Politics
Türkiye’s CHP staves off corruption trial, faces another one
The fate of the current administration of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is in the hands of its former members and the courts in Ankara. Months after several CHP delegates filed a lawsuit claiming corruption in an intraparty election in 2023, two cases linked to complaints are before the courts. In one case, judges adjourned Wednesday’s hearing to July 1 while a court of appeals is expected to issue a verdict in another case that may eject the current administration.
The 26th Penal Court on Wednesday heard a defendant and a witness at Wednesday’s hearing in the case where 12 defendants are accused of irregularities and fraud at the November 2023 election that brought incumbent Chair Özgür Özel to power in Türkiye’s oldest party. Among the defendants are Istanbul’s disgraced former Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, who was arrested last year on charges of corruption in another case. They face prison terms up to three years and a political ban.
Testifying at the hearing on Wednesday, Baki Aydöner, a member of the CHP’s Party Assembly, denied allegations and claimed the eyewitnesses testified earlier had “contradictions” in their statements. A delegate who voted at the 2023 elections was heard as an eyewitness and told the court that he did not witness any wrongdoings during, before and after the election.
Before adjourning the hearing to July, the court ordered hearing of Adem Soytekin as an eyewitness in the next session. Soytekin, a businessman, has most recently testified in a case against Imamoğlu in Istanbul, where he admitted paying bribes to the Istanbul municipality in exchange of permits. Soytekin has claimed that a construction subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality handed out free real estate to “people influential in the election process.”
Onur Yusuf Üregen, the lawyer of former Hatay Mayor Lütfü Savaş, one of the plaintiffs, told the hearing on Wednesday that the case in question does not concern a simple procedural irregularity that occurred at the convention where the election was also held. “Purchasing democratic will is a crime against public order,” he told the court.
He said some delegates were systematically provided with material benefits in order to influence their voting will and argued that witness statements and other evidence in the case file clearly demonstrate the elements of the crime beyond any doubt, and that the will of the delegates was cumulatively compromised. Üregen stated that his client, Lütfü Savaş, acted in line with the rule of law and political ethics without seeking personal gain, but was nevertheless targeted, threatened and subjected to attempts to discredit him during the process.
He claimed that his client acted to protect the CHP’s democratic tradition by filing the complaint.
“The integrity of the evidence in the file makes it necessary to punish the defendants. This is because what is at stake here is the usurpation of political will and the corruption of democratic representation. In this respect, the case has a public, not an individual, character. Therefore, we respectfully request that the defendants be punished, with our faith in the Turkish judiciary and justice,” he said.
Elsewhere, the judicial process in what is publicly known as the “absolute nullification” case is still at the appellate stage. The case stems from criminal complaints by former delegates who voted in the same 2023 election. Plaintiffs accuse several figures of CHP of “impairing the will of the delegates” during the electoral process and call for nullification of the results of the election.
A lower court rejected the request for absolute nullification without examining the merits of the case. Following this rejection, the plaintiffs brought the case before the Ankara Regional Court of Justice for appellate review. During its review, the appellate court requested all evidence and case files from the relevant local courts in Istanbul and Ankara. The court is currently examining all these documents.
If a ruling of absolute nullification is issued, it would render the CHP leadership invalid, potentially leading to the appointment of a trustee or interim administration for the party.
If the verdict becomes final, the leadership prior to the congress, namely Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and his team, could legally regain authority in place of Özgür Özel’s administration. The court may also appoint a temporary administrative board (trustee) to lead the party to a new congress. Kılıçdaroğlu has also signalled that he was ready to take the post of trustee as well before a new intraparty election.
For the ruling to become final, both the appellate and Court of Cassation processes must be completed.
The possibility of an absolute nullification verdict led to mobilization within the party, with Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş openly calling on the administration to “do something” a few weeks ago. Özel, meanwhile, continued his rallies across the country, seeking support for an early or by-election, and rallied the CHP supporters around mayors detained or arrested on charges of corruption. The party may continue its rallies in case of absolute nullification, while media reports say Özel and several lawmakers may leave the CHP and establish a new party.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan welcomed Joshua Harris, a 12-year-old autistic boy recognized for his “Cake Not Hate” anti-Islamophobia campaign, praising efforts to promote kindness and inclusion.
