Politics
Türkiye ready to train Gaza police, back rebuilding of local governance
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday that Türkiye is ready to provide assistance in training Gaza’s new police force as part of efforts to revive the enclave’s local administration, stressing that restoring core governance and security structures is essential for stabilizing Gaza and providing vital services to Palestinians.
Speaking to reporters in Washington after attending the inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza Board of Peace on behalf of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Fidan said the priority in the second phase of the Gaza peace plan is to re-establish functional local governance capable of providing health, education, policing and essential services to the enclave’s population.
Fidan said the creation and training of a new police force for Gaza is underway to ensure local security and public order.
“This is essential for any functioning administration,” he said. Fidan reiterated that Türkiye is ready to contribute to security arrangements if requested.
The newly appointed U.S. high representative for Gaza said Thursday that recruitment has begun for a transitional police force intended to assume security responsibilities from Hamas, with more than 2,000 applicants submitting forms within hours.
“Gaza needs a local administration that can stand on its feet and deliver services to 2 million people,” Fidan said, emphasizing that reconstruction and stabilization cannot succeed without rebuilding administrative capacity. He noted that the meeting served as a platform for member states to declare their contributions and coordinate efforts.
Fidan underscored that Türkiye has been providing uninterrupted humanitarian assistance since the first day of Israel’s genocidal attacks – through both state institutions and civil society – and will continue doing so. He said Ankara is in talks to increase the flow of supplies through the Rafah crossing, including container-based aid shipments to replace tents, and is working on expanding medical support ranging from field treatment to transferring wounded Palestinians to Türkiye.
Fidan also highlighted the broader diplomatic context, noting resumed contact between the United States and Iran. The process that began in Istanbul has brought Americans and Iranians back into dialogue, he said. He noted that there was reason for hope, amid fears of increased military activitiy. “Our wish is that a negotiated path is reached without the need for war,” he added.
Former Ambassador Mehmet Güllüoğlu has been appointed to two senior positions, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced on Monday.
Tom Fletcher, U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, appointed Güllüoğlu as director of OCHA’s Humanitarian Sector Division and head of OCHA Geneva, according to the agency.
Güllüoğlu “brings more than two decades of experience in humanitarian action, disaster management and public health,” OCHA said in a statement.
Güllüoğlu, 44, previously served as the head of Türkiye’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and the director general of the Turkish Red Crescent. Most recently, he served as Türkiye’s humanitarian aid coordinator for Palestine to ensure the effective delivery and coordination of the country’s humanitarian assistance to Gaza. He also served as Türkiye’s ambassador to Tanzania from 2021 to 2025.
A graduate of Marmara University’s Faculty of Medicine, he trained in family medicine, humanitarian aid and EU projects. He has worked as a volunteer doctor with NGOs in crisis zones including Palestine, Syria, Somalia, Kenya and Jordan. OCHA coordinates the global humanitarian response to emergencies and works to ensure that effective humanitarian assistance reaches people affected by crises.
Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the Iraqi Armed Forces, acknowledged that Iraqi authorities were engaged in talks with Türkiye on the withdrawal of Turkish troops and the handover of Turkish military bases in the country to Iraqi forces.
Speaking to Ihlas News Agency (IHA) on Monday, al-Numan said the plan for withdrawal and handover was expected to be fully implemented after the terrorist group PKK handed over its weapons. The PKK, which has killed thousands of people in terror attacks across Türkiye since the 1980s, has camps in northern Iraq, in rugged territory where the group has dug extensive tunnel networks as hideouts. As part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, the PKK agreed to lay down its arms and dissolve itself last year. Türkiye is currently monitoring the process in Iraq in coordination with local authorities.
Over the past decades, Türkiye has carried out several cross-border military operations in northern Iraq to eliminate PKK terrorists and set up outposts. It also has a base in Bashiqa, the furthest from the Turkish border. The Bashiqa base was established in 2015, particularly to support the fight against Daesh in Sinjar, where PKK members sought to take control after the expulsion of Daesh.
Türkiye and Iraq agreed last Wednesday to deepen security cooperation, restore full Iraqi state authority in Sinjar and begin the gradual handover of the Bashiqa-Zilkan military base to Baghdad under an agreed timetable. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced the steps in a joint statement following talks in New York on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly. The two leaders reviewed the strategic relationship between Türkiye and Iraq and agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation across a range of areas, with security taking a central role in the discussions. Under the agreement, the two countries will work toward fully restoring Iraqi state authority in Sinjar and ending the presence of banned foreign armed groups in the area.
As progress is made in implementing the security measures, Turkish forces will gradually hand over the Bashiqa-Zilkan base to Iraq’s federal government in accordance with a mutually agreed mechanism and timetable, the statement said. U.S. Ambassador to Türkiye and special envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack welcomed the latest agreement, saying it served both “Iraqi sovereignty and Turkish security.” The two countries also agreed to strengthen trade ties, swiftly implement existing agreements and accelerate strategic projects.
Al-Numan said they currently had a timetable set for Sept. 30 for the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces fighting Daesh and that they were also engaged in talks with armed groups for their disarmament. “We hope to close this case soon,” he said.
He said they had a common understanding with Türkiye on the withdrawal and handover of the bases and that Baghdad was also engaged in discussions with Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north on ending the presence of the PKK and its affiliates in the country. Al-Numan underlined that Türkiye and Iraq had historic relations and deep-rooted bonds. “I believe security and stability in Iraq and agreements on security will also have an impact on economic ties between the two countries,” he said.
The spokesperson said Türkiye and Iraq still had memoranda on security that were set to be implemented, but they continued cooperation and information and intelligence sharing. He pointed out that Türkiye favored stability in Iraq and praised Ankara’s support for his country in the field of counterterrorism.
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.
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