The most magnificent structure of Istanbul, which served as the capital of many empires… The greatest token of the conquest… Hagia Sophia, which was entrusted by Mehmed the Conqueror to live as a mosque until the end of time with his foundation charter, has not been a structure consisting only of stones and domes for centuries. Hagia Sophia, where civilizations intersect, a silent witness of victories, sorrows and history; It has become the largest temple of Byzantium, the most powerful symbol of the Ottoman conquest, and one of the most important works at the center of Türkiye’s sovereignty debates. The 86-year process, which started with its transformation into a museum in 1934, turned into an unending longing for millions of citizens.

That longing ended on July 10, 2020, with the historic decision of the Council of State and the signature of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Four days later, on July 24, Hagia Sophia met again with prostration, takbir and adhan for the first Friday prayer, where hundreds of thousands of people stood in line. Hagia Sophia, which was registered as a mosque in the foundation deed of Mehmed the Conqueror after he conquered Istanbul in 1453, echoed with the sounds of adhan for centuries. This unique temple, the symbol of conquest, was considered one of the most important works not only of Istanbul but also of Islamic civilization. However, with the decision of the Council of Ministers dated November 24, 1934, Hagia Sophia was removed from its status as a mosque and converted into a museum. It was at the center of political, legal and social debates in Türkiye for many years. The expectation of millions of citizens to reopen for worship remained on the agenda for decades. When the dates showed July 10, 2020, Türkiye witnessed a historic day. The 10th Chamber of the Council of State annulled the decision of the Council of Ministers dated 1934, finding it unlawful.

ERDOĞAN SIGNED THE DECISION
Immediately after the decision, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signed the Presidential Decree stipulating that Hagia Sophia would be transferred to the Presidency of Religious Affairs and reopened for worship. The decision, which Erdoğan announced with the message “Good luck”, had a great impact in Türkiye and the Islamic world. Thus, the historic step that has been awaited for years has become official. The first Friday prayer performed on July 24, 2020 is engraved in Türkiye’s memory. After the decision, citizens filled Hagia Sophia Square with joy.

Minister Gürlek made the following statements in his post on his social media account:

“NATIONAL SECURITY POLICIES ARE A NON-PARTY STATE ISSUE”

“National security policies are a non-partisan state issue, beyond daily politics and ideological polarization. Therefore, the diplomatic and strategic gains achieved at the NATO Summit hosted by our country are the common pride of our beloved nation and 85 million citizens.

“Türkiye IS THE GUARANTEE OF REGIONAL AND GLOBAL STABILITY”

In this context, the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit has become an important diplomatic ground that shows the whole world the strong foreign policy response of the ‘Turkey Century’ vision shaped under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Within the reshaped global security architecture, Turkey has once again clearly demonstrated that it is a central actor that has a say in the decision-making processes of the Alliance, gives direction and sets the game, as the guarantor of regional and global stability.

EMPHASIS ON “Türkiye CENTURY”

As Türkiye, we continue to defend the rights and interests of our state and nation with uncompromising determination on every international platform, under the leadership of our President, in line with our ‘Türkiye Century’ goals.”

National security policies are a non-partisan state matter, beyond daily politics and ideological polarizations. For this reason, the diplomatic and strategic gains achieved at the NATO Summit hosted by our country are for the benefit of our beloved nation and 85 million citizens… pic.twitter.com/uaCgZJuNlB

— Akın Gürlek (@abakingurlek) July 9, 2026

At the graduation ceremony of Yeditepe University Faculty of Law in Istanbul, a sign read “Be upright as you are commanded.” The banner containing the verse caused reaction from some students.

Some students tried to take down the banner. After the attempt failed, this time an action was taken to prevent the banner from being seen by standing in front of it.

Scandalous graduation ceremony at Yeditepe University! They blocked the verse and supported those moments with applause! | Video

During the ceremony, it was seen that some academics supported the protest with applause. Those moments were captured on camera.

REACTION FROM ÖMER ÇELİK: “THEY WROTE A GREAT SHAME”

AK Party Deputy Chairman and Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik, who published a message on the issue on his social media account, used the following statements:

“Greetings to everyone who utters the truth of “Be upright as you are commanded”. Long live our brothers and sisters who strive to see this truth.

