Politics
Türkiye arrests 36 in probe into Yazıcıoğlu helicopter crash
A Turkish court ordered the arrest of 36 suspects in an expanding investigation into the 2009 helicopter crash that killed prominent politician Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and five others, with prosecutors investigating alleged involvement in a premeditated killing linked to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the operation was carried out in coordination with the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Ankara Police Department’s Organized Crime Branch as part of the investigation into the crash.
Prosecutors issued detention warrants for 47 suspects accused of participating in premeditated murder as part of alleged FETÖ activities and committing various offenses aimed at preventing authorities from uncovering the truth surrounding the crash.
Authorities carried out searches and seizures at 45 locations across 16 provinces in an Ankara-based operation.
Prosecutors said 10 of the suspects were already in prison, while 33 others were detained on Sept. 25. Five additional suspects were subsequently taken into custody, bringing the number detained in the latest operation to 38.
All 38 suspects were brought before the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors requested the arrest of 36 suspects and judicial control measures for the remaining two.
Yazıcıoğlu, the founder and then-chairperson of the Great Unity Party (BBP), was killed when a helicopter carrying him and five others crashed in the Göksun district of Kahramanmaraş on March 25, 2009.
The other victims were BBP officials Erhan Üstündağ, Yüksel Yancı and Murat Çetinkaya, journalist Ismail Güneş and pilot Mustafa Kaya Istektepe.
The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash has continued for more than 17 years.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the latest investigation was continuing on multiple fronts and was being conducted meticulously.
Security forces arrested five suspected members of the Daesh terrorist group and detained six others in separate operations in three provinces and Istanbul, authorities and local media reported Tuesday.
In the southeastern province of Gaziantep, gendarmerie units launched an investigation into suspected activities linked to the Daesh terrorist group.
The investigation identified five foreign nationals suspected of involvement with the group, prompting simultaneous raids in Gaziantep, the northwestern province of Kocaeli and the central province of Nevşehir.
Authorities said the suspects had entered Türkiye illegally. Digital materials seized during searches of their addresses were taken for examination.
The five suspects were referred to a court following procedures at the gendarmerie and were subsequently arrested and sent to prison pending trial.
Separately, counterterrorism police in Istanbul detained six suspects as part of an investigation into the alleged financing of Daesh.
Investigators found that the suspects had conducted money transfers with numerous individuals previously investigated over alleged links to Daesh and other terrorist groups, according to reports citing the investigation.
The suspects’ financial transactions were examined by Türkiye’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) as authorities investigated their alleged connections with people linked to Daesh and conflict zones.
Police detained the six suspects in simultaneous early-morning raids on their homes and workplaces.
Authorities seized $13,000 in cash as well as digital materials and documents allegedly linked to the terrorist group during the searches.
Türkiye has carried out a series of operations targeting suspected Daesh members and the group’s alleged financing networks in recent years.
The main opposition New Party (YP) launched a new intra-party election process on Sunday, with all members eligible to vote in the election of district chairs. The first stage of the multi-week process replaced the “delegate” system, but it was not without a hitch. In one district, the vote was called off after supporters of candidates engaged in a brawl. Similar scenes unfolded in several other districts.
In the traditional system of Turkish politics, parties first pick delegates at the neighborhood level, and these delegates are the only eligible voters to pick their own candidates for district chairs. District delegates then vote for provincial chairs in turn. Speaking in the Karesi district of the western province of Balıkesir on Sunday, where he watched the voting, Party Chair Özgür Özel touted the election as “next-generation politics and direct democracy.” Özel founded YP in July after he was ousted from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) over allegations of vote-buying in a 2023 election in which he was elected to the CHP’s top office.
The YP is scheduled to hold district congresses and then provincial congresses to elect new chairs in those constituencies in October.
Yet, Özel’s “direct democracy” failed the test in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district. Supporters of two candidates for district chair engaged in an all-out brawl, alleging irregularities. When tensions further escalated, party officials decided to call off the voting due to security concerns.
