Politics
Türkiye condemns Israel’s attempt to annex West Bank
Türkiye condemned Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, specifically its actions in the West Bank, warning that recent decisions could undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
Speaking during the Turkish Defense Ministry’s weekly press briefing on Thursday, spokesperson Zeki Aktürk criticized Israel for ongoing cease-fire violations despite moving into the second phase of a Gaza peace plan.
Israel has faced global condemnation after its Security Cabinet approved measures on Sunday aimed at changing the legal and civil framework in the occupied West Bank to strengthen Israeli control, with several leaders describing it as a step toward de facto annexation of the occupied Palestinian territory.
Aktürk said Ankara condemned Israel’s decisions aimed at imposing a new legal and administrative status on the occupied West Bank following widespread destruction and attacks in Gaza. He stressed that such measures constitute a clear violation of international law and risk damaging ongoing efforts toward a negotiated settlement. “We once again emphasize that we will continue to support the Palestinian people’s efforts to establish an independent and sovereign state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” Aktürk said.
The Arab League held an emergency meeting on Wednesday in Cairo to discuss recent Israeli measures aimed at expanding illegal settlement activity and tightening its control of the occupied West Bank.
A statement after the meeting said the Arab League Council urged U.S. President Donald Trump to fulfill his pledge, as part of his efforts to achieve peace, and to take “practical and clear” steps to prevent Israel from annexing the occupied West Bank.
The council said any annexation of Palestinian land constitutes a war crime, expressing its support for the Palestinians’ right to full sovereignty of their state on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital and including its holy sites.
According to Israeli media, the measures include repealing a law that barred the sale of land in the West Bank to illegal Israeli settlers, unsealing land ownership records, and shifting authority for building permits in a settlement bloc near Hebron from a Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.
Developments in Syria
To a question, the spokesperson said Türkiye is closely monitoring the implementation of the Jan. 30 agreement between the Syrian government and the terrorist group YPG. “We continue to closely follow on the ground the implementation of the agreement signed between the Syrian government and the YPG on Jan. 30,” Aktürk said.
Last Tuesday, Syrian security forces entered the city of Qamishli under a “comprehensive agreement,” which includes a cease-fire and a phased integration deal with the YPG that was reached in late January to end the state of division in the country and lay the groundwork for a new phase of full integration. The Syrian Army launched an operation against the YPG on Jan. 16 in areas west of the Euphrates River. The operation later expanded east of the river with the participation of tribal forces, leading to most of the territories previously occupied by the group coming under government control.
Russian drone crash
Following the briefing, the Defense Ministry also issued a statement on yet another drone incident off Türkiye’s Black Sea coast. On Wednesday, authorities discovered parts of a drone off the coast of the Ünye district of Ordu province. Local media initially reported that it was loitering munitions of Iranian origin, but the ministry said on Thursday that it was likely a Russian drone and did not contain “any explosives.”
Several drones and unmanned maritime vehicles have been shot down or discovered crashed in recent months on Türkiye’s Black Sea coast and cities far from the coast. Authorities say it is a spillover of the raging conflict between Russia and Ukraine, as most of them were found to be of Russian or Ukrainian origin.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday chaired the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ), which approved the promotion and retirement of senior military officers at its annual meeting. Erdoğan and members of the council (Cabinet ministers and commanders of the Turkish army’s branches) visited Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of the Republic of Türkiye’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, before the meeting, paying their respects to the man who led the War of Independence.
Twenty-five generals and admirals, along with 69 colonels, were promoted. Ziya Cemal Kadıoğlu, commander of the Turkish Air Force, retired. He was succeeded by Gen. Rafet Dalkıran, commander of the Combat Air Force Command. The commanders of the other top posts in the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) remained in their positions, with their terms extended. Alper Gezeravcı, an Air Force colonel who became Türkiye’s first astronaut in 2024, was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.
The tradition of high-level military councils in Türkiye dates back to the Ottoman era, with the first Supreme Military Council established in 1837 under Sultan Mahmud II. Initially tasked with drafting military regulations, resolving service-related issues and adapting Western military practices, the council underwent several reorganizations and periods of abolition during the late Ottoman era.
Following the founding of the Republic of Türkiye in 1923, the modern Supreme Military Council was formally established in 1925. In its early years, it operated during peacetime, advising on military affairs and promotions, with the president serving as its ex officio chair.
Over the decades, its structure and leadership evolved, reflecting shifts in Türkiye’s political system and civil-military relations.
During the multiparty era that followed 1946, the prime minister assumed the chairmanship, and the council’s membership was expanded to include senior commanders and selected ministers. The council’s mandate became more formalized in 1972 under Law No. 1612, focusing on promotions, retirements and strategic planning.
The council’s authority and composition changed significantly following major political developments, including the 1980 military coup and, more recently, the Gülenist Terror Group’s (FETÖ) failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The reforms introduced after 2016 expanded civilian oversight and aligned the council’s procedures with Türkiye’s transition to a presidential system in 2018, making the president its chair and broadening ministerial participation.
Today, the Supreme Military Council meets annually to decide on promotions, retirements and extensions of service for senior officers. While its core mission remains the management of senior military personnel, the council also serves as a symbolic and strategic forum reflecting the balance between civilian authority and military leadership in modern Türkiye.
The unprecedented surge of migrants from Morocco to the Spanish territory of Ceuta last week prompted Europe to consider suspending the Schengen Agreement with Spain. The issue, which some suspect involved Israeli influence, has been viewed by Europe as a test of border security and territorial control rather than a humanitarian tragedy. Europe’s approach stands in sharp contrast to Türkiye’s response to humanitarian crises, both in its own region and around the world.
