President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was welcomed with a magnificent ceremony in Kazakhstan yesterday. At the first stop of his contacts, Erdoğan will meet with Kazakhstan President Kasım Cömert Tokayev at the Independence Palace today. Following the one-on-one meeting between the two leaders, the Turkey-Kazakhstan High Level Strategic Cooperation Council Meeting will be chaired. During the meetings, all aspects of the “enhanced strategic partnership” framework between the two countries will be discussed, and steps towards further strengthening political, economic and regional cooperation will be evaluated.

THE BUSINESS WORLD WILL MEET
One of the most important topics of the visit will be economic relations. The 15 billion dollar trade volume target set between Türkiye and Kazakhstan and joint projects in the field of energy will be on the table. In this context, new agreements and cooperation protocols are expected to be signed in various fields.

In addition, Erdoğan and Tokayev are planned to attend the Turkey-Kazakhstan Business Forum, meet with representatives of the business world and evaluate investment opportunities. Approximately 4 thousand Turkish capital companies operate in Kazakhstan. Erdogan will attend the Unofficial Leaders Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Turkestan tomorrow.

‘WELCOME TO ATA HOME’
President Erdoğan and his wife Emine Erdoğan were welcomed by Kazakhstan President Kasım Cömert Tokayev at Astana Nursultan Nazarbayev Airport. Erdoğan responded to the children chanting “Welcome to the homeland” with “We welcome you.” Erdoğan and First Lady Erdoğan took a souvenir photo with the children who sang the song “Dombra”. Meanwhile, Erdoğan’s plane was accompanied by Su-34 type warplanes in Kazakhstan airspace.

PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN: TURKISH-KAZAKHS RELATIONS WILL BE STRONGER AND DEEPER
President Erdoğan wrote the foreword to the work titled “Turkey-Kazakhstan Relations on the 35th Anniversary of Independence”: With the astute and visionary leadership of the President of Kazakhstan, Mr. Kasım Comart Tokayev, these relations have gained a different momentum as a result of our mutual efforts.

Addressing these relations, which have a layered structure, within an academic framework is important in terms of identifying new windows of opportunity for the future. We have full faith that the relations between Türkiye and Kazakhstan will become stronger and deeper in the coming period.

According to the statement made by the Ministry, Gürlek met with the MPs of the Black Sea Region provinces at the consultation meeting held in Ankara Judge’s House. Speaking here, Gürlek stated that the heaviest penalties in the fight against drugs are given in Türkiye. Stating that there are important studies on reformation in the fight against drugs, Gürlek stated that the correctional work has started in the prison before the person convicted of drugs is released on probation.

Stating that they have established a model prison on the subject, Gürlek said, “From now on, there will be treatment, rehabilitation and tests. In other words, the administrative observation board will decide on conditional release.” he said. Stating that young people and children have fallen into a swamp regarding virtual betting, drugs and virtual gambling, Gürlek said, “It is especially a problem in Türkiye, unfortunately it is not a crime in terms of illegal betting.

Manipulating, intermediating, transferring, sending bank accounts, these are crimes. But it is not a crime for those who bet illegally. “We are working on a regulation to make this a crime,” he said.

IS IT THE END OF THE ROAD FOR IMAMOĞLU?

İlter Yeşiltaş, who shared backstage information about what attitude Kılıçdaroğlu will display in his possible return, said, “It is said that Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will not exclude Özgür Özel if he takes office again, but the same situation will not be valid for Ekrem İmamoğlu, and İmamoğlu will not be able to exist in a CHP under Kılıçdaroğlu’s administration.”

“ATTACK” DEFENSE OF HEADQUARTERS

İlter Yeşiltaş, who also conveyed the current administration’s attitude towards these allegations, said, “The headquarters side argues that the Republican People’s Party is under attack; some MPs even claim that Özgür Özel has now risen from the chairmanship to the leadership.”

Claims that a “backup party” is being prepared against all kinds of risks also remain hot behind the scenes.

CRITICAL “ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE” RELEASE WITHOUT NAMED

Evaluating the leadership crisis in the CHP in the live broadcast of A Haber, Mahmut Övür made a striking prediction about the future of the party through Ekrem İmamoğlu’s legal situation. Övür: “But if absolute nullity is declared legally, I am one of those who think it will not work.” he said. Stating that if this situation happens, a new road map will be drawn in the party, Mahmut Övür said, “If an absolutely flawless CHP administration is planned before that, who will think about it? Özgür Özel will think about it.” he said.

DOES ÖZGÜR SPECIAL HAVE A “BREAK UP” PLAN?

