Turkish authorities have issued detention warrants for 24 suspects as part of an investigation into the so-called “public sector confidential structure” of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), prosecutors said Monday.

According to a statement from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the investigation was carried out by the anti-terrorism bureau and focused on operational phone lines allegedly used by members of the group within state institutions.

The authorities said coordinated efforts by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and counterterrorism police identified suspects who allegedly used ByLock, an encrypted messaging application used by members of the terrorist group.

Investigators also cited sequential calls made through pay phones and prepaid lines, a communication method prosecutors say is linked to the group.

The prosecutor’s office said evidence of organizational activity was obtained against the suspects, seven of whom are still employed in various public institutions.

Police launched simultaneous operations across 11 provinces centered in Ankara to detain the suspects, officials announced.

Separately, authorities in Gaziantep announced the capture of a fugitive convict wanted on charges of FETÖ membership.

In a statement shared by the Gaziantep Provincial Police Department on X, counterterrorism teams said the suspect was detained during an operation conducted under the coordination of prosecutors.

The individual had been sentenced to six years and three months in prison on terrorism-related charges and transferred to prison, the statement said.

The terrorist group orchestrated the July 15, 2016, coup attempt, which killed 252 people and wounded 2,734 others. Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Türkiye has targeted its active members and sleeper cells and its influence has been much reduced since 2016. However, the group maintains a vast network, including infiltrators suspected of still operating within Turkish institutions.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

A government ally has fueled fresh debate in the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative by proposing what he called a “Peace Process and Politicization Coordination Presidency,” a mechanism that could potentially involve jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in a supervised disarmament and normalization process.

The initiative, launched with backing from the Turkish state and publicly championed by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, aims to end the PKK’s four-decade terror campaign that has killed tens of thousands and sown discord at home and across the border in Syria and Iraq.

Bahçeli’s proposal has reignited discussion over how Türkiye could legally structure a post-PKK transition if the group fully dissolves and lays down arms.

Bahçeli framed the issue not as a concession to the PKK, but as part of a state-led effort to permanently remove terrorism from Turkish politics.

“The essence of the matter is the complete liquidation of terrorism, the silencing of weapons, the removal of terrorism from our national agenda and the purification of politics from terror tutelage,” Bahçeli said.

Political momentum

The proposal followed the PKK’s declaration of its dissolution in March 2025 and a symbolic weapons-burning ceremony in northern Iraq later that year. Ankara significantly reduced military operations during the process, while a parliamentary commission with participation from nearly all political parties released a long-awaited report earlier in 2026 outlining possible legal and administrative steps related to disarmament, reintegration and political normalization.

The proposal also came amid increasing political coordination between the ruling alliance and the pro-PKK Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) around what is now increasingly described as a “peace process.”

What law allows, what it does not

Legally, however, such a mechanism would face major constraints under Turkish law.

Öcalan is serving an aggravated life sentence for crimes against the constitutional order and state unity. Under Law No. 5275 on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures, prisoners convicted of certain terrorism-related offenses are excluded from ordinary conditional release mechanisms.

That means Öcalan cannot simply be released through standard parole provisions under current legislation.

Instead, legal experts say Ankara would likely need to pursue narrower institutional and execution-law reforms if it wanted to create any formalized role connected to the process.

One possible avenue would involve amendments to execution laws regulating aggravated life imprisonment. Such reforms could establish review procedures, expanded communication rights or alternative detention conditions without formally overturning the sentence itself.

Debates around the “right to hope,” a concept rooted in European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence arguing that life prisoners should retain some prospect of legal review, have periodically surfaced in Türkiye in recent years, particularly regarding Öcalan, after Bahçeli first floated the idea when he kicked off the terror-free initiative.

Another possible route would involve administrative adjustments rather than outright legislative change.

Turkish authorities already possess broad discretion over prison visitation, communication permissions and supervised meetings. During the 2013-2015 state-led process, delegations from pro-PKK political parties and intelligence officials were permitted to hold talks with Öcalan at Imralı prison under state authorization.

A similar framework could potentially be expanded under tighter institutional supervision.

Bahçeli’s remarks also raised the possibility of a parliamentary mechanism.

DEM Party officials have proposed establishing a “Peace Monitoring and Oversight Board” within Parliament to supervise disarmament verification and legal normalization steps. Such a structure could theoretically coordinate reintegration efforts, monitor reforms and oversee a transition from armed militancy toward legal political participation.

In that model, Öcalan would remain imprisoned while functioning as an indirect interlocutor within a broader state-controlled process.

Political balancing act

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) is also expected to remain central.

