Politics
Türkiye unveils digital sovereignty strategy amid cyber threats
Türkiye unveiled a new digital sovereignty strategy Tuesday aimed at strengthening cybersecurity, reducing reliance on foreign technologies and protecting critical infrastructure, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan chaired a high-level meeting on emerging cyber threats and artificial intelligence risks.
The strategy was presented during the second meeting of the Cybersecurity Board at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, according to a statement from the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications.
Officials reviewed the impact of global and regional geopolitical developments on cybersecurity, recent international cyber incidents and the evolving nature of digital threats.
The board also examined how advances in artificial intelligence are reshaping the scale, speed and sophistication of cyberattacks.
Particular attention was given to algorithmic manipulation and cognitive influence operations conducted through digital platforms, including their potential implications for national security and societal resilience.
The statement emphasized that digital sovereignty has become a strategic priority for Türkiye’s national security and development policies, alongside technological independence, protection of critical infrastructure and stronger cyber deterrence capabilities.
The newly developed Digital Sovereignty Strategy seeks to enhance Türkiye’s control over its digital infrastructure, reduce dependence on foreign suppliers in critical technologies and expand domestic technological capabilities.
Authorities agreed that relevant institutions would implement decisions aligned with the strategy’s objectives, monitor progress and regularly assess results.
The board also called for closer coordination among government agencies, improved joint risk assessment capabilities and more consistent implementation of cybersecurity measures across sectors.
Given the ability of cyber threats to spread rapidly and disrupt multiple industries simultaneously, officials reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation among public institutions, private companies and academia.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi, who attended the meeting, said Türkiye was determined to protect its digital domain with the same resolve it applies to safeguarding its physical borders.
“Digital sovereignty is an integral part of our national security,” Çiftçi said in a statement shared on social media.
He said the meeting addressed global cyber threats, emerging risks associated with artificial intelligence and the national security implications of algorithmic manipulation and influence operations.
Çiftçi also emphasized the importance of strengthening domestic technological capabilities and building a comprehensive cybersecurity framework through cooperation between government, industry and academic institutions.
“We will protect not only our physical borders but also our cyber homeland and strengthen our digital sovereignty with the same determination and resolve,” he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairperson Devlet Bahçeli at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Tuesday, with discussions expected to focus on key domestic and regional developments.
The meeting began at 2 p.m. local time, according to Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran.
The leaders were expected to discuss recent developments in Türkiye’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, aimed at ending decades of terrorism, alongside ongoing efforts to draft a new constitution.
The initiative began in 2024 after a landmark speech by Bahçeli, which urged the jailed ringleader of the PKK, Abdullah Öcalan, to call on the PKK to lay down arms. Öcalan responded in February 2025 and made the historic call to the group that has killed tens of thousands of people across Türkiye since the 1980s. Since then, a disarmament process has been underway, while Türkiye plans to introduce new laws and regulations to accommodate it, namely by offering leniency to PKK members not involved in acts of terrorism.
Regional issues, including the Türkiye-Libya maritime boundary agreement, recently approved by Libyan House of Representatives, were also expected to feature on the agenda.
The talks could also address the Mecca motion expected to reach Parliament and the Badr Memorandum.
Erdoğan had previously signaled that he could meet Bahçeli in the near future.
The meeting marked their fourth encounter this year, following previous talks on Jan. 21, April 30 and Aug. 26.
“Someone whom the public can trust, who can address their needs, and who is knowledgeable and experienced.” This is how the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) general coordinator Gürsel Tekin described the party’s presidential candidate. “We have someone in mind, and our chairperson will announce it when the time comes,” he told journalists on Monday in Ankara in response to a question about whether the CHP would nominate a candidate in the next general election.
Was it Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the party’s chair? Tekin did not answer the question, saying only that they had plenty of names in mind and that these would be discussed among party members before the next election.
The next election is scheduled for 2028, although the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has signaled that it could be brought forward so that incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can run again. The CHP has voiced support for holding early elections under those circumstances.
Erdoğan’s most serious rival is expected to be the candidate of the main opposition New Party (YP). The CHP, meanwhile, secured its highest vote share in decades under Kılıçdaroğlu’s leadership in 2023, when he ran as the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance. His defeat to Erdoğan in the presidential runoff paved the way for his ouster as CHP leader. In an intraparty vote in November 2023, he lost to Özgür Özel, who is now chairperson of the YP. Kılıçdaroğlu returned to his post in May after a court ruled that Özel’s victory was questionable amid allegations of vote-buying. Özel initially appealed the ruling before founding the YP in July.
The CHP also plans to hold a congress soon to elect its leadership again. Kılıçdaroğlu has been vague about whether he intends to run, but Tekin said he was “perfectly eligible.”