In the Odunpazarı district of the central province of Eskişehir, supporters of one candidate objected to the vote count after the rival candidate won by a three-vote margin. Party members called for a recount, which was approved by the party’s supervisory board, but a brawl erupted between rival camps at the polling station, forcing authorities to call off the recount and refer the case to the party’s headquarters.
In Bursa’s Nilüfer district, party members protesting against both candidates scrawled the name of the party’s Bursa chair on ballots in an act of defiance.
In the Mezitli district of the southern province of Mersin, a man was arrested after firing into the air during a brawl between party supporters during the election.
Turkish security forces detained five foreign nationals suspected of links to the Daesh terrorist group in an operation in southeastern Türkiye’s Adıyaman province, authorities said Monday.
The operation was carried out by counterterrorism units of the Adıyaman Provincial Gendarmerie Command as part of an investigation coordinated by the Adıyaman Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
During the investigation, gendarmerie teams identified the addresses of five Iraqi suspects, identified by their initials as R.K.Q.B., W.K.Q.B., R.H.K.B., N.T.H.M. and N.T.G.
Counterterrorism units, backed by special operations teams, conducted simultaneous raids at the identified addresses and detained all five suspects.
The suspects underwent medical examinations before being transferred to the Provincial Gendarmerie Command for further questioning and legal procedures.
During searches of the addresses, security forces seized five mobile phones and five SIM cards.
Türkiye has conducted sustained counterterrorism operations against Daesh for years, targeting the group’s members, facilitators and financial networks both domestically and across its borders. Turkish security forces regularly carry out nationwide raids to prevent attacks and dismantle the organization’s presence in the country.
Meanwhile, in Syria, security forces dismantled a cell linked to the Daesh terrorist group and detained four alleged leaders in a series of operations, state media reported.
Syria’s Internal Security Forces and General Intelligence Directorate carried out the operations targeting Daesh, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
Authorities said the operation dismantled a Daesh-linked cell whose activities stretched from Raqqa to the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Homs.
The four detained suspects were accused of involvement in kidnappings, planting improvised explosive devices and carrying out assassinations, SANA reported.
Preliminary findings indicated that members of the cell were directly involved in at least five kidnappings and were preparing further attacks aimed at undermining security and stability in the country, according to the report.
Security forces also seized a large quantity of explosives that authorities said had been prepared for use in terrorist attacks during the operations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto discussed bilateral ties and regional and global developments in a phone call, Türkiye’s Communications Directorate said Monday.
Erdoğan expressed satisfaction with cooperation between Türkiye and Indonesia on international platforms and said maintaining that solidarity would benefit both countries, according to a statement from the directorate.
The Turkish president emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation between Ankara and Jakarta across several areas, particularly trade and the defense industry.
Erdoğan noted Türkiye would continue taking steps to advance bilateral cooperation in those fields, the statement said.
Türkiye and Indonesia have sought to deepen their defense ties in recent years alongside broader efforts to expand political and economic relations.
During the call, Erdoğan also invited Subianto to attend the COP31 Leaders Summit, which is set to be held in the southern Turkish resort city of Antalya.
In April 2025, in a joint news conference with his Indonesian counterpart Subianto, President Erdoğan noted that they discussed steps to raise bilateral trade to $10 billion in a balanced and mutual manner, as both leaders vowed to further boost cooperation.
Türkiye’s growing military and diplomatic clout in the Eastern Mediterranean and its landmark maritime deal with Libya are unsettling Israel, with Israeli security officials reportedly warning that Ankara’s expanding regional footprint is increasingly limiting Tel Aviv’s room for maneuver.
The Jerusalem Post reported Monday that Israel’s security establishment, including military intelligence, is closely monitoring Türkiye’s growing influence in Libya and the wider Mediterranean, viewing Ankara’s moves as increasingly constraining Israel’s regional ambitions.
