Politics
Türkiye busts suspected FETÖ networks, targets Daesh financing
Turkish security forces detained 39 suspects in separate counterterrorism operations targeting the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the Daesh terrorist group in Ankara, Izmir and other provinces, prosecutors and security sources said Tuesday.
The operations targeted suspected members of FETÖ’s clandestine networks within law enforcement, individuals accused of spreading propaganda on social media and a financial network allegedly linked to Daesh activities in Syria.
In the western province of Izmir, police detained 16 suspects in coordinated raids conducted under the supervision of the Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Six suspects, including three dismissed police officers and an actively employed teacher, were detained over involvement in FETÖ’s covert network within the police. Another 10 suspects were apprehended in a separate operation targeting the group’s social media propaganda network.
In the capital Ankara, prosecutors ordered the detention of 10 suspects accused of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging application associated with FETÖ.
Nine suspects, including individuals from a group that reportedly comprises a serving specialist teacher and a psychologist, were detained during simultaneous raids on Tuesday. Authorities continued searching for the remaining suspect.
Daesh financing ring exposed
In a separate investigation, Ankara prosecutors identified 16 suspects allegedly involved in financing Daesh activities in Syria, leading to the detention of 14 people in coordinated raids across multiple provinces.
The investigation followed intelligence provided by the German Embassy in Ankara concerning fundraising networks operating in German-speaking countries.
According to prosecutors, donations were allegedly collected through Telegram channels to secure the release of Daesh members held in camps controlled by the PKK/YPG in northern Syria or provide them with financial assistance.
Financial intelligence from Türkiye’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), alongside telecommunications records, helped identify the suspects, including two Syrian nationals and one Uzbek national.
A 2019 agreement between Türkiye and Libya on maritime borders was approved by the Libyan Parliament on Tuesday. The Parliament revoked a 2020 boycott decision in the North African country, where opposing powers were courted by Ankara, which initially sided solely with one side.
Libya’s House of Representatives announced that it unanimously approved the agreement, reversing its previous rejection of the deal and a decision to sever political ties with Ankara, according to a statement from the Libyan Parliament.
The Parliament also repealed Resolution No. 1 of 2020, which rejected the ratification of two memorandums of understanding signed between Libya and Türkiye. Lawmakers additionally voted unanimously to overturn Resolution No. 6 of 2020, which called for severing political relations with Ankara, the statement said.
The agreement confirms Türkiye’s maritime jurisdiction across the vast Mediterranean and will likely anger Greece, which competes with Türkiye for economic benefits and more maritime rights. The agreement also cements Türkiye’s clout in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Greek Cypriots, Greece and Israel recently stepped up cooperation. The deal was registered by the U.N. in October 2020, but the disagreement between Tobruk-based and Tripoli-based powers prevented the implementation of the delimitation deal. Greece has lobbied Khalifa Haftar against the agreement, claiming that it would infringe its own rights in the Mediterranean maritime zone.
The deal includes provisions for Turkish hydrocarbon exploration within Libya’s territorial waters. In 2022, the two countries signed a hydrocarbon memorandum of understanding, paving the way for Turkish companies to conduct seismic surveys and drilling operations. The agreement took a new turn on June 25, 2025, when the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) for a 2D seismic survey in the Libyan waters. Under the memorandum, the TPAO will conduct surveys in four offshore blocks off the Libyan coast, over an area covering 10,000 kilometers (6,214 miles). The data collected during the surveys will be processed within nine months.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held separate phone calls Tuesday with Libya’s Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and eastern-based Libyan National Army Deputy Commander Saddam Haftar following the Libyan parliament’s approval of a landmark maritime boundary agreement with Türkiye.
According to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources, Fidan thanked Dbeibah and Haftar for the adoption by Libya’s House of Representatives of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Delimitation of Maritime Jurisdiction Areas between Türkiye and Libya.
Libya’s House of Representatives approved the maritime jurisdiction agreement with Türkiye on Tuesday, reversing its previous rejection of the deal.
Türkiye and Libya signed the delimitation agreement in November 2019, establishing the boundaries of their respective maritime jurisdiction areas in the Mediterranean Sea.
The agreement confirms Türkiye’s maritime jurisdiction across the vast Mediterranean and will likely anger Greece, which competes with Türkiye for economic benefits and more maritime rights. The agreement also cements Türkiye’s clout in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Greek Cypriots, Greece and Israel recently stepped up cooperation. The deal was registered by the U.N. in October 2020, but the disagreement between Tobruk-based and Tripoli-based powers prevented the implementation of the delimitation deal. Greece has lobbied Khalifa Haftar against the agreement, claiming that it would infringe its own rights in the Mediterranean maritime zone.
The deal includes provisions for Turkish hydrocarbon exploration within Libya’s territorial waters. In 2022, the two countries signed a hydrocarbon memorandum of understanding, paving the way for Turkish companies to conduct seismic surveys and drilling operations. The agreement took a new turn on June 25, 2025, when the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) signed a memorandum of understanding with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) for a 2D seismic survey in the Libyan waters. Under the memorandum, the TPAO will conduct surveys in four offshore blocks off the Libyan coast, over an area covering 10,000 kilometers (6,214 miles). The data collected during the surveys will be processed within nine months.
Meanwhile, Fidan on Tuesday also addressed participants and took questions at the European Policy Centre, a Brussels-based think tank, diplomatic sources said.
