Politics
Fidan hails Russia, Ukraine for placing trust in Türkiye’s mediation
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan thanked Russian and Ukrainian negotiators for their “unwavering trust” in Türkiye, after both exchanged proposals for a potential cease-fire during the second round of talks hosted by Türkiye, marking a cautious step forward in efforts to end the war.
In a statement after the talks, Fidan said both sides shared written memoranda outlining their visions for a cease-fire and would begin technical-level work on the documents in the coming days.
He added that the two delegations also agreed to expand humanitarian exchanges and that preparations for a possible leaders’ summit were ongoing.
”I would like to reiterate my gratitude to both countries for their unwavering trust in Türkiye at this historic process,” Fidan said on X.
Fidan welcomed the constructive tone of the meeting and reiterated Türkiye’s commitment to facilitating a result-oriented peace process.
Kyiv had demanded an unconditional cease-fire as a first step; Moscow had a cease-fire on conditions that included Western states refraining from supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Ukrainian delegates handed over to Russian negotiators a list of children Kyiv wants Moscow to return to Ukraine, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said after the meeting.
The talks were intended to discuss ways out of Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine, but the two sides were apparently far apart going into the negotiations.
The last round of Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul on May 16 yielded the biggest prisoner swap of the war, with each side freeing 1,000 prisoners, but no sign of peace or a cease-fire, as they merely stated their opening negotiating positions, which were far apart.
NATO member Türkiye, which has striven to maintain relations with both Kyiv and Moscow, has become a key mediator amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s push for a deal to end the over three-year war.
Last week, Foreign Minister Fidan held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
A total of 209 suspects from several terrorist groups were detained on Tuesday in a string of operations by police and gendarmerie forces in the capital Ankara.
Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Ankara announced that counterterrorism police launched raids to capture 148 suspects linked to Daesh and far-left terrorist groups including DSIH, TKP/ML, TKIP, People’s Revolutionary Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C), MLKP, THKP/C and DKP/BÖG while counterterrorism units of the gendarmerie forces carried out operations to capture 93 suspects from TKP/ML, Daesh, DHKP/C and MLKP. The Office said 209 suspects out of 241 wanted suspects were apprehended in operations.
Separately, Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul announced 24 DHKP/C suspects were captured in operations in the city and seven other provinces. 13 other suspects remain at large.
Daesh and DHKP/C are among major terror threats for Türkiye. Daesh was behind a string of attacks across Türkiye that killed dozens in the past while DHKP/C, although involved in less deadly attacks, is still a security concern especially in big cities.
The terrorist group pursues a far-left ideology and has been actively carrying out attacks and assassinations in the country since the 1980s, but its campaign of violence hit a snag when faced with Türkiye’s barrage of counterterrorism operations.
The DHKP-C’s most high-profile attacks include a suicide bombing that targeted the U.S. Embassy in the capital Ankara in 2013 and the killing of a prosecutor in an Istanbul courthouse in 2015.
Türkiye was one of the first countries to declare Daesh a terrorist group in 2013 and carried out a steady stream of operations to thwart the group, rounding up hundreds of suspects over the past few years. Operations prevented plots by Daesh to attack places of worship in Türkiye. Terrorists from Daesh and other groups, such as the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye. Turkish authorities have ordered the freezing of millions of lira worth of assets since 2013 to crack down on terrorism financiers in line with United Nations sanctions.
Spiralling debts and mismanagement engulf municipalities run by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) since the 2024 elections.
CHP’s populist discourse granted the party first genuine wins in decades in the municipal elections but municipalities failed to follow up this with public services. Under the administration of now ousted chair Özgür Özel, CHP sought to break the curse of two decades of defeat to ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) by pledging a more prosperous Türkiye to the electorate disillusioned with rising cost of living. But economic pledges are nowhere to be seen in the municipal services. Instead, financial woes are piling up.
Most CHP-run municipalities fail to pay the municipal employees properly, leading to strikes. Municipal workers complain that irregular payments and in some cases, absence of payments, force them to withdraw loans.
Çiğli, a district of CHP stronghold Izmir, is among the worst faring municipalities in terms of financial and human resources management. The municipality fired 147 workers after the 2024 elections without paying compensation and for at least five months, did not pay salaries of most workers. Protests by workers have been common in the past two years while suicide of a worker, a father of three who was fired without compensation made the headlines.
Other districts of Izmir are no different. In Karşıyaka, workers complaining lack of payment went on strike for days. In Buca, workers tried to storm the city hall to protest unpaid wages. A strike by garbage collectors employed by the municipality had triggered a pollution crisis in the district last year. Konak municipality was also rocked with strikes by workers over unpaid wages.
CHP has managed to win the 2024 vote in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district, an AK Party stronghold and took over the municipality debt-free. However, in two years, a debt crisis took hold in the municipality, forcing it to skip even pensions of retired workers. Newly retired personnel complain they were not paid severance pay for months. Unable to pay salaries, the municipality decided to sell four properties it owned. Similarly, the Eyüpsultan municipality of Istanbul where AK Party lost to CHP in 2024, suffer from financial woes and last year, the municipality told workers that it can only pay a fraction of their wages due to economic problems.