Much of Türkiye’s previous engagement with the PKK occurred through intelligence channels rather than formal political negotiations. Under existing law, MIT already holds broad authority over counterterrorism coordination and national security operations, making it a likely institutional anchor for any future framework.

Still, major constitutional and political sensitivities remain.

The Turkish Constitution defines the republic as an indivisible state and prohibits activities threatening national unity. Any arrangement perceived as granting autonomous political legitimacy to a convicted PKK leader would face strong opposition across large parts of Turkish society.

Rather than emphasizing reconciliation alone, the proposal has been framed around public order, national unity, democratization and the removal of armed influence over politics. Officials close to the process increasingly portray the initiative as an effort to consolidate state authority by ending armed insurgency permanently.

The political balancing act may prove equally challenging.

While public polling suggests cautious support for ending terrorism, proposals involving any form of expanded role or status for Öcalan remain highly sensitive among nationalist and conservative voters. That leaves the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in a pivotal position as both the governing force and the alliance partner expected to carry much of the political burden of persuasion.

For now, no formal legal draft has been introduced. But Bahçeli’s remarks indicate that discussions inside Ankara may be shifting from whether a post-PKK framework is possible to how such a framework could legally and institutionally function within the Turkish state system.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) continues to lose popularity among mining businesses.

The sector, employing some 150,000 people, complains that the CHP seeks to undermine local production in mining, an essential element of every high-tech product, from cellphones, computers and defense to the aerospace industry. The Mining Platform, comprised of 18 nongovernmental organizations, and the Miners Association of Türkiye took offense at recent statements by Gökhan Günaydın, deputy parliamentary group chair of the CHP.

Günaydın has lashed out at the mining sector and the government in recent remarks in which he criticized mining royalties for the state, alleged gold smuggling and claimed widespread use of cyanide in mining, “whereas Europe abandoned cyanide use.”

Statements by the Platform and Association on Saturday said that the mining sector has been a primary sector taking critical responsibility to reduce Türkiye’s dependence on other countries.

“We are sending more than $60 billion in total resources abroad because we are not adequately utilizing the mines within our own territory. Supporting domestic production means keeping this enormous resource in our country and enabling our industrialists to access raw materials more easily,” the statement by the Platform said. Responding to claims that royalties paid to the state are low, the statement added: “A false perception is being created that mining enterprises pay very low shares to the state. Last year alone, our sector paid more than TL 32 billion ($700 million) to the public treasury under the heading of state royalties. In general terms, when calculated, approximately TL 30 out of every TL 100 earned by a mining enterprise goes directly to the state through various taxes and shares.”

The Turkish Miners Association also pointed out that the serious allegation that “smuggled gold is transported by helicopters,” which is not based on concrete data, is incompatible with current production and inspection processes. “Mining activities are carried out under the supervision of more than 30 public institutions. It is a legal requirement that every gram of gold produced is first refined to a purity of 99.5 out of 100 in accredited refineries in our country and then offered for sale on Borsa Istanbul. For gold bullion offered on Borsa Istanbul, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye has the right of first purchase in exchange for Turkish lira. In addition, the claim that European Union countries have abandoned the use of cyanide is also untrue. Eighty-five percent of the gold produced worldwide is produced using the cyanide method. Modern gold facilities operate in countries such as Finland, Sweden and Norway,” the statement said.

The statement also argued that: “Mr. Günaydın’s remarks clearly contradict even the vision of domestic production initiated under the instructions of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our republic, as well as the founding philosophy of the CHP (also founded by Atatürk). This approach, which targets mining, does not align with the republic’s vision of production and its goal of economic independence.”

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye will keep working to strengthen regional cooperation, enhance defense capacity, and deepen diplomatic ties with NATO allies and the EU, while also urging greater stability across the Middle East.

Speaking to reporters aboard his return flight from Kazakhstan on Friday, Erdoğan said: “First, Israel’s provocations must be neutralized, and then genuine peace must be built,” referring to U.S.-Israeli attacks against Iran.

He underlined that Israel’s “endless provocations” are among the main drivers of the ongoing regional crisis, warning that Tel Aviv seeks to expand the war across the Middle East for its own ambitions.

The president said Türkiye would continue exerting maximum efforts to prevent the current turmoil from evolving into a more complicated crisis, while emphasizing that regional problems should be solved by regional countries themselves.

“If lasting stability is desired in the region, everyone must put aside short-term calculations. Countries should defend the rights of their own citizens, not the interests of actors outside the region,” Erdoğan added.

He also said lasting peace in the Middle East would require an end to escalating actions and short-term political calculations.

