Politics
Türkiye cracks down on tentacles of corruption octopus with new ops
A fifth wave of operations centered on Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) and municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) led to the detention of 34 people as of Sunday. Authorities have launched anti-corruption operations on Saturday and raided 47 locations. Seven suspects remain at large.
CHP-run municipalities are accused of taking bribes and irregularities in public tenders. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently described operations and allegations as “tentacles of an octopus” stretching across many administrative bodies running the municipalities.
Although CHP-run municipalities were already under investigation and several mayors were detained for corruption last year, IBB has been under the spotlight as its high-profile mayor was arrested in March on graft charges. Digging deeper into an alleged criminal network run by former Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and expanding another investigation linked to a businessman who was awarded a lucrative contract by district municipalities, investigators launched Saturday’s operations against municipality officials, mayors and a former CHP lawmaker. Operations are the culmination of four separate investigations and are mainly based on the confessions of Aziz Ihsan Aktaş, a businessman identified as the head of a criminal network active in municipalities. Aktaş’s confessions unveiled the scale of corruption at IBB, the municipality of Beşiktaş, whose mayor was detained last year, and at Büyükçekmece Municipality, whose mayor, Hasan Akgün, was detained on Saturday. The investigation also extended to Adana, a southern province; the mayors of Adana’s Seyhan and Ceyhan municipalities were also detained.
Among other prominent names in the case are Aykut Erdoğdu, a former lawmaker for CHP, the party’s assembly member Baki Aydöner, mayors of Istanbul’s Avcılar and Gaziosmanpaşa districts, and the head of ISFALT, an asphalt production subsidiary of IBB.
Media outlets reported on Sunday that a search of premises owned by some suspects led to the discovery of a large cache of dollars and gold, including a search of the residences of Akgün and his son-in-law.
The Sabah newspaper reported that Aktaş appealed to authorities on April 30 to benefit from leniency in sentencing in exchange for collaboration with authorities. Aktaş, who was arrested on Jan. 17, detailed how municipalities that awarded contracts to his companies enriched themselves in the process. He confessed that he paid bribes to mayors and deputy mayors to win tenders and, in some cases, had to buy properties or vehicles belonging to those people at prices far higher than their real value, instead of paying them bribes in cash, in order to avoid detection. Aktaş said he was also forced to make additional payments and donate vehicles to mayoral candidates of the CHP before the 2024 municipal polls, to be used in their election campaigns. He said he also paid bribes to numerous municipal officials for the acquisition of a valuable plot of land in the district of Gaziosmanpaşa.
Waves of corruption
The CHP has claimed that anti-graft operations against municipalities were politically motivated, but officials deny it and point to the independence of the judiciary, which carries out the operations. In the first wave of 2025 operations against municipalities, Imamoğlu and 105 others were detained on March 19 and remain incarcerated in pretrial detention. Looking to earn popularity for Imamoğlu, the CHP has declared him its presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, although annulment of his university diploma days before his detention over irregularities made the former mayor ineligible to run for top office.
In the second wave of operations on April 25, 50 people were detained, including the head of IBB’s water utility and other top municipal officials. On May 22, authorities ordered the detention of 22 suspects in an investigation into irregular public tenders by IBB’s media and culture subsidiaries. Two days later, seven more people were detained and subsequently arrested over corruption in tenders by another IBB subsidiary. Investigation expanded on May 23 and led to the detention of 44 people working at IBB’s other subsidiaries and people associated with them.
According to Sabah’s report, authorities also investigated the 2019 celebrations for Republic Day organized by the Beşiktaş municipality. Four municipal officials, including the current deputy mayors of Avcılar and Büyükçekmece, are accused of conspiring to commit corruption by awarding the contract for organizing the celebrations to a front company and squandering public resources in the process.
The report says recent detentions include two owners of a company that was awarded a lucrative contract by IBB. CHP’s deputy chair, Özgür Karabat, serves as financial consultant for the company, which earned more than TL 19 billion in tenders in the past five years.
According to the Sabah report, former lawmaker Erdoğdu is accused of acting as an intermediary for bribe takers and companies paying bribes. The report says Erdoğdu oversaw the payment of bribes to an IBB subsidiary.