The court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of 35 suspects, including Adalar Mayor Ali Ercan Akpolat of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), as part of an investigation into allegations that permits were issued in exchange for bribes in protected areas of Istanbul’s Adalar district.
The investigation, led by the Istanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, focuses on claims that municipal officials granted licenses for unauthorized constructions in areas designated as natural and archaeological protected sites.
According to judicial authorities, 39 suspects were referred to court following questioning by prosecutors. The court ordered the detention of 35 individuals, including Akpolat, while four others were released under judicial supervision measures.
Prosecutors allege that municipal officials, including senior administrators and employees, were involved in a scheme in which permits were issued in return for bribes. Evidence collected during the investigation reportedly indicated that negotiations over payments took place between municipal officials and business owners and that cash was delivered either directly to officials or to individuals linked to them.
Authorities said investigators identified 47 suspects allegedly connected to 40 separate incidents uncovered during the probe.
The investigation culminated in coordinated raids carried out on June 19 across Istanbul and three other provinces. Police searched 90 addresses and detained 42 suspects, including the mayor.
During one of the searches, authorities seized $258,000 in cash and 13 gold bracelets from the residence of a contractor identified by the initials M.Ö., a former member of the Adalar Municipal Council.
Following police questioning and medical examinations, the suspects were transferred to the Istanbul Anadolu Courthouse. Three individuals were released after giving statements to prosecutors, while the remaining suspects were referred to court.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Turkish Intelligence Chief Ibrahim Kalın met with Lt. Gen. Saddam Haftar, deputy commander of the Libyan National Army, in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, security sources said on Tuesday.
According to information obtained from sources, the talks focused on efforts to preserve stability in Libya and advance the country’s political and military unification process.
The two sides discussed ways to maintain the current atmosphere of peace and strengthen efforts aimed at bringing Libya’s rival eastern and western administrations, as well as their military forces, under a single authority.
Forces from the east and west-based administrations were joined by military elements from Türkiye and the U.S. earlier this month for exercises in Sirte in the first such joint event since 2014.
Kalın and Haftar also reviewed bilateral relations between Türkiye and Libya, discussing opportunities to expand cooperation across various sectors and further strengthen the partnership between the two countries.
Türkiye has remained actively engaged in Libya through diplomatic, economic and security cooperation initiatives, while supporting efforts aimed at preserving the country’s territorial integrity, political unity and long-term stability.
The talks in Benghazi reflect Ankara’s continued engagement with key actors across Libya as international and regional stakeholders seek progress toward reconciliation and the establishment of unified state institutions.
Turkish Defense Ministry previously said that Türkiye always supported United Nations-led processes in Libya and maintained contacts with “all sides.”
It noted Türkiye trained more than 23,000 Libyan military personnel, both in Türkiye and Libya, and was continuing to support Libya in several fields, from demining to defusal of unexploded ordnance, counterterrorism, the fight against irregular migration and smuggling.
Provincial chairs of the Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Antalya and Kayseri were expelled from office on Tuesday. They are the latest casualties of the new administration at the party led by Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Kılıçdaroğlu, reinstated to the office by a court verdict last month, has pledged to cleanse the party of corruption and shady dealings. Along with those reportedly involved in scandals, Kılıçdaroğlu also moved to fire top figures supporting his predecessor, Özgür Özel.
The party announced a reshuffle after an administrative board meeting at the headquarters, around the same time Özgür Özel, now as parliamentary group chair of the party, addressed a parliamentary meeting and called Kılıçdaroğlu to hold an intra-party election.
Almost a dozen provincial chairs were removed from office or stepped down on their own after Kılıçdaroğlu took office. Among them was Çağatay Güç, chair for the branch in Izmir, a CHP stronghold. His predecessor, Utku Gümrükçü, had to confront supporters of Güç on Monday to take office as the protests against the new administration mounted.
Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, the Patriach of the Syriac Orthodox Church, was received by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday at the presidential complex in Ankara. The patriarch was accompanied by a delegation of clerics from the community. No statements were made about the meeting.
Erdoğan has also received Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew last Tuesday.
The Syriac community had their first church in Republic era built under Erdoğan’s governments. The church was opened in 2023 in Istanbul’s Yeşilköy neighborhood in a ceremony attended by Erdoğan. It is estimated that about 17,000 Syriac residents live in the city. Assyrian Christianity traces its history to communities that lived in the A.D. first century in a region stretching from southeastern Türkiye to Syria and Iraq.
Turkish authorities detain 209 in major anti-terror sweep
Bribery tapes of CHP’s Adalar Mayor Ali Ercan Akpolat were revealed: Let him come, I will talk like a monster – Gallery
Türkiye’s CHP-run municipalities suffer from poor management
Turkish authorities detain 209 in major anti-terror sweep
Bribery tapes of CHP’s Adalar Mayor Ali Ercan Akpolat were revealed: Let him come, I will talk like a monster – Gallery
Türkiye’s CHP-run municipalities suffer from poor management
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