Erdoğan met with Harris and his family at the Presidential Dolmabahçe Working Office in Istanbul on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, Harris visited the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)’s Istanbul provincial headquarters.
Harris, accompanied by his father, Dan Harris, was welcomed by AK Party Istanbul Chair Abdullah Özdemir, who praised the young campaigner’s efforts to foster friendship and mutual respect among people of different faiths through the initiative he launched in the United Kingdom.
During the meeting, the sides discussed Harris’ campaign, which promotes solidarity and counters prejudice by encouraging dialogue and acts of kindness across religious communities.
Özdemir congratulated Joshua and his father for their stand against hate speech and anti-Muslim sentiment, or Islamophobia, saying the message delivered by the young campaigner carries universal significance despite his age.
He also underscored the importance of people from different faiths and cultures living together on the basis of mutual respect, adding that the values of love, solidarity and brotherhood should always prevail over hatred and discrimination.
Joshua and Dan Harris expressed their appreciation for the hospitality they have received in Istanbul and thanked their hosts for the warm welcome and support throughout their visit.
The meeting concluded with a commemorative group photograph.
Joshua has already visited Fatih Mosque on Sunday, Büyük Çamlıca Mosque and Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Üsküdar on Monday, and Taksim Mosque on Tuesday. He is next scheduled to visit Ortaköy Mosque and Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Mosque on July 24 as part of his 10-day program in Istanbul.
The campaign began after a far-right anti-Muslim hate incident at a mosque in Peterborough, England, last year.
In October 2025, far-right extremist Alexander Hooper entered a mosque in Peterborough and attacked members of the congregation and police officers.
Following the incident, Dan Harris and his then-12-year-old autistic son Joshua, who lived near the mosque, baked cakes and distributed them to worshippers as a gesture of solidarity.
After launching the initiative, the father and son received numerous threatening messages. In response, they decided to visit even more mosques and continue their campaign.
Their anti-Islamophobia “Cake Not Hate” campaign has since expanded to several countries, while the pair have visited more than 100 mosques across the U.K. to promote solidarity and stand against anti-Muslim hatred.
Türkiye’s Parliament approved the first seven articles of a legislative package on Thursday that introduces stricter rules for novice drivers, including the cancellation of licenses for repeated traffic violations during a two-year probationary period.
The amendments to the Highway Traffic Law were adopted as part of a broader bill that also includes provisions to increase the minimum pension. The changes were introduced following a ruling by Türkiye’s Constitutional Court requiring revisions to the existing legislation.
Under the new rules, individuals obtaining a driver’s license for the first time, as well as motorists whose licenses have previously been revoked and later reinstated, will be classified as probationary drivers for two years from the date their license is issued.
During this period, a probationary license will be revoked if the driver commits any offense that results in the temporary suspension of a driver’s license, accumulates more than 75 penalty points, or is found driving with a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 0.20 promille, regardless of vehicle type.
The legislation also provides for the cancellation of a probationary license if the driver commits any of three key traffic violations three times during the probation period. These include failing to comply with turning rules, failing to yield to pedestrians at designated crossings and violating mandatory seat belt or other protective equipment requirements for drivers and passengers.
Drivers whose probationary licenses are revoked must complete the licensing process again. They must re-enroll in a certified driving course, pass the required examinations and obtain a new driver certificate before reapplying for a license.
Applicants will also be required to undergo a psychotechnical assessment and psychiatric evaluation demonstrating they are fit to drive, pay all outstanding traffic fines, and complete any mandatory waiting period associated with previous suspensions or revocations.
At the beginning of this year, Parliament approved a comprehensive amendment to the Highway Traffic Law, significantly increasing penalties for dangerous driving, in a move officials say is aimed at cutting road deaths by half.
The law imposes a TL 140,000 (approximately $4,375) fine on drivers who alter license plates to make them unreadable, along with a 30-day vehicle impoundment. Failing to yield to vehicles with the right of way carries a TL 15,000 fine.