“Mr. Kılıçdaroğlu has to lead the party before it reaches safe harbor,” Tekin said, referring to the turmoil within the party, where most members and lawmakers have switched to the YP.
Police and gendarmerie forces raided municipal buildings and other locations early Tuesday in a new wave of operations against corruption in municipalities. At least 85 people were detained in the operations that targeted municipalities run by the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
In Istanbul’s Bakırköy district, 58 suspects, including five deputy mayors and a member of the municipal assembly, were detained in the probe into allegations of tender-rigging and bribery. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the probe stemmed from tip-offs about allegations of tender-rigging and claims that the municipal officials illicitly asked for payment from business owners seeking to obtain permits from the municipality, and those refusing to pay had their permit process deliberately stalled by the same officials. Prosecutors said the investigation was further expanded, and investigators examined 42 tenders between 2024 and 2026 and found irregularities. Ten other suspects remain at large.
In western province Denizli’s Merkezefendi district, security forces stormed the municipality building as part of an operation into claims of zoning irregularities committed by municipal officials. Merkezefendi Mayor Şeniz Doğan and her husband were among 27 suspects detained while security forces searched the couple’s residence.
Cooperation between Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria has become increasingly important for Black Sea security following a surge in drone attacks targeting commercial vessels, with experts calling for stronger regional defense coordination and greater NATO support.
Recent attacks on commercial shipping near the Black Sea coasts of Romania and Bulgaria have heightened concerns over maritime safety, highlighting Türkiye’s strategic role in securing critical shipping routes and maintaining regional stability.
Maria Branea, policy and research coordinator at the European Leadership Network, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the sharp increase in drone attacks has made a coordinated regional security framework increasingly urgent.
“Türkiye is undoubtedly a central actor,” Branea said, emphasizing Ankara’s naval capabilities and its authority over access to the Black Sea under the Montreux Convention.
She also highlighted Türkiye’s leadership in negotiating the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Task Group (MCM Black Sea), describing the initiative as a significant example of regional cooperation.
Branea noted that the three NATO allies maintain different strategic priorities. While Türkiye traditionally emphasizes coastal states’ leadership and managing tensions with Russia, Romania advocates a stronger NATO presence, and Bulgaria has historically adopted a more cautious approach.
Stronger NATO, EU coordination
Branea argued that NATO and the European Union should reinforce existing regional initiatives rather than establish new institutions or develop comprehensive strategic frameworks.
“In my view, what needs to change is not the creation of a new NATO institution or a comprehensive strategy document,” she noted.
Instead, she urged both organizations to recognize and strengthen security arrangements already emerging among Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria.
She called for regular consultations among coastal allies, clearer responsibilities, integrated maritime surveillance systems and coordinated investments in defense capabilities.
Branea also highlighted the growing importance of protecting offshore energy infrastructure, citing Türkiye’s Sakarya gas field and Romania’s Neptun Deep project, which is expected to begin production in 2027.
She suggested expanding an EU-backed Maritime Security Center proposed by Romania and Bulgaria to include Türkiye, Ukraine and Moldova.
Defense cooperation between Türkiye and Ukraine could also be extended to Romania and Bulgaria, supported by sustained investment and closer political and military coordination, according to Branea.
Black Sea region has recently been a center of renewed tensions and attacks as part of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with attacks also weighing on critical trade supplies, including oil and grain exports.
Securing maritime routes
Dimitar Bechev, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, similarly urged Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria to seek additional NATO assistance and engage Washington on strengthening maritime security.
Bechev argued that Russia’s primary objective was to weaken European support for Ukraine rather than directly test NATO.
He said reviving the original Black Sea Grain Initiative remained unlikely after Russia declined to renew the agreement in 2023.
Türkiye, alongside the U.N., was credited with brokering the historic Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 22, 2022, in Istanbul to allow safe maritime passage for Ukrainian agricultural exports during the war with Russia.
However, Russia withdrew from the agreement in 2023, complaining that its own food and fertilizer exports faced serious obstacles.
Instead, he advocated strengthening alternative shipping routes established through the territorial waters of NATO member states.
“Navigation through the territorial waters of Romania, Bulgaria and Türkiye must be guaranteed,” Bechev underlined, describing secure maritime passage as a minimum requirement.
He stressed that achieving this objective would require more effective counterdrone defense capabilities.
The Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission approved a bill on Tuesday on the Mecca Joint Defense Alliance, a pact Türkiye formed with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in August that is under the spotlight after Houthis in Yemen stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Opposition to the pact has expressed reservations about the alliance based on the defense agreement, especially regarding the clause that views an attack on one party as an attack on all and thus seemingly enabling the dispatch of Turkish troops to other countries. The government insists that the alliance is strictly defensive and would not involve attacks on third countries.