Turkic leaders focus on cooperation

Erdoğan said that Türkiye and Kazakhstan elevated bilateral ties through a new Declaration on Eternal Friendship and Expanded Strategic Partnership signed during his visit to Astana and Turkistan.

Erdoğan said he held comprehensive talks with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on bilateral relations as well as regional and global developments during the sixth meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council.

“We confirmed our satisfaction with the course of our relations and our determination to deepen cooperation in every field,” Erdoğan said, noting that 12 agreements were signed in various sectors alongside the joint declaration.

Highlighting growing economic ties, Erdoğan said nearly 5,500 Turkish companies have invested around $6 billion in Kazakhstan across sectors ranging from construction and finance to tourism and information technology, while Turkish contractors have undertaken projects worth nearly $30 billion.

He said the two countries aim to increase bilateral trade volume from $10 billion to $15 billion and stressed the importance of energy cooperation, including the transportation of Kazakh oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

Erdoğan also attended the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States in the Kazakh city of Turkistan, where leaders signed the Turkistan Declaration.

“Together with the leaders of Turkic states, we signed the Turkistan Declaration, which aims to make our existing cooperation more effective through digitalization and artificial intelligence opportunities,” he said.

“Through the declaration, we also agreed on the need to strengthen institutional integration processes among Turkic states in line with the requirements of the digital age,” he added.

Erdoğan also emphasized the importance Ankara places on the participation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

“We attach great importance to the TRNC’s participation in the organization’s activities. The Turkic world is embracing the Turkish Cypriot people by fulfilling its responsibilities,” Erdoğan said.

He also stressed that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is “an inseparable part of the Turkic world.”

The president also said Türkiye would seek to strengthen the OTS during its upcoming chairmanship following the bloc’s next summit.

“During our chairmanship, which we will assume with the 13th Summit we host next fall, we will take our organization to higher levels,” he said.

NATO summit to yield key decisions

The Turkish president also addressed the upcoming NATO summit, saying Ankara expected key decisions on the alliance’s future and the global security architecture.

“Recent developments both in our region and around the world have further increased the importance of the Ankara summit,” Erdoğan said.

“We expect important decisions to be taken in Ankara regarding the future of the alliance and the future shape of the global security architecture,” he said.

The president stressed that today’s world is no longer the same as when NATO was founded, stressing that threats have become more complex, risks more diverse and the global system increasingly fragile.

“The world has changed significantly,” Erdoğan said, underlining that fair burden-sharing, sincere cooperation and a common understanding of security are essential for NATO’s future.

“As Türkiye, we are ready to do our part for a more determined NATO that is better prepared against threats,” he added.

EU faces ‘historic decision’ on Türkiye

Erdoğan said Türkiye remains firmly committed to its European Union membership vision despite discriminatory attitudes and inconsistent policies from the bloc over the years.

“We did not put forward our full membership vision to the European Union to compete with or obstruct anyone,” Erdoğan said. “We sincerely want to strengthen both our country and the Union as part of the EU.”

He said Türkiye has consistently defended its EU membership goal and taken “consistent steps” toward that objective despite facing “ambivalent” and, at times, “openly discriminatory” practices from the bloc.

“Türkiye is not a country that becomes a burden to the structures it joins, but one that shoulders responsibility,” Erdoğan said, adding that every platform Türkiye participates in becomes “a rising value.”

The Turkish president also criticized “unfortunate and shallow statements” directed at Türkiye from within the EU, warning that such attitudes harm the bloc at a time when the world is undergoing major transformations.

Erdoğan further described Türkiye as “a major opportunity” for the EU and said the bloc faced a “historic decision” on whether to make full use of that opportunity.

He added that Europe has reached “a crossroads” and must assess the situation more carefully.

Defense ties with US

On defense cooperation with Washington, Erdoğan said talks over the F-35 fighter jet program were ongoing.

“Our demands regarding the F-35 are clear. Our officials are continuing talks with their American counterparts. We hope for a positive outcome,” he said.

He also highlighted Türkiye’s domestically developed fifth-generation fighter jet project, KAAN, describing it as the beginning of a broader transformation in the country’s defense industry.

“When the process is completed, a new chapter will begin in this field. KAAN is our first step. We can and will build even better and stronger ones,” Erdoğan said.

The Turkish president added that not only KAAN but many of Türkiye’s defense industry products have attracted global attention, pointing to the SAHA 2026 defense fair held in Istanbul.

He said more than 150,000 visitors attended the event, where over 200 new products were introduced and business volume reached $8 billion, figures that “demonstrate the level we have reached and encourage us to work even harder toward our goals.”

Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has dismantled an international espionage network accused of collecting sensitive information on Turkish civil society, ethnic groups and public officials for foreign intelligence services, security sources said Saturday.

In a statement, sources said nine individuals linked to two foreign intelligence services were identified during long-term intelligence operations.

Seven suspects, including the alleged network leader identified as B.E., were detained in coordinated raids across four provinces in an operation conducted with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and counterterrorism police units.

Two additional suspects were already in custody on unrelated charges.

Judicial authorities ordered the arrest of the seven suspects on espionage charges following their interrogation.

Security sources said the group systematically gathered and transmitted sensitive data abroad, targeting individuals and organizations inside Türkiye. Officials said the network operated for an extended period while attempting to conceal its activities from detection.

According to investigators, the operation followed sustained surveillance efforts, including physical tracking, cyber monitoring and technical intelligence work.

Authorities said they mapped communication channels, payment flows and reporting structures used between the suspects and foreign handlers.

Sources said the suspects believed their activities remained undetected, but intelligence analysis ultimately exposed the network’s structure and operational methods.

The investigation not only identified individuals involved but also revealed how the alleged foreign intelligence operation functioned within Türkiye, including its targeting priorities and coordination mechanisms.

The sources described the operation as part of ongoing efforts to protect national security and counter covert foreign intelligence activities.

Authorities said the evidence gathered is also being used to analyze the methods of foreign intelligence services operating in the country.

The investigation is ongoing.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Experts speaking at a panel in Washington on Thursday said Türkiye’s growing strategic role within NATO has become increasingly significant, adding that the alliance’s upcoming summit in Ankara could help redefine NATO for a new geopolitical era.

The event, titled “The Turkish-American Alliance at the Heart of NATO’s New Geopolitics,” was organized by Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications and the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and moderated by Kadir Üstün, executive director of SETA in Washington.

The panel came ahead of the 2026 NATO summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Ankara, marking the second time that Türkiye will host a NATO summit following Istanbul in 2004.

Communications Director Burhanettin Duran delivered a video message at the beginning of the panel.

“In our 74-year journey with NATO, we have faced many challenges and difficulties. Each time, in keeping with the principle of mutual loyalty, we have managed to overcome these tests,” Duran said.

“With its geostrategic position, military capacity and deterrence capabilities, our country has been an indispensable central state in NATO’s collective defense architecture and a geopolitical balancing factor from the Cold War to the present day,” he added.

Duran also said that Türkiye’s hosting of the NATO heads of state and government summit on July 7-8 is highly significant in terms of reflecting the spirit of the alliance and Türkiye’s weight within it.

‘First steps’ for new era

During the panel, Cağrı Erhan, chief advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, framed the summit within a longer arc of alliance transformation.

“As during the conditions in the early 1950s, the United States and Türkiye will play the leading role for this new era of transformation,” he said.

“The upcoming summit in Ankara will witness the first steps for the brilliant future ahead.”

James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Türkiye and a Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute, said Türkiye has played a decisive role across every major security challenge in recent years.

“Türkiye, along with the United States, has played the decisive role in all of the huge security issues over the past few years, from Ukraine through the Caucasus, the Black Sea, the Balkans and in the Middle East,” he said.

“Türkiye has done at least as much as the United States to secure the NATO realm, which extends, obviously, because it’s Türkiye’s borders, into the Middle East.

“This summit offers us a great opportunity, but it is only the capstone of ongoing conversations between Türkiye and the United States in a larger NATO context,” he added.

Defense industrial shift

Rich Outzen, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, pointed to growth in the U.S.-Turkish defense industrial relationship.

“The new paradigm is Türkiye makes good enough stuff that there’s actually U.S. companies that want to buy it,” he said, citing collaboration in maritime and shipbuilding, drones and artificial intelligence.

He argued that the two countries share a capability that few NATO allies can match.

“The combination of combat experience, industrial capacity and an engineering capacity to put those things into the field is pretty hard to achieve,” he said, calling the U.S. and Türkiye “the engines of real hard power deterrence and real hard power capability for the alliance.”

“There’s some issues with NATO cohesion, there’s some issues in the bilateral relationship, but the trend is good,” he added.

Roger Kangas, an advisory board member at the Caspian Policy Center, said the Ankara summit could help NATO shed what he called “unintentional baggage” about its global role and refocus on core capabilities.

He suggested that Türkiye may need to serve as a bridge between diverging allies.

“Türkiye may have to be the responsible adult in the room and bring some of these warring parties together … and have them come to an agreement on how the organization can move forward,” he said.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.