This truth is the standard of our hearts always and everywhere. Shame on those who try to prevent this truth from being heard and seen. “Those who committed barbaric acts only wrote great shame on their own foreheads.”

‘I BELIEVE IT WILL LEAD TO CONCRETE RESULTS’

Referring to the meetings held during the summit, President Erdoğan said, “On the margins of the summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Syrian President Ahmed Shara, EU Council President Antonio Costa, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Montenegrin Prime Minister We held bilateral meetings with Milojko Spajic, Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. During these contacts, many critical issues were discussed, especially bilateral relations, relations with the EU, defense industry, trade, energy, security, Euro-Atlantic security, Balkan Peace Platform, Russia-Ukraine war, Iran-USA process, Gaza, Libya, Syria and regional stability. A Security and Defense Partnership Agreement was also signed with the United Kingdom on the margins of the summit. “Free Trade Agreement negotiations with Canada have also been initiated. I believe that the constructive and productive meetings we had with my dear friend, US President Trump, who paid an official visit to our country on the occasion of the Summit, will lead to concrete results in line with our country’s expectations in the field of defense industry, especially our national combat aircraft KAAN and the F-35 program.”

‘WE CONFIRMED OUR COMMITMENT TO THE PRINCIPLE OF COLLECTIVE DEFENSE’

President Erdoğan used the following statements in the post:

“With the decisions we took at the Summit, we once again demonstrated our will to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defense capacity, strengthen the transatlantic bond and build the future of the Alliance on the basis of a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO understanding. In the Ankara Summit Final Declaration, we confirmed our unwavering commitment to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty and the principle of collective defense. The declaration also included the removal of defense trade barriers between allies, new defense supply agreements worth more than 50 billion dollars, military support to Ukraine. In addition to issues such as providing equipment, aid and training support, increasing the capacity of the defense industry and making the Alliance stronger and more prepared in areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, space, integrated air and missile defense, unmanned systems and deep precision strike capabilities were among the priority topics of the Summit. As Turkey, we will continue to make the strongest contribution to this process with our experience, military capability and developing defense industry infrastructure.

‘WE PRESENTED OUR WILL TO INCREASE OUR DEFENSE EXPENDITURES TO 3.5 LEVEL’

Emphasizing that Türkiye is not only a host country but also a key ally that directly contributes to the Alliance’s defence, diplomacy and crisis resolution capacity, Erdoğan said: “We have demonstrated our will to increase our defense expenditures to 3.5 percent before 2030. We have already reached a 1.5 percent budget share in expenditures related to security and durability. We also stated that we allocated an additional budget of 24 billion dollars for air and missile defense capabilities for the Steel Dome Project. This “It should also be noted on this occasion that while Turkey keeps communication channels open for peace in the Russia-Ukraine war, it continues to advocate moderation, diplomacy and permanent peace in the Iran-USA process, and a ceasefire, stability and multilateral cooperation approach in Gaza, Lebanon and Libya.”

COURT OF ACCOUNT REPORTS ON IMM WERE REQUESTED

The court decided to write a warrant to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to send the raw version of the HTS records to the file for all the defendants, to request all Court of Accounts reports received about the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) since 2014, and to file a criminal complaint against the defendant Naim Erol Özgüner to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for the crimes of “recording personal data” and “illegal giving or obtaining of data”.

The court decided to write a warrant to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality to inform them whether the jammer device that is the subject of the trial is registered in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality inventory or not, and asked the General Directorate of Security to inform them about who can use the jammer.

The court decided to write a memorandum to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its subsidiaries and send them information regarding the periods during which the defendants within the scope of the file worked.

The court ordered that a copy of the letters regarding the security measures to be applied to the defendant Ekrem İmamoğlu be sent to the Governorship of Istanbul and decided to evaluate the detention review of the defendants based on the file on August 6. The next hearing of the case will be held on August 17.