The bill will now be referred to the General Assembly of Parliament for a final voting process.
Former Vice President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lawmaker Fuat Oktay, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, made an opening speech at the committee’s meeting on Tuesday.
Oktay said developments in the Middle East, the Russia-Ukraine war, and tensions in the Caucasus, the Balkans and North Africa directly affect regional security.
He said the agreement to be discussed represents a concrete and highly significant step toward strengthening peace by demonstrating regional ownership and enhancing deterrence across the region. He described the establishment of a collective deterrence shield in the Middle East through the Mecca deal as a noteworthy development.
He emphasized the importance of the talks held between Turkish, Saudi and Pakistani officials in Tehran on Monday. “The agreements our country has signed and become a party to are not aimed at aggression or expansionism, nor are they alliances designed to form a bloc against third countries. On the contrary, our country is party to defense agreements that aim to enhance deterrence, strengthen our region, and promote peace and stability. In this respect, the Mecca agreement is valuable because it does not propose an exclusive security architecture and allows other actors that share its vision of regional peace and stability to join.” He stressed the importance of ensuring that the agreement’s expansion process does not allow for an uncontrolled mechanism.
“It is naturally of great importance that the alliance’s growth and the admission of new members remain subject to the approval, consent and strategic screening of the core parties and, consequently, our country,” he said.
Noting that the agreement establishes deterrence at the highest level while showing absolute respect for the sovereignty of the participating countries, their international obligations and their constitutional processes, Oktay said: “Rather than collective defense provisions taking effect automatically and mechanically, it appears that the underlying principle is for every step to be implemented within the framework of the parties’ own constitutional obligations, national legislation and the decisions of their competent authorities. In this regard, it is important to activate consultation mechanisms at the highest level and seek a common understanding.
“This alliance architecture can be said to rest on three main pillars: collective defense, a determined fight against terrorism and the development of domestic capabilities in the defense industry. Each of these areas is of vital importance both for our country and for the future of our region. Essentially, it should not be viewed as an isolated text.”
Following Oktay’s remarks, main opposition New Party (YP) Eskişehir lawmaker Utku Çakırözer said the agreement should also be discussed by Parliament’s National Defense Committee. In response, Oktay said they had written to the relevant committee asking it to conduct a review and submit a report, but were informed that “no review or reporting would be carried out.”
The meeting continued with a presentation on the agreement by Deputy Foreign Minister Levent Gümrükçü. “The Mecca agreement is not only an extension of the special friendly relations between the three countries, but also a concrete product of the regional ownership increasingly needed in our region,” Gümrükçü told the committee. He said Saudi Arabia and Pakistan had completed their domestic ratification procedures and submitted the required official notifications.
He said the agreement marked an initial step toward establishing a regional security framework based on cooperation and collective defense, adding that the three countries aimed to take responsibility for addressing regional challenges rather than waiting for solutions from outside the region. Gümrükçü also said the framework was intended to contribute not only to the security of the three signatories but also to that of the wider region by strengthening dialogue and cooperation based on mutual trust and promoting lasting stability.
He stressed that the agreement was entirely defensive in nature and did not target any country. He said it was open to all regional countries that respect international law, including the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, the prohibition of the use of force except in self-defense, the peaceful settlement of disputes and non-interference in internal affairs.
“The agreement envisions integration rather than bloc-building in the region, embracing an inclusive rather than divisive vision,” he added.
Gümrükçü said the agreement envisaged strengthening collective deterrence, holding regular consultations on international security issues, and improving interoperability between the countries’ armed forces through personnel exchanges, joint training programs, and military exercises.
It also provides for closer defense industry cooperation, including joint production and technology sharing, stronger joint counterterrorism efforts, and logistical support between the parties in implementing the agreement, he said. The deputy foreign minister emphasized that the agreement would neither replace nor undermine Türkiye’s obligations under its existing alliances and agreements.
He said the initiative was expected to complement Türkiye’s participation in multilateral platforms, particularly NATO, by contributing to security and stability across the broader Middle East and supporting European security in light of the interconnected nature of the two regions.
Türkiye reaffirmed its unwavering position on the Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, rejecting allegations that remarks by its foreign minister signaled a change in policy and accusing critics of distorting his statements for political purposes.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry denied claims made by the leader of a political party that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had given an interview to a Greek newspaper.
The ministry clarified that the remarks in question were made during an event hosted by a think tank in Brussels, rather than in an interview with a Greek publication.
It said the minister’s responses had been misrepresented and taken entirely out of context, turning Türkiye’s policies in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean into a subject of political controversy.
The ministry emphasized that Ankara’s positions remain unchanged and continue to be firmly defended across international platforms in accordance with international law.
Türkiye will continue to protect its legitimate rights and interests in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean without compromise, as it has done in the past, the statement added.
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