The report focused on the 2019 Türkiye-Libya maritime boundaries agreement, which established a maritime corridor between the two countries and strengthened Ankara’s position in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Israeli newspaper claimed the agreement effectively bypassed a chain of Greek islands, including Crete and Rhodes, while Türkiye’s growing military presence in the region has further shifted the strategic balance in the Mediterranean.
It also highlighted Türkiye’s military support for Libya, saying Ankara has since expanded its presence at Libyan ports, strengthened its aerial footprint and secured opportunities to explore energy resources in the country.
According to the report, Türkiye’s expanding military infrastructure and operational reach have given Ankara greater influence over strategic maritime routes extending well beyond its shores.
The newspaper also linked Israel’s concerns to planned regional energy projects, arguing that Türkiye’s maritime position could complicate a proposed natural gas pipeline connecting Israel with the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece before reaching Europe.
Ankara has maintained that projects crossing areas covered by its maritime jurisdiction require Türkiye’s consent and has repeatedly stressed that it will protect its rights and interests in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The report said the issue is particularly significant for Israel because some 98% of its imports arrive by sea, making maritime access a major economic and security concern.
Against Türkiye’s expanding regional influence, Israeli security officials cited by the newspaper described the emerging situation in stark terms: “Türkiye is cornering Israel.”
Four hundred eighty-eight years after the Battle of Preveza, Türkiye is becoming a force to reckon with in terms of naval might, thanks to its growing local defense industry. On Sunday, the country celebrated the anniversary of the Ottoman victory against the Holy League of European forces off the coast of Greece.
On the occasion, which is also celebrated as Turkish Naval Forces Day, the navy’s 15 vessels paraded across the Bosporus amid cheers. Turkish naval commanders and local authorities joined citizens in saluting the ships before a visit to the tomb of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, the legendary Ottoman admiral who led the victory at Preveza and was buried in Beşiktaş overlooking the Bosporus.
In a message on the occasion, the National Defense Ministry said the Turkish navy demonstrated its power 488 years ago to the world and today continues accomplishing tasks “without fear and heroically, to protect our maritime rights and interests.”
“We remember with gratitude Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, our revered ancestors, our commander-in-chief Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, all martyrs and veterans,” the ministry said in a statement.
Alparslan Bayraktar, the minister of energy and natural resources, also issued a message on the occasion, noting that Türkiye continued “accomplishing new sagas in the Blue Homeland,” referring to Türkiye’s maritime borders concept. Bayraktar said that the victory in 1538 inspired Türkiye’s energy independence struggle in the Blue Homeland. Türkiye has developed a new energy fleet in recent years, including new seismic research vessels named after Barbaros and other respected admirals of the Ottoman navy. Bayraktar said that, with six drill ships and two seismic research ships, Türkiye now had the world’s fourth-largest energy fleet.
The Battle of Preveza was the culmination of a struggle across the Mediterranean in the 16th century between the rapidly expanding Ottoman Empire and the Holy League, formed by Pope Paul III as an alliance of the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Knights of Malta and Spain. It was requested by the Republic of Venice, which had lost several islands to the Ottoman navy in the Mediterranean, and convinced others to confront what they perceived as a threat to their commercial and military interests in the Mediterranean.
The Ottoman navy was led by Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha, while Genoese admiral Andrea Doria led the Holy League’s combat forces.
Doria laid siege to Preveza Castle first before retreating to Corfu, which was controlled by Venice, when the Ottoman navy arrived. Ottoman forces prompted the Holy League navy to fight in the open sea in the Gulf of Arta, in the Ionian Sea. Although outnumbered, the Ottoman forces successfully engaged with the Holy League navy, which consisted of 262 ships. Weather conditions also played a role in limiting the maneuvers of Doria’s forces, which were mostly composed of sailing ships, allowing Barbaros’ more mobile galleys to launch attacks easily. Doria eventually gave in, fleeing in the dark after many ships he commanded were sunk by the Ottomans.
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