Running a red light six times in one year will result in permanent revocation of a driver’s license. Drivers who cause accidents by running red lights will face a 60-day suspension and must undergo a psychotechnical evaluation before regaining their licenses.
German lawmaker Maximilian Krah recently said parliamentary officials had twice blocked planned visits to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), arguing that Turkish Cypriots and their institutions deserved international recognition.
Speaking to Bayrak Radio Television (BRT), Krah noted he and his fellow lawmaker Achim Köhler had submitted two requests to Germany’s parliamentary Human Rights Committee to visit the territory, but both were rejected.
“They stopped us, but we will come anyway,” Krah emphasized, alleging that some political circles in Germany did not want lawmakers to examine conditions on the island firsthand.
Krah described the current status quo in Cyprus as unsustainable and said previous settlement efforts had failed because of the Greek Cypriot side’s position. He argued that Turkish Cypriots had established functioning state institutions and a legal system that merited recognition.
He linked renewed international attention on Cyprus to Türkiye’s growing geopolitical role, the strategic importance of the eastern Mediterranean and continuing human rights debates.
Krah called for a settlement that protects the rights of both communities, including property rights, while promoting peace in the eastern Mediterranean.
He called the decision to block the visits “hypocrisy.”
The lawmaker, who served six years in the European Parliament, currently sits on the Bundestag’s European Affairs Committee and serves as rapporteur on Cyprus and Türkiye.
A new bill proposed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which calls for life imprisonment for perpetrators of serious offenses committed between the ages of 15 and 18, was approved by Parliament’s Justice Committee early Wednesday.
The bill is one of the most comprehensive legislative packages addressing children involved in crime. Its most notable provision is the introduction of life sentences for offenders as young as 15, although such sentences would remain at the court’s discretion.
Murders committed by minors and the increasing use of children by criminal gangs to carry out shootings have come under the spotlight in Türkiye in recent years.
A series of fatal stabbing incidents involving teenagers has intensified public debate over youth violence and the factors driving minors toward crime. One of the most widely reported cases occurred on Jan. 24, 2025, when 14-year-old Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi was stabbed by a 15-year-old attacker at a street market in Istanbul. Minguzzi died on Feb. 9 after spending 16 days in intensive care.
Just two months later, another fatal stabbing shocked the public in the northern province of Tokat, where 17-year-old national athlete Berkay Melikoğlu was killed.
In one of the most recent incidents, 17-year-old Atlas Çağlayan died after being stabbed during an argument in Istanbul on Jan. 14, with initial findings indicating that the suspect was 15 years old.
Briefing the committee during deliberations on the bill, Mehmet Ökmen, director general of legislation at the Justice Ministry, disclosed statistics on children driven to crime.
“Investigations were launched into 187,300 children in 2025. The total number of alleged offenses in these investigations stands at 412,775. However, this does not mean that all of these children will be convicted or sent to prison,” Ökmen said.
Ökmen also shared data on recidivism rates among both children and adults. According to the data, individuals, whether juveniles or adults, who commit theft are likely to commit the same type of offense repeatedly. In contrast, children who get into one-on-one fights with classmates or friends at school, in the classroom, in dormitories or at training courses generally have a very low rate of repeating such behavior.
Referring to increased penalties for parents whose actions lead to their children becoming involved in the criminal justice system, Ökmen cited a court ruling from Germany as an example.
“In Germany, a father noticed traffic signs that had been removed from the streets in his child’s room but did nothing about it. When a fatal traffic accident later occurred because those signs were missing, the court held the father responsible,” Ökmen said.
Officials also shared additional figures with the parliamentary committee.
There are currently 1,372 convicted juveniles and 3,191 juveniles in pretrial detention in the 12-18 age group. Another 10,700 children are under probation supervision.
As of 2025, 78,733 counseling and rehabilitation sessions have been conducted as part of rehabilitation efforts. Authorities held 16,238 family meetings, while 2,541 children participated in group counseling or intervention programs. A total of 1,033 training courses were organized, with 11,595 participants enrolled.