In the examination; No information, documents or personnel statements could be found to verify the allegations that expired or missing medications were used, non-commissioned officers and privates could not be prescribed medications, there was no pharmacy protocol, infection cases increased due to lack of drinking water, and no precautions were taken against medical supplies deficiencies. On the contrary, it was determined that the registration and follow-up of medicines and health supplies were carried out regularly, there was a pharmacy protocol, notifications of needs were made, and the barracks water was drinkable according to the analysis results.

IT STARTED WITH TIKTOK IN KIŞLA

Efran Usul started his duty at the 9th Commando Brigade Command on December 11, 2025. After taking office, he shot and published TikTok videos in the barracks. He was asked to be notified of the order regarding the use of mobile phones in military barracks, but he did not notify the order. Disciplinary action was taken against him after he continued to post images on social media, a significant portion of which he took from inside the barracks. As a result of the disciplinary investigation, the unit commander imposed a penalty of deduction from salary; He did not object to the sentence. He tore up the attachment of the order that was intended to be communicated to him and insulted the personnel who notified him.

DURING HIS TERM OF OFFICE, 6 DISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATIONS, 1 ADMINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATION

As a result of the disciplinary investigation conducted upon the complaint, a reprimand was given for indiscipline “teasing colleagues and business owners with words or actions”. Procedure did not object to this sentence within the legal period. Usul, who served as a candidate civil servant between 11 December 2025 and 5 March 2026, filed 81 petitions (51 petitions in one day) and 5 CIMER applications in the 42 working days he actually worked. All applications were examined by the relevant authorities and the necessary procedures were taken. It was decided that there was no need for prosecution regarding the complaints Usul made to the prosecutor’s office about some personnel. It was determined that an investigation was launched against him within the scope of slander and fabrication of crimes, and he was detained by the prosecutor’s office for one day. During his term of office, 6 disciplinary investigations and 1 administrative investigation were conducted regarding the procedure. Procedures were initiated to terminate Usul’s relationship after he continued his actions despite warnings to remove his posts.

CLAIMS WERE EXAMINED

Following the allegations made by Usul, who served in the 9th Commando Brigade Command, in his social media posts, it was stated that it was headed by a general; An administrative investigation was carried out by a six-person committee consisting of a legal advisor and four members. Within the scope of the investigation, 10 pieces of legislation in force were examined, the statements of 36 personnel were taken and 62 documents and documents consisting of approximately 1,000 pages were evaluated. 31 claims in social media posts were examined in detail. The applications of doctors with military and civil servant status who worked in the infirmary in the last 2 years were examined. Another female doctor who worked in the same period and with the same status as Efran Usul submitted only two petitions; It was seen that these petitions were related to service requests and mobile phone use in the barracks.

IT WAS FOUND THAT IT WAS NOT TRUE

In the examination; No information, documents or personnel statements could be found to verify the allegations that expired or missing medications were used, non-commissioned officers and privates could not be prescribed medications, there was no pharmacy protocol, infection cases increased due to lack of drinking water, and no precautions were taken against medical supplies deficiencies. On the contrary, it was determined that the registration and follow-up of medicines and health supplies were carried out regularly, there was a pharmacy protocol, notifications of needs were made, and the barracks water was drinkable according to the analysis results. A criminal complaint was filed on June 23, 2026, within the scope of the Military Restricted Zones and Security Zones Law No. 2565 and Article 318 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237, due to social media posts.

CANDIDATE CIVIL SERVICE WAS TERMINATED

The 31 allegations made by Efran Usul on social media were examined in a comprehensive administrative investigation; Within the framework of available information, documents and personnel statements, no concrete findings could be found to confirm the allegations. Article 56 of the Civil Servants Law No. 657: “During the candidacy period, those who fail in any of the basic and preparatory training and internship periods, those who have received more than one warning and/or reprimand, and those who have received a penalty of deduction from salary or suspension of grade advancement, will be dismissed upon the proposal of their disciplinary superiors and the approval of the chief authorized to appoint.” Within the scope of the provision, his candidacy as a civil servant was terminated by the Land Forces Command, based on the proposal of the 9th Commando Brigade Command dated 12 May 2026.