Politics
Türkiye champions cooperation in Cyprus ahead of NY talks
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will represent the country at the July 16-17 talks on the divided island of Cyprus in New York, U.S.
“The expanded 5+1 informal talks” will bring together the main actors on the future of the island in the presence of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Foreign Ministry sources stated on Tuesday that Türkiye aims to take steps to enhance a culture of cooperation between the two sides in Cyprus and hopes these will be discussed during the talks, “to serve the development of good neighborly relations between the two states in the island.”
Cyprus is split between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. Greek Cypriots control the southern part of the island and are recognized by the international community as a state, despite protests from Turkish Cypriots and Türkiye. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), located in the northern part of the island, is recognized by Türkiye, which is a guarantor state in the resolution of the longstanding “Cyprus question.” TRNC President Ersin Tatar and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides will join Fidan, Guterres, as well as the foreign minister of Greece, George Gerapettis and the U.K. Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty. Greece and the U.K. are other guarantor states in the process.
All sides participating in the New York talks last came together in Switzerland’s Geneva in March. The talks, at least for now, are informal and ministry sources said they should not be viewed as “continuation of earlier negotiation processes (between Turkish and Greek Cypriot sides), nor “beginning of a new negotiation process.”
The talks in Geneva focused on exploring areas of cooperation between the two sides on the island, rather than reaching a final resolution on the status of the communities. Eventually, the sides agreed upon the opening of new crossing points in the divided island where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are separated by a U.N. buffer zone, clearance of land mines, cooperation on environment and climate change, solar-powered electricity production in the buffer zone, restoration of cemeteries and the establishment of a joint technical committee for the youth. Although progress was reported in some topics discussed in Geneva, cooperation stalled in others, such as the clearance of mines and electricity production, due to the uncompromising stance of the Greek Cypriot side.
The talks are overseen by Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, who was appointed by Guterres as the U.N. secretary-general’s envoy for Cyprus and took office on May 12. Cuellar had launched a diplomatic blitz since then, meeting Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, as well as Fidan, Gerapetritis and Doughty, before talks with EU Council chief Antonio Costa on July 2. The EU sides with Greek Cypriots on the future of the island as the community is recognized as a state by the bloc and a member of the EU.
Speaking to reporters as he left for New York on Tuesday, TRNC President Ersin Tatar lamented that Greek Cypriots had only escalated tensions since the last talks. Tatar stated that the commencement of direct flights and trade with the TRNC was necessary for the resumption of negotiations on the island’s status, but the Greek Cypriot side opposed the creation of a “positive atmosphere.”
“The international community should see this and stand for Turkish Cypriots,” he said.
Tatar said they would not compromise their sovereignty, and he was flying to New York to safeguard the rights of Turkish Cypriots. He also criticized the Greek Cypriot administration for “terrorizing people with a campaign of arrests against people and companies who purchased properties in the TRNC.”
The president also accused the U.N. of “merely watching the developments in the region.”
“In my talks in New York, I will highlight the importance of peace and security for a possible agreement in the future,” he said.
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which is embattled with corruption investigations into its mayors, suspended the memberships of two of its mayors after expelling a deputy mayor caught taking bribes. One of the suspended mayors who was arrested earlier this month, insisted that the CHP was his “family” and it was just “a reflex by the administration to the developments.”
Türkiye’s oldest party saw a spate of its mayors detained or arrested since late last year as investigations into corruption in CHP-run municipalities expanded across the country from Istanbul. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has branded the process as “revelations on tentacles of an octopus (of corruption).” Earlier investigations had focused on Istanbul and a businessman who was awarded lucrative contracts in exchange for bribes, and later turned to Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who is accused of enriching himself and a close circle in the municipality with tender rigging and bribes.
The party’s leader, Özgür Özel, told broadcaster Habertürk on Tuesday that they were “ashamed” of nominating the deputy mayor of Antalya’s Manavgat district earlier for the office. “That person who received bribes hidden in a box of baklava was a member of the municipal assembly for the CHP earlier. We are ashamed of nominating him to his current post. We expelled him from the party and we suspended membership of former and incumbent mayors of Manavgat as they oversaw (the deputy mayor’s) nomination process,” he said. Özel had earlier claimed that the deputy mayor was a victim of a conspiracy and he reiterated this claim on Tuesday, contradicting his earlier statement on the shame of having a deputy mayor caught receiving bribes.
Meanwhile, Manavgat Mayor Niyazi Nefi Kara, arrested in a separate corruption probe, said in a statement released through his lawyer that the CHP was “his family,” and his party acted “under extraordinary circumstances” when it decided to suspend his membership. “We will continue following in the path of the clean policies of the CHP,” Kara said.
