President Erdoğan received the participants who came to Istanbul for the 9th Meeting of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) Women’s Branch at the Dolmabahçe Working Office. Erdoğan noted the following in his speech: As the President of Turkey and the Chairman of the AK Party, I am a brother of yours who has walked with women in his political life of nearly half a century, been their companion in the cause, and has always been proud of this. Today, I would like to say with great pleasure that in our country, women produce more work, more effort and more added value in every field.

The Middle East geography, of which Türkiye is a part, has been going through truly painful, troubled and dark days in recent years. Especially women and innocent children bear the brunt of this. Let’s put our hands on our conscience and ask ourselves these questions with courage. Isn’t imposing the death penalty only for Palestinian prisoners called ‘apartheid’ (legal discrimination)? Isn’t this called using the law as a tool for racist fascism? Is there an essential difference between Hitler’s monstrous policies towards the Jews and the triumphant decision of the Israeli Parliament? Of course, these actions are discrimination and racism.

Celebration programs were held for the heroic members of the police force all over Türkiye on the occasion of the 181st anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Police Organization and Police Week. Turkish police won hearts again by showing their superior capabilities on land, in the air and at sea in these programs. The graves of martyred police officers were also flooded with visitors. President Erdoğan gave important messages in his speech the day before when he received Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi and his accompanying delegation on the occasion of Police Week:

In this period when the crisis, tension and conflict environment in our region intensifies, our police officers have a great share in Türkiye’s emergence as a safe haven. You devoted yourself to your country and nation, sacrificing time for your family when necessary, so that our nation could rest its head comfortably and live in peace and well-being. I congratulate each of you for this. I remember with mercy and gratitude all our police officers, soldiers, gendarmes, security guards and the heroes whose names we engrave in our hearts, who sacrificed their lives for the independence and future of this beloved nation in love with its independence.

We witnessed once again the devoted work of the police force in the terrorist attack on the police station in Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. Our police force fights without hesitation against all crimes and criminals, from terrorist organizations to poison dealers, from traffic hooligans to cyber gangs. You fought against street vandals when necessary, against terrorist elements targeting our unity and brotherhood when necessary, and against rootless and for-sale traitors, as in the July 15 coup attempt.

It should never be forgotten that our police are the apple of the state’s eye and a source of pride. This beloved nation will never forget your effort, effort and dedication, just as it forever engraved our heroic police officers, martyrs and veterans who defended the honor of our nation on the night of July 15th. As a state, we will continue to support our police force.

POLICE, A HERO WHO FIT COMPASSION AND COURAGE IN THE SAME HEART
First Lady Erdoğan: I congratulate the Police Week of our heroic police officers, who are the guarantee of our security and who embody compassion and courage in the same heart, and I wholeheartedly congratulate the 181st anniversary of the establishment of our Turkish Police Organization. I wish God’s mercy to all our police forces who were martyred in the line of duty, and I remember our veterans with gratitude.

Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Numan Kurtulmuş, received the Head of the Protection Department of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Murat Çelik, and the accompanying police members on the occasion of the 181st anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Police Organization. Cabinet members and many politicians also published congratulatory messages for the police officers.ANKARA

Özgür ÖZDEMİR-Mustafa KAYA-Hakan GÖKKAYA-Uğur YİĞİT-Mehtap AYDOĞAN-Muhammed UZUN/ SABAH

While municipalities governed by CHP were shaken by news of debt, corruption, extortion, bribery and sexual harassment, Esenler Municipality attracted attention with its service and income generation. Esenler Mayor M. Tevfik Göksu shared the 2025 Activity Report at yesterday’s council meeting. The most important part of the report was that the municipality introduced a model that produces services without paying any interest. Göksu said that the municipality’s revenue-expense coverage ratio reached 106.72 percent, and that with this ratio, Esenler Municipality has a strong financial structure that produces more revenue than its expenses. Göksu stated that 70 percent of the revenues are provided from own revenues and 30 percent from other sources. He also announced that the municipality’s real estate assets reached 192 billion TL.

99.3 PERCENT OF TENDERS
OPEN Stating that 99.3 percent of the tenders were made by open tender method and only 0.7 percent were made through direct procurement, Göksu emphasized that this table was a result of the accountable and transparent management approach.