Türkiye acts under the principle that “A fairer world is possible,” articulated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and reaches out to disadvantaged communities in need around the world without discrimination. Whether in Syria, Palestine, among the Rohingya Muslims, or in Somalia, Türkiye’s aid destinations have varied, but its commitment to humanitarian assistance has remained constant. Unlike many European countries, Türkiye has not turned away those seeking refuge at its borders and has also responded to humanitarian crises in distant regions.
For instance, since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Türkiye has hosted more than 2 million Syrian refugees fleeing atrocities committed by the now-defunct Assad regime. At the same time, it called for a fair sharing of responsibility and burden as Syrian migrants reached European borders in pursuit of a better life. Even as Europe was slow to help Türkiye address the needs of refugees, Türkiye continued to welcome them and still provides refuge to Syrian nationals, two years after the Baathist regime collapsed in its southern neighbor.
Elsewhere, Türkiye has hosted Palestinians injured in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, providing them with medical treatment.
Supporting a lasting and just peace to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Türkiye has assumed the role of mediator and facilitator while also taking in hundreds of Ukrainian children who lost their families in the war under the “Childhood Without War Project,” supported by first lady Emine Erdoğan.
Ilkay Çiçek, the mayor of Menderes district in the western city of Izmir from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), was among 13 suspects detained on Tuesday on charges of bribery, corruption, abuse of office and forgery of official documents.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Türkiye’s third-largest city announced that the detentions were part of an investigation into allegations that municipal officials accepted bribes in exchange for building and zoning permits.
Security forces launched operations in Izmir’s Menderes, Karabağlar and Konak districts to apprehend 16 wanted suspects. Three other suspects, including Menderes’ deputy mayor, a municipal assembly member and a former municipal bureaucrat, remain at large.
Çiçek was elected mayor of the small Aegean coastal district in the 2024 municipal elections, replacing another CHP mayor in a district that has been a stronghold of the opposition party for years.
Dozens of CHP mayors have been the subject of criminal investigations, and many have been detained or arrested on corruption charges, along with a sizeable number of municipal bureaucrats. The alleged web of corruption, as the CHP’s rivals describe it, often involves accusations that mayors and municipal staff accepted bribes in exchange for granting permits that otherwise would not have been approved and awarding lucrative municipal tenders to businesses with ties to municipal officials or those that paid bribes to mayors and bureaucrats.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Libya’s Acting Defense Minister Abdulsalam Zubi and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah’s National Security Adviser Ibrahim Dbeibah in Ankara on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said.
The meeting was held behind closed doors and no further details on the agenda or the discussions were provided.
Ankara emerged as a prominent diplomatic actor as it helped ease military tensions in Tripoli and stepped up its outreach to the eastern faction throughout 2025 as it shifted its Libya policy.
Libya remains split between two administrations: a government appointed by the House of Representatives in early 2022 and based in Benghazi, led by Osama Hammad, which controls the east and much of the south; and the internationally recognized Government of National Unity, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Mohammed Dbeibah, in Tripoli, which runs the west.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Israel must fully comply with the roadmap for the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan for it to succeed, as the two leaders discussed bilateral ties and regional developments in a phone call on Monday.
Erdoğan held a phone conversation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, discussing Türkiye-Saudi Arabia relations as well as regional and global issues, according to Türkiye’s Communications Directorate.
According to the statement, the leaders reviewed cooperation between Türkiye and Saudi Arabia and exchanged views on regional and global developments during the conversation.
During the call, Erdoğan reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to promoting lasting peace and stability in the region, expressing sorrow over recent attacks targeting Saudi Arabia.
The Turkish president also stressed that Israel’s full adherence to the roadmap for the second phase of the Gaza Peace Plan is essential for the initiative’s success.
Erdoğan said Türkiye is closely monitoring developments related to the implementation of the plan, underscoring Ankara’s continued support for efforts aimed at securing a lasting cease-fire and regional stability.
Three crew members were critically injured after a Turkish-owned roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) cargo ship came under a drone attack in the Black Sea on Monday, Turkish maritime authorities said.
The NADEZHDA, a Turkish-owned cargo vessel sailing from Russia’s Novorossiysk to the Turkish port of Samsun, was attacked about 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers) off Novorossiysk on Monday, according to a statement by Türkiye’s Directorate General of Maritime Affairs.
The vessel was carrying 22 crew members, including 13 Turkish nationals.
Initial assessments indicated the ship sustained damage to its living quarters and bow, while a fire continued to burn on board.
The Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said that, following coordination with Russia’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) in Novorossiysk, all crew members were safely evacuated to the Russian port by Russian maritime units.
According to preliminary information cited in the statement, three crew members may have sustained critical injuries.
The agency added that the fire remained active aboard the vessel, but rescue operations could not be carried out because of the continuing risk of drone attacks in the area.
The Directorate General of Maritime Affairs said it was closely monitoring the situation and wished all affected seafarers a speedy recovery and safe return to their families.
More than three years of the Russia-Ukraine war have jeopardized maritime security in the Black Sea. Türkiye has witnessed several drones of Russian or Ukrainian origin crash on its territory, while uncrewed armed naval vessels have frequently washed ashore. In response to growing threats, Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria established a maritime security initiative primarily tasked with clearing stray naval mines in the Black Sea.
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