On the anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt of 2016, the resistance of Istanbul is remembered when Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) members tried to occupy important points in the megacity but were stopped by the struggle of patriots.
During the night of the coup attempt, Istanbul had become one of the most bloody locations, with 100 people being martyred and many injured in the process.
The name of the Bosporus Bridge, where 34 people had lost their lives, was changed to the July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge following that night. The coup attempt in Istanbul, in which five police officers, three soldiers and 92 civilians lost their lives, and the images of citizens stopping FETÖ members at critical points in the city were not forgotten.
FETÖ on that day recruited over 8,000 military personnel, who had infiltrated into the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). They took over thirty-five planes, including fighter jets, three vessels, 37 helicopters, 246 armored vehicles – 74 of which were tanks, and around 4,000 light weapons, according to Anadolu Agency (AA).
During the coup preparation process, 17 putschist officers held coup meetings at the Gen. Nurettin Baransel Barracks in Maltepe on July 12-15, and the operations and shipments in Istanbul were carried out based on the decisions taken at these meetings. Then-Col. Muzaffer Düzenli, who came to Istanbul from Ankara to lead the meetings, gave the soldiers the order to shoot anyone who resists.
The FETÖ soldiers, who began their attempt from the Kuleli Military School command, closed the July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge to traffic from the Anatolian side. This act drew the attention of the media and broadcasts started.
Planes under the command of the coup plotters flew low over the city, using sonic booms to scare people and prevent them from leaving.
The prime minister of that time, Binali Yıldırım, described the events as an “insurrection” and said that a group of soldiers from the army attempted a coup at around 11:10 p.m.
About an hour later, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared on TV and called on the people to move to the streets and resist the coup attempt.
Following the call, citizens from all age groups and every district of the city rushed to areas including Erdoğan’s residence in Kısıklı, Atatürk Airport, the Metropolitan Municipality, the Provincial Police Department and Taksim Square, carrying flags.
Yet, FETÖ soldiers opened fire on thousands of people who had gathered on the Bosporus Bridge, killing 34. Another two people were killed at the Anatolian Side entrance of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, while a citizen was crushed by a tank near the Ümraniye Çakmak Bridge.
Police resisted the call to surrender of 58 soldiers, 17 of whom were rank-and-file soldiers, who set out from the 66th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Command at the Sultangazi Baştabya Barracks to seize the Rapid Response Force Branch Headquarters in Bayrampaşa.
The coup plotters were repelled by the people who came to support them, resulting in the death of one citizen and the wounding of 16 others.
Some 67 FETÖ soldiers who came to the Vatan police directorate were also unsuccessful.
The terrorist members further killed 14 people in front of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) in Saraçhane district. Meanwhile, 90 FETÖ soldiers invaded the Istanbul governorate. Twenty-four coup plotters who set out from the Metris Barracks with two tanks to support the soldiers at the governor’s office were stopped by the police and the public near the Golden Horn.
Another one of the coup plotters’ targets was the IBB’s Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM), which houses nearly 3,000 cameras. To seize the facility, soldiers from the 6th Motorized Infantry Regiment at Hasdal Barracks attempted to access the server rooms, disrupting the system and disabling the cameras and monitors. Six people were injured when fire was opened on the citizens surrounding the building.
Putschist soldiers arriving at the Acıbadem Türk Telekom Regional Directorate blocked traffic and tried to clear out the crowd. The putschists, who targeted the resisters, killed seven people.
Two other important scenes were Erdoğan’s house in Üsküdar, where thousands of citizens rushed to, and the TRT Ulus building. FETÖ invaded the TRT Ulus building, telling the security personnel that “there is a terror threat and the building must be emptied. They similarly targeted TRT’s office in the Harbiye district, where three people were killed and 50 others wounded.
At around 6 a.m., Istanbul Governor Vasip Şahin announced on a television channel that the treacherous coup attempt by FETÖ in Istanbul and Ankara had been thwarted, saying, “The state is in control of the situation.”
The putschist soldiers who had set up barricades on the July 15 Martyrs’ Bridge surrendered at 6:42 a.m.
The events in Istanbul during the coup attempt, which claimed the lives of 100 people, including those who died on the night of July 15 and those who died later, constituted a key point in the treacherous uprising.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told Anadolu Agency (AA) on the July 15, 2016 coup attempt anniversary that his ministry expelled more than 45,000 personnel for suspected links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) since the attempt perpetrated by FETÖ’s military infiltrators.
