that a state within a state cannot be established,” Barrack said.
The U.S. envoy has urged Damascus to maintain “one homeland, one nation, one army, one government,” accusing the YPG of being reluctant to fully commit to national unity.
Şahin, however, claimed that a decentralized structure is essential for stability.
“(Barrack) understands that Syria cannot be governed by one person … I hope he has concluded that a decentralized Syria is necessary,” Şahin said.
The YPG’s push for decentralization and symbolic changes, such as altering the country’s name, is widely seen by Türkiye as part of a broader effort to entrench separatist control in Syria’s north.
Ankara has long opposed the YPG’s presence along its border, warning it will “intervene” if the group does not comply with the March 10 deal and disarm as the PKK did.
As part of the landmark terror-free Türkiye initiative, the PKK announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of violence.
Abdurrahman Tutdere, the mayor of the southeastern province of Adıyaman, who was detained last month on corruption charges, was reinstated to his post, the Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday.
Tutdere was suspended from office on July 10 after he was ordered into house arrest following a corruption investigation.
The same investigation has led to detentions of Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek and Adana Mayor Zeydan Karalar. All three men are from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which is entangled with a series of corruption probes. The CHP’s Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, was arrested in March on graft charges.
The CHP is under mounting scrutiny as a wave of corruption, bribery and terrorism-related investigations sweeps across its municipalities.
Since late 2024, more than 500 people, including some 15 sitting mayors, have been detained in police operations. Over 200 have been formally arrested, while dozens benefited from the legal provision of “effective remorse” in exchange for cooperation with prosecutors.
Authorities say more than 10 major investigations are underway into municipalities controlled by the main opposition CHP, covering allegations from large-scale tender rigging and bribery to financing terrorist organizations.
The most extensive probe targets the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB). Prosecutors allege a network, headed by senior municipal officials, that rigged numerous public contracts. Imamoğlu and his aides deny all charges.
Linked to these allegations is the case of businessperson Aziz Ihsan Aktaş, accused of heading a criminal network that allegedly bribed mayors and senior officials to secure lucrative tenders. Aktaş, initially arrested, was later released after cooperating with authorities under “adequate remorse” provisions.
Two separate investigations in Istanbul focus on alleged links between CHP district municipalities and the PKK terrorist organization. Police operations earlier this year targeted nine CHP-run districts, leading to the arrests of deputy mayors and council members. Prosecutors claim certain local initiatives were used to bolster PKK influence in major cities.
In another high-profile case, dismissed Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer faces trial on charges of PKK membership, while former Sarıyer Mayor Şükrü Genç is accused of financing the DHKP-C terrorist group through municipal channels.
The corruption allegations extend far beyond Türkiye’s largest city, though several of the most prominent cases are centered in Istanbul.
In Istanbul’s European districts, Beşiktaş and Büyükçekmece, officials are accused of bribery, irregular contracting and abuse of office. In the Anatolian districts of Beykoz and Şile, the mayors were arrested on charges of tender rigging, extortion and involvement in organized crime, while Kartal’s mayor and several municipal officials allegedly rented out public properties in violation of the law.
In western Izmir province, the CHP municipality is facing two separate probes: one targeting irregularities in construction projects and another focusing on corruption in a municipal subsidiary, which has already led to the arrest of former Mayor Tunç Soyer.
Türkiye’s newly formed National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission, led by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, adopted its working procedures and principles Tuesday in its first session at the Turkish Parliament.
During the opening session, representatives of political parties with and without parliamentary groups shared views on the commission’s significance and the process ahead.
The commission unanimously approved its working procedures and principles in the first meeting, adopting the official name National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission.
Its next meeting will take place Aug. 8 at 2 p.m. in the Turkish Parliament’s Ceremony Hall, with Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Director Ibrahim Kalın invited to brief the body on their institutions’ work and current developments.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar reiterated on Tuesday the need for a two-state solution to the Cyprus question, arguing that the Greek Cypriot side has shown “no intention” of achieving a solution.
Tatar reiterated his stance as he received Colin Stewart, the U.N. secretary-general’s Cyprus envoy and head of the U.N. Peacekeeping Force, for a farewell visit as Stewart is stepping down on Saturday.
After the meeting, Tatar thanked Stewart for his service, saying that he had always maintained an open and transparent stance.
In his statement, Tatar referred to the U.N. Security Council’s inclination toward a “two-zone, two-community” federation on the island, saying that no solution had been found in the negotiations held so far and that the Greek Cypriot side has shown no intention of reaching a solution.
“We insist on a two-state solution on Cyprus. The TRNC is a sovereign state in every sense of the word. The decision taken by the U.N. Security Council on Cyprus is outdated and has lost its validity. The region has changed, the status has changed, the Eastern Mediterranean has changed and Türkiye has reached a completely different point,” said Tatar.
Stewart’s farewell
Stewart, whose term as special representative began in 2021 and will end on Saturday, thanked Tatar for having good, productive meetings over the years.
“I know that he deeply cares about Turkish Cypriots and looks after their interests, and he always tried to be constructive about this,” he said.