Fidan spoke at the center during his visit to Brussels for the fourth meeting of the Turkish and Belgian foreign, justice, and interior ministers, the sources added.
Belgium emphasized Türkiye’s strategic importance to European security Tuesday as senior ministers from both countries met in Brussels, reviving high-level bilateral dialogue after a decadelong hiatus.
Seven Belgian and Turkish ministers gathered at Egmont Palace to strengthen cooperation on security, justice, migration and economic relations.
The Turkish delegation included Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek and Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, while Belgium was represented by Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot and senior ministers responsible for justice, security and migration.
The Belgian Foreign Ministry described Türkiye as a crucial strategic partner, citing its NATO membership, role in Black Sea security and diplomatic engagement with both Russia and Ukraine.
“You cannot seriously discuss European security without engaging with Türkiye,” Prevot said, highlighting Ankara’s influence in regions vital to European stability.
He also pointed to Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, particularly Gaza and Syria, as well as the Horn of Africa.
Security cooperation
Counterterrorism and organized crime dominated discussions, with both sides working toward a bilateral police cooperation action plan aimed at strengthening coordination between law enforcement agencies.
The proposed agreement would facilitate faster intelligence-sharing, joint training and exchanges of expertise to tackle cross-border criminal networks.
Belgian Security and Home Affairs Minister Bernard Quintin stressed that closer cooperation was essential as organized crime increasingly operated across national borders.
The ministers also discussed strengthening judicial cooperation while maintaining respect for the rule of law and fundamental legal safeguards.
Migration, economic ties
Migration management emerged as another priority, with officials exploring closer coordination on migration policies and consular affairs.
Belgian Asylum and Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt described Türkiye as an important partner for Belgium and the European Union, emphasizing that effective migration management required cooperation beyond EU borders.
Beyond security and migration, Belgium expressed interest in expanding bilateral ties in defense, energy, industry, innovation and trade.
The talks marked the resumption of a high-level diplomatic mechanism that had remained inactive for 10 years, underscoring both countries’ efforts to deepen cooperation amid evolving European and regional security challenges.
Cemalettin Kani Torun, Türkiye’s former ambassador to Somalia who once served as a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), rejoined it on Tuesday. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan presented Torun with a party badge at a ceremony on the sidelines of a meeting of the party’s Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK).
Torun resigned from the New Path bloc in Parliament in August and has been independent since. The AK Party now has 281 seats in Parliament. The party won 268 seats at the 2023 legislative elections and since then, transferred lawmakers from the opposition, including three in August.
AK Party has also attracted mayors from the opposition parties in the past two years. Dozens of mayors joined the party in that period. The most recent high-profile transfer was Cemil Tugay, mayor of Türkiye’s third-largest city, Izmir, which has long been a stronghold of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Tufan Erhürman pledged Monday to pursue diplomacy and dialogue to strengthen mutual trust, advance efforts toward a settlement of the Cyprus dispute and end the international isolation of Turkish Cypriots.
Erhürman’s remarks followed a response from United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to a letter he sent Aug. 28, raising concerns over Greek Cypriot efforts to cancel festivals and activities organized by a Barcelona soccer school, as well as attempts to obstruct contacts with foreign diplomats.
According to Erhürman, Guterres said in his Oct. 16 response that he had carefully noted the concerns and described the reported actions as discouraging and inconsistent with efforts to build mutual trust between the two communities.
Erhürman welcomed the U.N. chief’s position, saying it reinforced the Turkish Cypriot side’s longstanding concerns over measures that undermine confidence-building efforts.
“It is important to us that the secretary-general shares the view we have repeatedly expressed,” Erhürman noted.
He emphasized that implementing confidence-building measures remained a key priority, with the aim of creating favorable conditions for renewed negotiations toward a lasting settlement on the divided island.
Erhürman also expressed hope that Guterres’ letter would guide international actors in assessing actions that contributed to the isolation of Turkish Cypriots and undermined trust between the two sides.
He said that such measures contradicted international efforts to promote dialogue and cooperation on the island.
“We will continue working tirelessly through diplomacy and dialogue to build trust, pursue a solution and ensure our people can engage with the world,” Erhürman emphasized.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Muhammed Emin Sarıoğlu, the candidate of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)-led People’s Alliance, was elected acting mayor of Istanbul’s Üsküdar district on Tuesday, securing 24 votes in the third round of voting at the municipal council.
The election followed the death of former acting mayor Dündar Ziya Gültekin, who died in a traffic accident on Oct. 15, prompting the Üsküdar Municipal Council to convene to select his successor.
Only council members representing the People’s Alliance attended Tuesday’s session. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which holds 10 seats, did not attend, while nine members of the New Party (YP) and one independent councilor were also absent.
Sarıoğlu secured the position in the third round with the support of 24 council members.
The latest election comes amid political tensions surrounding the municipality following the arrest of Mayor Sinem Dedetaş as part of an ongoing investigation into the Üsküdar Municipality.
Gültekin had previously been elected acting mayor in a repeat vote on Sept. 8, defeating rival candidate Çetinkaya by 23 votes to 19 in the fourth round.
His election marked a shift in control of the district administration from the CHP, which won Üsküdar in Türkiye’s 2024 local elections, to the AK Party.
Tuesday’s vote maintains the AK Party’s control of the municipality following Gültekin’s death.
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