In a speech last week, President Erdoğan hit out at CHP for defending Imamoğlu and others detained on corruption charges.
“If you don’t work for the nation, you are either a ‘rantçı’ (profiteer) or a ‘bantçı’ (someone who uses tape to conceal something),” to the applause of the audience. “Bantçı” in this case refers to a bodyguard of Imamoğlu who was captured in footage as he put tape on security cameras before Imamoğlu’s secretive meeting at a hotel with fellow bureaucrats of IBB. Media outlets reported that the footage emerged in the investigation into the former mayor’s alleged wrongdoings, raising suspicions about the nature of the meeting, which was followed and preceded by more at the same hotel. Some reports claimed that the meeting and others were the venue of discussions on how to share illegal profits Imamoğlu and others gained through graft, from rigging public tenders to bribery in exchange for building permits.
“You see what happened to profiteers, you see what state they drove Istanbul into. We witnessed how they terrorized the squares. They do not tolerate anyone other than themselves. They try to bully anyone who disagrees with them, they attack anyone who does not side with thieves,” Erdoğan said. The CHP held pro-Imamoğlu rallies, claiming the innocence of the mayor, after Imamoğlu’s arrest in March. Rallies in Istanbul and other cities escalated into violent riots. The CHP supporters also launched social media campaigns against celebrities not endorsing the rallies, while the party’s leader, Özgür Özel, called for a boycott of companies he accused of serving the government’s interests, as well as against broadcasters not broadcasting the rallies live.
The president stated that they witnessed a new act of corruption surfacing “almost every day” in the investigation into what he called a criminal organization. “You see how they looted Istanbul’s resources. (The authorities) reveal tentacles of an octopus extending from Istanbul to other cities, to abroad. Their own friends confess how they extorted money and received bribes,” Erdoğan said.
Ertan Yıldız, a top IBB bureaucrat, has also recently collaborated with authorities and unveiled a scheme of tender rigging and bribes organized by Imamoğlu and his associates at the municipality.
“Their former partners in crime speak about cash carried by suitcases, about a mob order established in Istanbul. But the CHP has no shame. They are supposed to apologize to the people of Istanbul they betrayed, but instead, they threaten judges and prosecutors and journalists,” Erdoğan said, referring to past remarks by Özel and other top names of the CHP who threatened judiciary members with being tried in the future for the investigation into Imamoğlu’s alleged wrongdoings.
“Their friends who confess are accused of defaming (the detained municipal officials). Özgür Özel is acting like a messenger for a criminal organization, not as a main opposition leader. It is worrying. It is worrying to see this sorry state the CHP was pushed to,” Erdoğan said.
“You can’t remove this stain of corruption. You can’t escape being held accountable. The Turkish judiciary’s job is to stop hands from stealing from public funds. We will not turn a blind eye to this banditry. Nor will we leave our Istanbul to its fate,” Erdoğan added.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized the significance of the recent understanding reached in peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing Türkiye’s continued support for efforts aimed at fostering development and stability across the South Caucasus through a “win-win” approach as he held a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Istanbul on Friday.
During high-level talks in Istanbul, the sides discussed key regional developments, including the normalization process between Türkiye and Armenia, broader peace and dialogue efforts in the South Caucasus, and current issues affecting the region.
President Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s readiness to support any constructive initiatives to advance peace and cooperation. He also said Türkiye is committed to using every diplomatic tool to help establish lasting stability not only in the Caucasus, but across the wider region.
The meeting also addressed possible next steps in the normalization process between Türkiye and Armenia.
Referring to the escalating tensions in the Middle East, Erdoğan noted that Türkiye remains in close contact with regional leaders to reduce the risks created by Israel’s attacks on Iran and prevent further escalation.
Armenia PM hails ‘in-depth’ talks with Erdoğan
Pashinyan said he held “in-depth” talks with Erdoğan in Istanbul.
A statement from the Armenian government said: “The two leaders discussed the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, underlining the importance of continuing constructive dialogue and achieving concrete results.”