The island has been split between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
Greek Cypriots control the southern part of the island and are recognized by the international community as a state, despite protests from Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye. The TRNC is located in the northern part of the island and is recognized only by Türkiye.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the U.K.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
More recently, informal U.N.-led meetings have continued, including one in Geneva in March at the request of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. That meeting focused on practical cooperation in areas such as crossing points, demining and environmental protection. While progress was made on some issues, others stalled due to the stance of the Greek Cypriot side.
To help advance the process, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, the U.N. secretary-general’s personal envoy on Cyprus, was reappointed in May and has since conducted multiple visits and consultations with leaders and officials on the island, Türkiye, Greece, the U.K. and the EU. Despite her efforts, core political disagreements remain unresolved.
As Africa rises in strategic potential with its young population and rich resources on the international stage, Türkiye continues to deepen its relations with the continent by the day.
The economic development moves, regional integration projects and incentives toward foreign investors of African countries increase the continent’s global influence. Africa, which harbors around 18% of the world population, draws the interest of many countries not only in terms of human resources but also with its growing consumer market.
Africa has approximately 40% of the world’s gold reserves, 60% of cobalt and a significant portion of oil and natural gas reserves. Interest from especially China, the U.S., the EU, India and Gulf countries is growing.
Türkiye, meanwhile, has been investing in its ties with the continent through infrastructure investments, development projects, military cooperation, as well as education programs among other fields.
As part of its foreign policy toward the continent, Türkiye increased the number of its embassies in Africa from 12 in 2002 to 44 by 2024.
African countries also increased their embassies in Türkiye, and the number of African embassies in Ankara rose from 10 in 2008 to 38 in 2024.
Ankara’s increasing diplomatic representations on the continent have led to stronger ties, especially in political, economic and cultural areas. The number of mutual visits in the past five years has exceeded 500.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made 53 visits to 31 African countries, making him the leader who has visited the continent most often.
As a sign of its growing influence, Ankara has since taken on the role of mediator in talks between Ethiopia and Somalia, which have been locked in a feud over access to the ocean since June.
The number of agreements Türkiye has signed with African countries has also grown significantly.
Trade ties
Ankara has entered into trade and economic cooperation agreements with 49 African nations, signed agreements on the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments with 32 countries, double taxation avoidance agreements with 17 nations, military framework agreements with 35 countries, military training cooperation agreements with 21 nations and defense industry cooperation agreements with 29 countries.
Furthermore, business councils have been formed with 49 African countries, covering nearly the entire continent.
Türkiye’s trade with Africa grew nearly nine times, from $4.3 billion in 2002 to $36.6 billion by 2024. Its investments in Africa rose from $67 million in 2003 to $10 billion in 2024.
Furthermore, Turkish contractors completed 2,031 projects in Africa, worth $97 billion, by the end of 2024.
Türkiye’s official export finance institution, Türk Eximbank, became the AFC’s first non-African investor in December 2023, upon the invitation of the African Finance Corporation (AFC).
Moreover, Turkish Airlines (THY) has made significant strides in connecting Africa to the world, currently serving 62 destinations in 41 countries across the continent. It notably became the first airline to resume operations in Mogadishu in 2012 after the airport was rebuilt with Turkish assistance.
Other Turkish institutions are similarly active in Africa. As of the end of 2024, approximately 62,000 African students were pursuing higher education in Türkiye through the Türkiye Scholarships program.
Additionally, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has 22 active representatives in Africa.
Meanwhile, the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) Turkish Cultural Center offers Turkish lessons to Africans and promotes Turkish culture at 18 centers across 15 African countries.
The Turkish Maarif Foundation also educates around 25,000 students at more than 230 institutions in 27 African countries.
Defense cooperation
Türkiye has also extended its successful defense industry collaborations to African countries. Leading Turkish companies such as Baykar, Aselsan, Tusaş and Nurol Holding have seen rising demand for their products on the continent. These defense partnerships and related initiatives continue to strengthen bilateral trade.
According to data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), Türkiye’s total exports to African nations rose by 1.7% in 2024, reaching $19.4 billion. Egypt was Türkiye’s top African export destination last year at $3.5 billion, followed by Morocco with $3.1 billion and Libya with $2.5 billion.
Türkiye has also expanded defense cooperation with several African countries, including Libya, Somalia, Niger, Chad and Sudan. Under a 2019 memorandum of understanding on military and security cooperation, Türkiye continues to provide military training and consultancy services in Libya.
The ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) central executive committee is set to convene Wednesday to discuss the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
AK Party members will review the work of the parliamentary terror-free Türkiye committee, which held its inaugural meeting Tuesday at Parliament. An informational report on the committee’s efforts will be presented.
The 51-member committee, comprised of legislators from most major parties, is charged with proposing and supervising legal and political reforms following the PKK terrorist group’s decision to disband and lay down arms, ending a four-decade-long terror campaign that claimed over 40,000 lives.
The AK Party’s upcoming Türkiye Meetings program, set to launch this weekend, is also expected to be on the agenda.
In addition, the Health Ministry will deliver a presentation, following up on proposals made by the party’s Health Policies Department during the executive committee meeting two weeks ago.
The situation in Gaza will also be discussed, particularly in light of Israel’s ongoing attacks and embargoes. Erdoğan, who has recently stepped up diplomatic activity on the issue, is expected to deliver messages on Gaza during the meeting.
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