Türkiye is going through a historical turning point in the field of biotechnology and cancer treatment. Boğaziçi University academician Prof. Dr. The Phase 1 clinical trial of RS-0139, Türkiye’s first original drug candidate developed under the leadership of Rana Sanyal and moved from the discovery phase to the clinical phase, has been successfully concluded.

A NEW ERA
The project, shaped with the contributions of the Targeted Treatment Technologies Center teams, revealed Türkiye’s potential in the field of pharmaceutical innovation. Winner of the EIC European Women Innovators Grand Prize, Prof. Dr. Rana Sanyal said, “Türkiye has opened a new page in cancer treatment. We have crossed the first critical threshold in domestic cancer medicine. For the first time, we managed to deliver it from a discovery to humans and completed the Phase 1 study in patients.

This RS-0139 molecule, Türkiye’s first specific cancer drug candidate, was developed against solid tumors (tumors other than blood cancers). This is one of the smartest nano drugs. Medicines in this class are not new only in Türkiye, they will be an innovation to people all over the world. What makes this drug different from others is that it directly targets the tumor cell, reducing side effects. It also increases the success rate of the treatment. “We can call it a kind of chemotherapy with reduced side effects,” he said.

TÜBİTAK SUPPORTED
Prof. Dr. Sanyal said, “Different stages of our Phase 1 clinical research, which we conducted on solid tumor patients under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, were supported by TÜBİTAK within the scope of the MOVE Program of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. By becoming one of the ‘Turcorn 100’ companies, we took part in programs for the most successful start-ups of our ecosystem. This success is a striking indicator of how decisive a strong ecosystem is in reaching scientific research to humans. In our biotechnology initiative, we are rapidly working on drug candidates we developed with this technology for various types of cancer. “Many people have contributed to this success,” he said.

The deputy mayor election was held after Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, CHP’s Mustafa Bozbey, was arrested and suspended from office on charges of ‘irregularities’, ‘bribery’ and ‘establishing and leading an organization for the purpose of committing a crime’. Before the election, a group of 200 people marched to the municipality building under the leadership of CHP Bursa Deputies Nurhayat Altaca Kayışoğlu, Orhan Sarıbal and Hasan Öztürk and CHP Bursa Provincial Chairman Nihat Yeşiltaş, and tried to block the Ankara road to traffic. While the police reopened the road, the CHP group tried to enter the town hall this time. The group broke the windows of the parking lot door at the back and wanted to go to the council hall. Riot police teams prevented the group from entering the building. After the fight, the group was removed from the building. While the candidate of the AK Party and MHP group was Architect Şahin Biba, CHP did not nominate a candidate. When CHP members of the Parliament did not participate in the election, the election was completed in 3 rounds due to the lack of a sufficient majority. Şahin Biba was elected Deputy Chairman in the elections held with the participation of 61 AK Party and MHP council members.

There were new arrests in the ATM girlfriend lover scandal that emerged in CHP municipalities. Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation when it was revealed that Aslıhan Aksoy, the girlfriend of CHP’s Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, who was raided at the hotel with her lover and arrested for bribery and corruption, was working as an ATM clerk in Bornova Municipality and receiving money without going to work. In the report prepared as a result of the investigation by SSI inspectors, it was determined that Aslıhan Aksoy did not actually work.

According to the report, Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki, Aslıhan Aksoy, PK and V.İ.A. were determined to be responsible for this incident. He was detained for the crimes of ‘Qualified Fraud’ and ‘Forgery of Official Documents’. The suspects, who were referred to the courthouse after their procedures at the police station, were brought to court with a request for arrest. While the court released PK and V.İ.A. along with Eşki, it also decided to release Aslıhan Aksoy with a judicial control order. Meanwhile, during the examination of SGK inspectors, Sezen Yılmaz, wife of CHP Kemalpaşa District Chairman Ahmet Yılmaz, was arrested. It was determined that he worked as an ATM clerk in Bornova Municipality for 4 months and was summarily dismissed on March 21 when the Uşak scandal broke out.

SPREAD TO BUCA
On the other hand, the ATM lover scandal in CHP municipalities also spread to Buca Municipality. Acting upon a tip-off, SGK Inspectors examined 30 people who were notified of insurance by Buca Municipality but claimed to have received a salary before coming to work.

