Editorial Team

Pope Leo XIV, spiritual leader of 1.5 billion Catholics, is making his first overseas trip to Turkey since his May inauguration. The visit, which began Nov. 27 in Ankara, will continue through Nov. 30. The Pope’s trip aims to commemorate a key Christian anniversary and send a message of peace amid efforts to end the war in Ukraine and ease tensions in the Middle East.

The parliamentary commission tasked with advancing the new peace process between the PKK and Turkey is heading toward a landmark meeting on Nov. 21, when it is expected to decide whether to visit Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island, where he has been serving a life sentence since 1999. Although the outcome in the 51-member body initially appeared certain — with the AKP, MHP, DEM, TİP and EMEP signaling support for the visit — shifting political dynamics have pushed discussions toward avoiding a formal vote altogether, according to last-minute reports ahead of the meeting. The move is seen as a way to ease pressure on parties — particularly the AKP and CHP, both facing internal sensitivities — even though initial reports had suggested the commission would hold a vote on whether to visit Öcalan.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise day-long visit to Ankara on Nov. 19, at a time when press reports revealed the U.S. and Russia had prepared a new framework peace plan.

The indictment against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief rival, Ekrem İmamoğlu, not only accuses the jailed Istanbul mayor of corruption, but also targets the CHP, laying bare the political nature of the case. The charge sheet alleges that the CHP is being taken over by a criminal organization and on that basis prosecutors also notified the Court of Cassation that there may be grounds to close the main opposition party.

The parliamentary commission formed to pave the way for a new Kurdish peace process remains stuck over whether its members should visit jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. A planned session of the commission has been postponed once again, even as hopes rise for the release of imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş following a third ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The pressure is mounting on Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his party CHP, with investigations about the corruption allegations now extending to his immediate family and allied journalists, as CHP Chair Özgür Özel tries to challenge the government by divulging the misdoings of Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akın Gürlek.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted the DEM Party’s İmralı delegation, as the parliamentary commission listened to Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç for the first time since the PKK announced that all its forces in Turkey had begun withdrawing to northern Iraq.

Friedrich Merz’s visit to Ankara marks a new phase in German-Turkish relations — the trip served domestic power dynamics in Berlin in political terms rather than through concrete agreements. The chancellor did not come because Turkey has fundamentally changed, but because Germany finds itself in deep economic and political uncertainty. By Ozan Demircan

The brief respite after a court rejected a bid to unseat main opposition CHP Chair Özgür Özel and annul the party’s 2023 congress has now given way to a widening espionage probe. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his campaign director Necati Özkan were rearrested on espionage charges, while a trustee was appointed to TELE1 television channel and its editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardağ, was also taken into custody on Oct. 24.

A series of layoffs, delayed salaries, office closures and suspension of broadcasts at Turkish media outlets has sparked alarm in the sector.