In a post on X, Pashinyan said he had an “in-depth exchange” with Erdoğan at which they “discussed the Armenia-Türkiye normalization process, regional developments, and the importance of sustained dialogue.”
He reassured the Turkish leader that Armenia was “committed to building peace and stability in our region.”
The discussions began shortly before 7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) at Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace, the Presidency said.
Armenia and Türkiye have never established formal diplomatic ties and their shared border has been closed since the 1990s.
Analysts said Pashinyan would make the case for speeding up steps toward normalization with Türkiye in a bid to ease Armenia’s isolation.
Ahead of the talks, Pashinyan visited the Armenian Patriarchal Church and the Blue Mosque and met members of the Turkish Armenian community, he said on his official Facebook page.
Normalization
“This is a historic visit, as it will be the first time a head of the Republic of Armenia visits Türkiye at this level. All regional issues will be discussed,” Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan told reporters on Thursday.
“The risks of war (with Azerbaijan) are currently minimal, and we must work to neutralize them. Pashinyan’s visit to Türkiye is a step in that direction.”
An Armenian foreign ministry official told AFP Pashinyan and Erdoğan would discuss efforts to sign a comprehensive peace treaty as well as the fallout from the Iran-Israel conflict.
A day ahead of his visit, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was in Türkiye to meet Erdoğan, hailing the two nations’ alliance as “a significant factor, not only regionally but also globally.”
Erdoğan repeated his backing for “the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”
The two nations had agreed on the text of a peace deal in March, but Azerbaijan has since outlined a host of demands, including changes to Armenia’s constitution, before it will sign the document.
Pashinyan has actively sought to normalize relations with both Baku and Ankara.
“Pashinyan is very keen to break Armenia out of its isolation and the best way to do that is a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and a normalization agreement with Turkey,” Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe told AFP.
The main thing blocking normalization with Türkiye was Azerbaijan, a close ally of Ankara, he said.
“Turkey has a strategic dilemma here: on the one hand it wants to stay loyal to Azerbaijan; on the other, opening the Armenian border makes it a bigger player in the South Caucasus,” he said.
Earlier this year, Pashinyan said Armenia would halt its campaign for international recognition of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as genocide.
He has visited Türkiye only once before, for Erdoğan’s 2023 inauguration. At the time, he was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate him on his re-election.
Ankara and Yerevan appointed special envoys in late 2021 to lead a normalization process, a year after Armenia’s defeat in a war with Azerbaijan over the then-disputed Karabakh region.
In 2022, Türkiye and Armenia resumed commercial flights after a two-year pause.
A previous attempt to normalize relations, a 2009 accord to open the border, was never ratified by Armenia and abandoned in 2018.
Türkiye’s ambassador to the United Nations on Friday condemned Israel’s military strikes on Iran, warning they posed a serious threat to global security and the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Speaking at an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, Ambassador Ahmet Yıldız said, “Türkiye condemns, in the strongest terms, the recent attacks conducted by Israel against Iran. These acts represent a manifest violation of the U.N. Charter.”
Yıldız called the situation “deeply troubling,” particularly in light of Israel’s nuclear opacity. “It is alarming that a non-NPT state, which maintains deliberate ambiguity regarding its nuclear arsenal, is attacking safeguarded nuclear infrastructure in a state party to the NPT,” he said. “This recklessness strikes at the heart of the global non-proliferation regime.”
He urged the international community to unite in calling on Israel to join the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon state and to accept full verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Yıldız also criticized Israel’s targeted strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, calling them “unprecedented” and in direct violation of international law and IAEA agreements. He noted that the agency’s verification efforts inside Iran have already been “impeded.”
“A wider regional collision would aggravate the risk of nuclear or radiological spillover and mass displacement,” he warned. “It would disrupt global trade, endanger energy security, and imperil transportation routes amid an already volatile climate.”
Reaffirming Türkiye’s commitment to diplomacy, Yıldız said, “We continue to believe that diplomacy is the sole sensible path forward.”
He also emphasized that the crisis in Gaza must not be sidelined. “Israel’s assault on Iran cannot obscure the ongoing crimes being committed against the Palestinian people,” he said. “Imposing peace is no longer a mere option; it is an imperative to preserve the credibility of the UN system and to safeguard international law.”