“The state is always vigilant. We will not allow any terrorist network to threaten public order,” Yerlikaya said on Tuesday.
Turkish police and military officers opposing the putsch were at the forefront of resistance against the coup attempt. Yet, law enforcement was also targeted by heavy infiltration by FETÖ, as evidenced in the 2013 coup attempts against the government carried out under the guise of graft probes by pro-FETÖ police chiefs.
Yerlikaya said 45,229 people were dismissed from the Interior Ministry since July 2016 for links to FETÖ, including 33,534 from the Turkish National Police, 8,456 from the Gendarmerie Command, and 640 from the Coast Guard Command. Yerlikaya noted that 569 governors and deputy governors, as well as 1,358 officials from provincial administrations and 672 staff members of the Interior Ministry’s provincial agencies, were also expelled.
“These numbers lay bare the structural threat posed by FETÖ,” he said. Yerlikaya said that since 2016, 390,322 suspects have been taken into custody in operations against the terrorist group. Some 113,844 among them have been formally arrested, while 118,822 others were released under judicial control.
“Even after their ringleader died, we did not loosen our grip (on FETÖ),” Yerlikaya asserted, referring to Fetullah Gülen, who died in the United States in October 2024.
Yerlikaya stressed that authorities track the group’s “crypto cells, digital communication networks and illicit financial routes” in real time through integrated cyber, intelligence and financial crime units. “No terrorist network will be allowed to threaten public order. Every network lurking in the dark will be dragged into the light,” he pledged.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s first stopover in remembrance events for victims of the July 15, 2016, coup attempt was Parliament in Ankara. Before heading to a police headquarters where police officers were slain by military infiltrators of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), Erdoğan addressed a commemoration ceremony at the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Erdoğan heaped praise on the nation for resisting the attempt, adding that they should maintain the unity that was on display nine years ago to build on the efforts for a terror-free Türkiye. He was referring to an ongoing process where the PKK terrorist group began its disarmament last week.
The president, who had battled lawsuits and ultimatums from the powerful elite opposing his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) throughout his political career, overcame the odds to run the country when FETÖ first attempted to overthrow him in late 2013. The 2016 attempt was the most dangerous among them as he barely escaped an assassination attempt by FETÖ’s putschists. The charismatic leader managed to rally the nation to stand against FETÖ’s would-be junta, and an unprecedented public resistance quelled the attempt, at the cost of 253 lives.
Parliament was among the targets of the putschists who launched airstrikes on the complex during the coup attempt, though they failed to deter the lawmakers who flocked to the building and read a joint statement opposing the coup.
In his speech, Erdoğan likened resistance against the coup attempt to what happened in Çanakkale more than a century ago, referring to the Turkish army’s epic struggle against invading forces in the northwestern Turkish province, to counter the Allied forces trying to pass the Çanakkale Strait, trying to reach the Ottoman capital, Istanbul. Home to the renowned Gallipoli campaign, Çanakkale set an example for future public resistance against enemies, and years later, the War of Independence under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk expelled invading forces.
“On the night of July 15, the nation created an epic that will be proudly remembered forever. It was the latest example of the strength and invulnerability of a nation as long as it stood as one and united,” Erdoğan said.
He noted that that night, Türkiye defeated “mankurts who sold their soul,” referring to members of FETÖ. “The plot by the ringleader of FETÖ, who is buried in a pit after his death as a stateless person, was foiled by the brave stance of our nation,” Erdoğan added.
FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen died in Pennsylvania, U.S., in 2024 after spending years there.
“We drained the swamp they tried to push our country into. Our nation staved off an attempt to occupy the country. It was a critical turning point in our history,” he said.
Erdoğan said July 15 was also a litmus test that laid bare those opposing the coup and those “who supported it.”
“Our martyrs and veterans stood against terrorists wearing military uniforms, while others claimed it was staged. Some sipped their coffee watching the coup attempt, waiting to see what would happen next,” Erdoğan said, in thinly veiled references to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
CHP’s current chair, Özgür Özel, was among those rushing to Parliament to express opposition to the coup attempt, but the party, for a long time, adhered to the discourse that the coup attempt was a plot by the state, not FETÖ. Özel’s predecessor, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, was photographed enjoying a cup of coffee as he was watching the coup attempt on TV. After he conveniently left Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport, he arrived as the putschists were invading the place on the night of July 15, 2016.
The president thanked lawmakers for standing for democracy that night. “I thank all lawmakers regardless of their political affiliations. Ultimately, the sacrifices of our martyrs and veterans have not been in vain. Terror-free Türkiye, we are building step by step, will be their legacy,” he said.