Evaluating the possibility of Özgür Özel getting rid of İmamoğlu’s shadow, Mahmut Övür said, “We need to see if Özgür Özel reaches the point where he will think of throwing his shadow over the party.” he conveyed in his words. Analyzing the political consequences of this move, Övür said, “What does that mean? It means that he broke away from İmamoğlu and the team formed by İmamoğlu.” he said.

“LET ME BACK TO MY CHAIRMAN TO WHICH I SHED TEARS”

Drawing attention to a radical change of course within the party, Mahmut Övür described the possible plan in Özgür Özel’s mind with the following words: “Now Özgür Özel will have made the following decision: ‘What if we say İmamoğlu has no chance of getting out of this process, he will be doomed. Let me now return to save the party, and to end the fight, let me return to my former chairman, the chairman with whom I cried and shed tears, and let’s save the party again.'”

Stating that this possibility is a search for a political solution, Övür stated that it was difficult for Özel to make this maneuver.

Journalist Murat Özer, who keeps his finger on the pulse of politics, made a striking analysis by stating that CHP’s entrenched 25 percent voter base focuses on the leader rather than the brand value of the party.

The Ministry of Justice announced that a “holistic rehabilitation model” has been implemented, ranging from the fight against addiction to vocational courses, from psychosocial support mechanisms to social and sports activities. In the Ministry’s statement, it was stated that convicts in penal institutions are supported to gain healthy habits, reintegrate into society as productive individuals and establish a life away from crime.

“WE STRENGTHEN THE HUMAN-CENTERED APPROACH”

In his assessment, Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek stated that under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the penal system continues to be strengthened with a “people-centered, protective and rehabilitative” approach.

TARGET: CRIME-FREE, PRODUCTIVE AND RESPONSIBLE INDIVIDUALS

In his statement, Minister Gürlek noted that the aim is to reintegrate the convicts into society as “crime-free, productive and responsible individuals” by supporting them psychologically, socially and professionally. It was stated that psychosocial support programs, vocational training, art and sports activities and spiritual guidance studies are among the basic elements of this process.

“CONCEPTION OF EXECUTION THAT STRENGTHENS SOCIAL PEACE”

The statement also emphasized that the new generation execution approach, “based on human dignity”, aims to strengthen social peace and prioritize recovery.

In his statement on his virtual media account, Minister Göktaş said, “We stand by our citizens affected by the flood disaster in Şanlıurfa and Samsun. In this context, we transferred resources of 30 million liras to the Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations operating in both provinces in order to meet the urgent and basic needs of our citizens affected by the disaster in the first place. Our SYDV teams continue to carry out field investigations, household visits and damage assessment studies in coordination with the relevant institutions. Psychosocial support “We have been on the field with our teams from the first moment. We provide psychosocial support services to our citizens affected by the disaster. May God protect our country and nation from all kinds of disasters.”

We stand with our citizens affected by the flood disaster in Şanlıurfa and Samsun.

In this context, Social Assistance and Solidarity, which operates in both provinces, in order to meet the urgent and basic needs of our citizens affected by the disaster in the first place.

— Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş (@MahinurOzdemir) May 13, 2026

According to the statement made by the Constitutional Court, President Özkaya met in his office with Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court of China Shen and his accompanying delegation, who paid a working visit to Türkiye upon the invitation of the Presidency of the Supreme Court of Appeals.

Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Ankara Jiang Xuebin, Deputy President of the Constitutional Court İrfan Fidan and Secretary General Murat Azaklı and Secretary General of the Supreme Court of Appeals Mehmet Fatih Belviranlı were also present at the reception.

“IT PROVIDES SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEGAL SYSTEMS”

Expressing his pleasure to host Shen Liang, Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court of China, and his accompanying delegation, Özkaya stated that mutual knowledge and experience sharing between high judicial institutions makes significant contributions to the development of legal systems.

Özkaya stated that especially the use of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in judicial services has opened up new opportunities and areas of discussion in the field of law, including constitutional judiciary, and that institutional cooperation and experience sharing between countries have become more important in this process, and noted that such contacts contribute to strengthening the mutual understanding between judicial institutions.

Özkaya stated that the visit planned to be held in July to the Supreme People’s Court of China will be an important opportunity to develop relations between the high judicial institutions of the two countries.

“THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT IS FOLLOWED WITH APPRECIATION”

Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court of China, Shen, also thanked Özkaya for hosting and pointed out the importance of mutual knowledge and experience sharing between high judicial institutions.

Stating that the effective and correct use of artificial intelligence and technological developments in the field of law has become an important field of study for judicial systems today, Shen emphasized that they follow with appreciation the experience and institutional capacity of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey in the field of constitutional jurisdiction, and that the court has a respected position not only in Türkiye but also in international judicial circles.

Touching on Türkiye’s role in the world and its relations with China, Shen drew attention to the necessity of strengthening cooperation between the judicial systems of the two countries.