The AK Party organization took action upon allegations of irregularities that shook the public administration in the municipality under the management of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce. Provincial Chairman Gürhan Albayrak, who made a statement to the press in front of the courthouse, said that they proved the gap between the decisions taken at the OLD General Assembly and the tariffs applied in the field with technical examinations. Albayrak stated that the CHP administration, which promised transparent management, dealt a heavy blow to the citizens by irregularly increasing the figures approved by the parliament through the system. Albayrak’s statements revealed how the CHP municipality’s promise of “transparent management” turned into a “document falsification”.

THEY PLAYED WITH THE NUMBERS
Technical investigations carried out by the AK Party group revealed that the municipality went beyond the official tariffs approved at the OLD General Assembly. According to the determination made, the service fees that came into force as of 2026 were 48.5% above the figures approved by the parliament. Some of the exorbitant differences reflected on the citizens are as follows:

Survey Fee: While it was 305 TL in the proposal, it was invoiced to the public as 450 TL.

Meter Removal-Replacement: Although it should have been 6,640 TL, it was increased to 9,865 TL.

Water Opening Fee: 332 TL was collected instead of 225 TL.

‘THE ASSEMBLY WILL WAS BYPASSED’
Albayrak also claimed that there were remarkable irregularities in the commission decision files. He stated that normally all pages should have a full signature, but on critical pages where price increases are included, the number of initials is reduced and the signature order is disrupted. He stated that the municipality’s late response to requests for official documents also increased suspicions. Reacting to CHP’s Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ayşe Ünlüce’s statement that “it was an inadvertent mistake, it will be examined and returned”, Albayrak said, “How can it be inadvertent to increase the figures approved by the parliament by 48.5 percent in the system? This situation is clearly bypassing the will of the parliament.” Albayrak emphasized that this situation was a conscious operation rather than a mistake. Stating that the signature order in the commission decisions was disrupted and initials were missing on critical pages, Albayrak stated that the fact that the official document requests were answered 2 days later strengthened the suspicion that “the documents were rearranged in an inappropriate way” in this process.

CRIME COMPLAINT FOR FORGERY IN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
The AK Party Provincial Directorate is taking the bypassing of the will of the parliament and the unjust reaching into the people’s pockets to the judiciary. Albayrak stated that they will hold Eskişehir people to account for even a single penny, and announced that they have officially initiated the judicial process by filing a criminal complaint with the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in this context. Albayrak, who requested that all log records and retrospective transactions on the Electronic Document Management System (EBYS) be examined by an independent board for the sake of transparency of the process, emphasized that they will follow up the issue until a clear calendar is announced for the refund of the unfair fees collected from citizens in violation of the parliament’s decision.

After the meeting held with the theme “Women’s Leadership in the Age of Global Transformation” at the hotel in Bahçelievler, President Erdoğan met with the participants at the Presidential Dolmabahçe Working Office.

AK Party Konya Deputy Meryem Göka, who was elected as the President of ICAPP Women’s Branch, some female AK Party MPs and women’s branch members, and Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Fatma Şahin were also present at the reception, which included female political leaders from Asian countries.

In his speech at the program, President Erdoğan greeted the participants and conveyed the most sincere conversations and solidarity messages of the Turkish nation to women all over Asia.

Expressing his pleasure to host the participants in Türkiye on the occasion of the 9th ICAPP Women’s Branch Meeting, Erdoğan said, “Welcome to our beautiful Istanbul, the meeting point of continents and cultures, you have brought joy. I congratulate the AK Party Women’s Branch, Mr. President and his team for facilitating this beautiful meeting and successfully hosting the ICAPP 9th Women’s Branch Meeting, and thank them.” he said.

Wishing success to ICAPP in its meaningful work to strengthen women’s participation in politics and decision-making mechanisms across Asia, Erdoğan said, “As the President of Turkey and the Chairman of the AK Party, I am a brother of yours who has walked with women in my nearly half-century political life, been a companion and a friend of the cause, and has always been proud of it. One of the pillars on which our AK Party, whose 25th anniversary we celebrate this year, is built is our women’s branches.” he said.

“WOMEN HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF OUR PARTY, WHICH HAVE BEEN RECOGNIZED IN THE WORLD POLITICAL LITERATURE”

Emphasizing that the AK Party has received the strongest support from women every time since its establishment, Erdoğan said, “I would like to say this once again with all my sincerity. Women have had a special place in our party’s successes that have entered the world political literature. Women embraced and supported this movement the most. Women’s Branch of the AK Party has proudly written its name in history as the most dynamic, best-equipped and largest women’s movement in Türkiye.” he said.