In 2025, courts issued 97,881 protective measures concerning children. Of these, 43,270 were counseling measures, 23,612 were education measures, 23,251 were health-related measures, 7,710 were care measures, and 72 were shelter or accommodation measures.
There are currently 2,300 specialists working in juvenile education centers and prisons, including 990 psychologists, 208 social workers and 369 sociologists. Officials announced that by the end of the year, the system will be reinforced with 427 additional specialists, including 290 psychologists, 10 child development specialists, 52 social workers and 75 teachers.
Authorities detained an Eyüpsultan deputy mayor and two municipal officials on Wednesday as part of an expanding corruption investigation centered on the opposition-run Çankaya Municipality in the Turkish capital, prosecutors said.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said Eyüpsultan Deputy Mayor Hasan Karabulut, Eyüpsultan Municipality Chief of Staff Güray Geçyatan and Benan Esengül were taken into custody in connection with the investigation.
The latest detentions follow a July 11 operation targeting the Republican People’s Party (CHP)-run Çankaya Municipality in Ankara. Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner was among dozens of suspects detained during the operation.
A court later ordered the arrest of Güner and 23 other suspects pending trial, and Türkiye’s Interior Ministry subsequently suspended Güner from office.
Prosecutors are investigating Güner and a total of 35 suspects on allegations including establishing and membership in a criminal organization, bribery and bid-rigging in public tenders.
The prosecutor’s office announced the investigation remains ongoing.
Güner, 32, graduated from Ankara University’s Faculty of Law in 2015 and joined the CHP in 2012. He served in various party positions before being elected mayor of Çankaya in the March 2024 local elections. He was also elected to the CHP’s Party Assembly in 2023.
Dozens of mayors and municipal bureaucrats from the CHP were detained or arrested in the past two years in investigations focusing on corruption. The majority of allegations involve bribery in return of construction permits, which are otherwise subject to strict regulations, and rigging the lucrative tenders of municipalities.
Turkish authorities detained 355 irregular migrants and 25 suspected migrant smugglers during nationwide inspections across all 81 provinces, the Interior Ministry announced Wednesday, as the government continued its crackdown on irregular migration and human smuggling networks.
The ministry said the operation involved identity checks on 427,968 people and inspections at 14,142 locations, including abandoned buildings, public venues, transportation terminals and other sites believed to be used by migrant smugglers.
According to the ministry, the operation was coordinated by the Directorate of Migration Management, the National Police’s Anti-Migrant Smuggling and Border Gates Department, the Gendarmerie’s Anti-Migrant Smuggling and Human Trafficking Department and the Coast Guard Command.
More than 26,000 personnel, supported by 8,785 teams, carried out inspections at 5,400 operational points. Authorities said 3,795 abandoned buildings, 7,447 public venues, 449 transportation terminals and 2,451 additional locations were searched.
The ministry said three of the 25 suspected migrant smugglers detained were foreign nationals. Procedures to deport the 355 irregular migrants have been initiated, it added.
Separately in an operation carried out in Istanbul on the same day, the police detained 39 irregular migrants and four suspected migrant smugglers.
Police said officers from Istanbul’s Anti-Migrant Smuggling and Border Gates Division stopped two vehicles in the Fatih district after receiving information that they were transporting irregular migrants. Two suspects and nine migrants were detained, while officers also seized an inflatable boat believed to have been used in smuggling activities.
Investigators later identified three so-called “shock houses” safe houses allegedly used to shelter migrants before onward transportation in the Fatih and Bahçelievler districts. Simultaneous raids at the locations resulted in the detention of two additional suspects and 30 irregular migrants.
The migrants were transferred to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management for processing, while judicial procedures against the four suspects remain ongoing.
Erdoğan meets UK boy behind ‘Cake Not Hate’ campaign
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Erdoğan meets UK boy behind ‘Cake Not Hate’ campaign
BREAKING NEWS… Eurofighter statement from the Ministry of National Defense: Flight training is planned to start in August
Cycling-enthusiast governor sacked in Turkey after viral shorts photo
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