Eighty-one provincial heads of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Thursday gathered to voice support for the party’s chairperson, Özgür Özel, and defend the 2023 congress results.
Gathering in front of the party headquarters in the capital Ankara, the provincial heads made a statement, read out by CHP Ankara Chair Ümit Erkol.
Erkol said that Özel was elected as the party leader by the free will of the delegates at the 38th Ordinary Congress of the CHP, then they focused on the local elections in unity and “became the local power,” referring to last year’s local elections where the CHP made significant gains.
He accused the government of politicizing the case and also voiced support for Istanbul’s ousted mayor, Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.
Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to three-year prison sentences for a total of 12 suspects, including Imamoğlu, in an ongoing trial against the CHP over alleged vote buying in the 2023 ordinary congress.
The lawsuit seeks to cancel the party’s 38th Ordinary Congress held on Nov. 4-5, 2023, in which Chairperson Özgür Özel allegedly “bought” supporters to oust Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, his predecessor, in an intraparty election held at the congress.
It also asks to suspend all CHP officials linked to the congress. If the court rules to annul the congress that elected Özel as CHP chair, a trustee would be assigned to administer Türkiye’s oldest political party, who would then call for an extraordinary congress within 45 days.
Several eyewitnesses testified in court about the allegations that delegates were made to vote in exchange for money at the said congress.
Both the genocide in Gaza and the Israel-Iran conflict are rapidly approaching a point of no return, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday, criticizing Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza and the region.
“It is imperative that hands are taken off triggers in the Israel-Iran conflict before there is more destruction and civilian casualties,” the president said, speaking at the youth forum of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.
Türkiye did not change its stance but continued to support the oppressed despite the Zionist lobbies’ attacks against the Turkish government and myself, he added.
“Israel, which complains about damage to its hospitals today, has so far carried out over 700 attacks on health care facilities in Gaza alone,” Erdoğan said, reminding that Gaza has been enduring “one of the most shameful acts of modern-day barbarism for 21 months.”
Erdoğan said: “The Islamic world is going through a difficult period, with war, conflict, instability casting a shadow over its entire geography.”
The Turkish president said the Netanyahu government is primarily responsible for the Gaza genocide, while those who stay silent in the face of these massacres are accomplices to his crimes.
“Those turning Gaza into the world’s largest concentration camp, speaking of war crimes, is not only inconsistent but shows shamelessness and impudence,” Erdoğan continued. “People standing in food distribution lines in Gaza for a piece of bread, a bowl of soup, are being brutally targeted.” He said that powers having influence over Israel “should not fall into Netanyahu’s game,” and should use their influence to establish a cease-fire and calm in the region.
Hostilities broke out last Friday when Israel launched airstrikes on several sites across Iran, including military and nuclear facilities, prompting Tehran to launch retaliatory strikes.
Israeli authorities said at least 25 people have been killed and hundreds injured since then in Iranian missile attacks.
Meanwhile, in Iran, 639 people have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded in the Israeli assault, according to Iranian media reports.
NATO member Türkiye has been a traditional ally to Palestine, but the more brutal Israeli attacks became, the harsher Ankara has made its criticism. It has condemned what it calls genocide, halted all trade with Israel and applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court, which Israel rejects.
In addition to delivering humanitarian aid, the Turkish government has sought to rally international organizations, including the United Nations, NATO and the OIC, to both restrain Israel and encourage cooperation between Palestinian factions, most notably between Hamas and the Fatah movement.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is scheduled to arrive in Türkiye for a rare visit on Friday, in what Yerevan has described as a “historic” step toward regional peace.
Pashinyan is visiting Türkiye at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan told reporters. The two leaders will have their meeting at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul.
“This is a historic visit, as it will be the first time a head of the Republic of Armenia visits Türkiye at this level. All regional issues will be discussed,” he said.
“The risks of war (with Azerbaijan) are currently minimal, and we must work to neutralize them. Pashinyan’s visit to Türkiye is a step in that direction.”
An Armenian Foreign Ministry official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the two leaders will discuss efforts to sign a comprehensive peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the regional fallout from the Iran-Israel conflict.