President Erdoğan pointed out that they have taken historic steps for all women in the country with the strong support of women’s non-governmental organizations under the leadership of the AK Party Women’s Branch, and stated that they have made a great change in the country in many areas, from increasing the rate of women’s representation in politics to the workforce, to reforms in the field of rights and freedoms that combat violence against women.

Emphasizing that they meticulously focus on the issue of preventing violence against women, Erdogan said, “Our attitude on this issue has been ‘zero tolerance to violence’. In 2012, we put into effect the Law No. 6284 on the Protection of the Family and the Prevention of Violence Against Women. Later, we strengthened the implementation of the law with the various steps we took. We increased the prescribed penalties. We showed our sensitivity very clearly. Today, I would like to say with great pleasure that in our country, women are doing more work in every field. Labor produces more added value.” he said.

“WOMEN AND INNOCENT CHILDREN USUALLY BEAR THE BURDEN OF WARS”

President Erdoğan stated that the Middle East region, of which Türkiye is a part, has experienced painful, troubled and dark days in recent years and said:

“Unfortunately, before one of the wars and hot conflicts ends, the other begins. Women and innocent children generally bear the brunt of it. The overwhelming majority of the more than 72 thousand civilians brutally murdered by Israel in Gaza are women and children. Likewise, women and children are the ones who paid the highest price in the civil war that continued for 13.5 years in our neighbor Syria. Women and children were among the first victims of the attacks against another neighbor, Iran. In the first days of the war, women and children were attacked on a school in Minab.” More than 165 innocent children were killed in the attack. Israel’s bombardment and occupation policy against Lebanon, despite the ceasefire, still victimized women and children the most. Since March 2, 1.2 million Lebanese people had to leave their homes due to Israel’s attacks on civilian settlements. While more than 1,500 of our Lebanese brothers died in the same attacks, 4,700 people were injured on the day the ceasefire was declared. “They barbarically murdered 254 Lebanese people. The genocide network, blinded by blood and hatred, continues to kill innocent children, women and civilians, disregarding all human values and recognizing no rules or principles.”

Referring to Israel’s death penalty law targeting Palestinian prisoners, Erdoğan said, “Isn’t imposing the death penalty only for Palestinian prisoners called apartheid? Isn’t this called using the law as a tool for racist fascism? Is there an essential difference between Hitler’s monstrous policies towards the Jews and the decision taken by the Israeli Parliament with a great victory? Isn’t all this a new manifestation of the policies of denial, destruction, oppression and political execution against the Palestinian people? Of course, this is “What is being done is discrimination, racism, and it means implementing in Israel something worse than the apartheid regime that collapsed in South Africa in 1994.” he said.

Erdoğan stated that he wanted to express one thing in particular and said, “No matter how disappointing the picture before us is, we are never pessimistic. We have not given up the struggle, we will not drop the flag of struggle neither today nor tomorrow. We will continue to shout out the truth, tell the truth openly, even if it is painful, and be the defender of justice on every platform. I wholeheartedly believe that we can produce solutions in unity and solidarity against oppression, discrimination and lawlessness. I believe that if women, especially, raise their voices on these issues, the walls will come down. “The oppressors will lose, and the voice of the right and the just will be louder.” he said.

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, in his post on his virtual media account, said, “An important trial process has begun with the acceptance of the indictment prepared by our Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding Israel’s barbaric attack on the Sumud flotilla, which carries humanitarian aid to Gaza. The fact that this historical investigation, which we started during my term of office, has reached the trial stage is a concrete indicator of the determined will of Turkish justice on the basis of international law.” he said.

Emphasizing the strong leadership of President Erdoğan, Minister Gürlek said, “The State of the Republic of Turkey clearly and clearly demonstrates its stance against oppression, not only in the field of diplomacy but also on the basis of law. No one can hide the severity of the crime they committed behind their office. The planned and systematic attacks of Netanyahu and his massacre network against civilians, serious acts such as crimes against humanity, genocide, torture and plunder will definitely be punished before the law. As the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Turkey, we are responsible for our citizens and “We will continue to follow every action that hurts the common conscience of humanity and we will continue our determined struggle within the law to establish justice.”