The initiative was launched by government ally Devlet Bahçeli last year, and under the leadership of Erdoğan, it led to success when the PKK terrorist group heeded the call of its jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan last February and announced in May that it would dissolve itself.
Last Friday, the terrorist group made good on its promise, and 30 members of the PKK burned down their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq. More terrorists are expected to lay down arms in the coming months, while Parliament will tackle the steps in the initiative in the coming weeks.
A parliamentary committee is expected to be set up to form a legal framework on the initiative that, so far, has proceeded with unilateral steps by the PKK. Erdoğan said he had confidence in the “eternal brotherhood” of Turks and Kurds and Turkish democracy’s “problem-solving capacity.”
“I heartily believe that you will put aside your differences as you did on July 15, 2016, and you will support our country’s struggle to get rid of terrorism,” he said. Opposition parties have been largely supportive of the terror-free initiative, although some have expressed reservations and declined to participate in the parliamentary work.
Türkiye on Monday expressed hope that the recent surge in violence in southern Syria will be brought to an end swiftly through local dialogue efforts led by the Syrian government.
“We hope that the Syrian Government will bring the incidents of violence to an end as soon as possible through dialogue at the local level, and will establish security in the south of Syria,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Öncü Keçeli said in a statement.
Ankara stressed that Syria’s sovereignty and territorial unity must be prioritized during the process.
“Türkiye will continue to support efforts to strengthen stability and reconciliation in Syria, in coordination with responsible members of the international community,” the statement added.
Syria deployed security forces to the southern province of Suwayda on Monday after clashes between Bedouin and Druze armed groups left at least 50 people dead, a monitoring group said.
The outbreak of violence underscores the challenges facing the administration of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose anti-regime forces overthrew long-time dictator Bashar Assad in December, in a country reeling from 14 years of war.
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç criticized world powers, including the U.S. and the European Union, for ignoring and failing to stand in solidarity with Türkiye in its fight against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which was behind the deadly July 15 coup attempt.
Speaking on a live broadcast on a Haber, Tunç said Türkiye was left alone in its fight against the terrorist group.
His comments come as Türkiye prepares to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the coup attempt and martyrs and veterans who resisted the putschists.
Speaking about suspects who fled abroad, Tunç said: “We issued red notice requests both after the Dec. 17-25 judicial coup attempts and before July 15. Unfortunately, the world has left us alone in this regard.”
He noted that the heroic resistance of the Turkish people on the night of the coup attempt was a fight for democracy and human rights, yet countries in Europe and the United States failed to offer the support Türkiye needed.
“We saw no meaningful solidarity that night. Later, we were also disappointed by the lack of cooperation in our fight against FETÖ. Its members settled in various countries across Europe and the United States, and many still remain there,” he said.
According to Tunç, Türkiye has submitted 2,364 extradition requests to 118 countries but has received only 131 returns — just three through official channels, and 128 through unofficial deportations. He also noted that out of 3,579 red notice requests, many have gone unanswered, with Interpol allegedly treating them as if they involved political crimes.
“This reflects the double standards of the international community. While Türkiye was waging a democratic struggle on the night of July 15, Europe — including countries we call allies — failed to stand by us,” he added.
Tunç also stressed the importance of remaining vigilant, not just against FETÖ but all terrorist threats targeting the country.
“We must always stay alert. The tutelage mindset and coup ambitions must never again be allowed to seize power in this country. We’ve made significant progress in that regard,” he said.
The coup attempt unfolded almost simultaneously across Türkiye on the evening of July 15, 2016, and was suppressed by noon the next day. Erdoğan, who narrowly avoided an assassination attempt by putschists while he was on vacation in southwestern Türkiye, traveled to Istanbul secretly. During and after his trip to the city, he issued several messages through video phone calls to TVs, mobilizing the nation to “reclaim democracy.” After his calls, more people took to the streets, braving heavily armed putschists. Unarmed people blocked the roads against tanks and legions of pro-FETÖ troops. Gunfire by putschists killed 253 people, while 2,740 others were injured.
For decades, FETÖ had secretly infiltrated state institutions, including the army. It sought to overthrow the government and conspired against top officials, from sham investigations to a plot targeting then intelligence chief Hakan Fidan. It also conducted two notorious coup attempts in December 2013 that targeted people close to the government, including an incident where pro-FETÖ officials stopped trucks belonging to the intelligence agency in a bid to portray the government in a negative light.
Their efforts repeatedly failed, and the government moved to weed out military officers linked to the group from the army in 2016. Upon learning the plans, FETÖ turned to mobilizing its infiltrators in the army to seize power.
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