Pashinyan has actively sought to normalize relations with both Baku and Ankara.
Earlier this year, he announced Armenia would halt its campaign for international recognition of the 1915 events to be termed as “genocide” — a major concession to Türkiye that sparked widespread criticism at home.
The visit by Pashinyan comes amid cautious optimism following a June 5 phone call between the Armenian and Turkish leaders. During the conversation, Erdoğan and Pashinyan reaffirmed their commitment to dialogue, continuing a fragile process toward rapprochement that began in recent years.
Pashinyan last visited Türkiye in June 2023 to attend Erdoğan’s presidential inauguration – marking the first official visit by an Armenian leader to Türkiye since 2009. That year, then-President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and President Abdullah Gül exchanged visits, with Gül’s trip to Yerevan remaining the only official visit by a Turkish president to Armenia.
The two countries share a complex history. Türkiye recognized Armenia’s independence in 1991, but relations soured amid the First Karabakh War, when Armenia and Azerbaijan clashed over the disputed region. In 1993, Türkiye severed diplomatic and commercial ties with Armenia, and the border between the two countries has remained closed ever since.
The Second Karabakh War, which ended in 2020, reignited hopes for renewed dialogue. In 2021, Ankara and Yerevan appointed special representatives tasked with normalizing relations and negotiating the reopening of their land border. So far, limited agreements have allowed third-country citizens and diplomats to cross, but a full reopening remains elusive.
Despite these hurdles, there have been tentative gestures toward cooperation. The Margara border crossing has been used twice in recent years for humanitarian purposes: in February 2023 to deliver Armenian aid trucks following a devastating earthquake in southeastern Türkiye, and in March 2024 for humanitarian aid shipments to Syria via Türkiye. Armenia has also upgraded the crossing in anticipation of future use.
Still, deep-seated political and historical disagreements persist. Türkiye’s support for Azerbaijan during the 2020 war remains a source of tension, and the legacy of unresolved issues, including those linked to historical grievances, complicates efforts at reconciliation.
The PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing, the YPG, forcefully recruited 286 children in Syria last year, a U.N. report said.
Anadolu Agency (AA) compiled the records of terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq regarding children from the “Children and Armed Conflict” report of U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, which includes data for 2024.
The 40-page report said that 527 children were recruited into armed cadres by various groups, primarily the PKK/YPG, which uses the name “SDF,” and its affiliates, as well as Daesh.
The report noted that the U.N. confirmed that a total of 286 children were forcibly recruited into armed cadres and used in Syria by the PKK/YPG and its affiliates alone.
The PKK/YPG and other organizations were held responsible for the deaths or disabilities of 110 children and the forced abduction of 10 children in 2024, and it was stated that the terrorists used 23 schools and hospitals for their armed activities.
It was stated that as of the end of 2024, approximately 1,000 children, including foreigners, had their freedoms restricted due to their ties to armed groups, especially Daesh.
It was pointed out that approximately 25,000 children, suspected of having ties to the terrorist organization Daesh, have been living deprived of their freedom for years in camps dominated by the PKK/YPG in northeastern Syria.
The report also included Guterres’ assessments regarding the forced recruitment of children into armed forces.
Noting that the high number of serious violations against children in Syria is alarming, Guterres called on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Guterres demanded that all children be released immediately and unconditionally and that authorities implement the necessary programs for their integration in coordination with the U.N.
-
Politics3 days agoTürkiye cements Aegean rights internationally, irks Greece
-
Sports3 days agoGalatasaray eye Gündoğan, Ter Stegen in Europe-bound transfer blitz
-
Daily Agenda3 days agoEkrem İmamoğlu’s Lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan Was Arrested
-
Politics3 days agoTürkiye ready for spillover of Iran-Israel war, repeats peace call
-
Daily Agenda3 days agoFETÖ’s Operation for Student Structuring: 5 people arrested
-
Politics3 days agoIranians head home from Istanbul as war rages
-
Politics3 days agoTürkiye condemns Israeli FM’s fixation, vile slanders on Erdoğan
-
Economy3 days agoNorway central bank cuts rates for 1st time in years in surprise move