Within the scope of the Izmir-based corruption investigation, a detention order was issued for 10 suspects, including cooperative and İZBETON officials and audit board members, in the investigation initiated on allegations related to the SS Business People Gaziemir Housing Building Cooperative, which was established through the Gaziemir district Urban Transformation and Development Area projects. Taking action in line with the instructions of the prosecutor’s office, Izmir Financial Branch Teams detained 9 suspects, including CHP Ankara Provincial Chairman Ümit Erkol. Erkol, who was detained in Ankara, was taken to Izmir. It was learned that one suspect was abroad. Ümit Erkol is accused of causing damage to the cooperative in which he served as a board member between January 16, 2022 and June 28, 2024. Within the scope of the investigation, it was determined that one of the so-called tender offers was received from the ARES company owned by Ümit Erkol’s son, Fırat Erkol, and that the process was carried out through affiliated companies instead of free competition. It was emphasized that unexplained differences in financial records occurred during the period when Erkol was a member of the board of directors. According to the expert report, there was a difference of 178 thousand 535 TL in 2022, 14 million 128 thousand 424 TL in 2023, and 14 million 178 thousand 459 TL in 2024.

CASH OUTPUT WITHOUT DOCUMENTS
In the expert report, it was determined that there was an undocumented cash outflow from the cash account on December 31, 2023. It was stated that Ümit Erkol took an active role in the management of the cooperative and had management responsibility for almost all of the tender, bid and financial irregularity periods. In the content of the complaint; It was claimed that cooperative members were instilled with confidence by promising cheap and solid housing, a perception of municipality assurance was created, but violations of the legislation were hidden.

AK Party Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) convened under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Making a statement after the meeting, AK Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik evaluated the agenda.

Stating that Iran was attacked unjustly and unlawfully by the USA and Israel, Çelik said, “We are following and examining this in all its dimensions. What is important is the emergence of the framework for peace with a permanent ceasefire. The important thing is to achieve permanent peace.”

The path shown by our President and the diplomacy table he proposes to establish are a real political compass for getting out of these crises.

Speaking about the Terror-Free Turkey process, Çelik said, “Removing the terrorist organization from the agenda is the main goal in terms of the Terror-Free Turkey and Terror-Free Zone goal. Laying down weapons is the complete dissolution of the terrorist organization structure. The Parliament has clarified the road map.”

Reacting to CHP leader Özgür Özel’s call for by-elections, Çelik said, “He brings up the issue of elections every once in a while. We came to power by defeating you many times. Elections must be held on time. Özel’s call for elections has no effect.”

NATO SUMMIT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT
All the discussions will make the NATO summit to be held in Türkiye more critical. For some, a table will emerge that will answer the question “Okay or continue?” It is necessary to show the right approaches for building a new future.

According to information obtained from the sources of the Ministry of National Defense, Exercise Blue Homeland-2026, directed and managed by the Turkish Naval Forces Command, was successfully carried out in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean between 3-9 April. In addition to the Naval Forces Command elements, Land and Air Forces and Coast Guard Command units participated in the exercise. 122 ships, 41 aircraft, 12 unmanned marine vehicles and more than 10 thousand personnel took part in the giant exercise. As part of the distinguished observer day activities held on the last day of the exercise, shooting tests of weapon systems developed with domestic and national resources were carried out.

Yesterday, Chief of General Staff General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu also followed the ongoing exercise off the Mediterranean coast. While Blue Homeland-2026 simultaneously tested the high level of readiness in three seas, the main focus of the exercise was the protection of rights and interests in the “Blue Homeland” and increasing the interoperability capability between forces. During the exercise, advanced operational scenarios for the integration of unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles were implemented. After the targets were hit with full accuracy as of April 9, the actual phase of the exercise was completed and the process of returning the units to their home bases began.

NEW WEAPONS IN INVENTORY
Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Zeki Aktürk gave information about the new weapons included in the Turkish Armed Forces inventory in his weekly briefing. For the first time, the TB 3 UAV, the system for detecting and neutralizing improvised explosive devices with electronic circuits, AKSUNGUR and AKINCI UAVs and the CATS Electrooptic Infrared Camera System inspection and acceptance activities were completed and included in the inventory.