Editorial Team

“Am I obliged to answer this question?” was the reply of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan when he was asked about behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts that, according to the anchorwoman, had succeeded in stopping ballistic missile attacks from Iran against Turkey.

"This political case will collapse," Istanbul Mayor and the CHP's presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu declared repeatedly while delivering the last remarks on the 15th session of the corruption hearing. The courtroom was again full like the first days of the hearing as many were expecting a court ruling on release of several defendants. Only 18 of those under pre-trial detention were released, according to the midnight interim ruling. As expected, İmamoğlu’s executive assistant Kadriye Kasapoğlu and low profile figures like the drivers or workers were released but former CHP MP Aykut Erdoğdu was not on the list.

There is no clear timeline for progress in the Kurdish process despite the post-Ramadan Bayram and April expectations on both sides.

On March 26, the 11th hearing in the trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his co-defendants on corruption charges was concluded, with proceedings shifting away from procedural debates toward the substance of testimonies. Discussions centered on statements by defendants and individuals who later withdrew their testimonies after invoking the remorse provisions, reviving debate over the strength of the indictment.

All deaths are tragic. They touch a family, a circle of friends, a silence suddenly too large for the room. But some deaths pass beyond the private wound and enter the deeper chambers of public life. They reveal the loss not only of a person, but of a habit of mind, a manner of thinking, a discipline of attention, a way of teaching a society to recognise itself. The death of Professor İlber Ortaylı feels like that kind of loss.

The trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on corruption charges began on March 9, with the main defendant’s plans to challenge the legitimacy of the trial muzzled by the court and the media. After waiting nearly a year, İmamoğlu and 402 co-defendants — 107 of whom are under pre-trial detention — finally got their day in court. The hearings began with a confrontation between the court and İmamoğlu over his desire to make his case. He was allowed to deliver only a short statement on the second day and may have to wait at least until mid-April — in the best-case scenario — to present his full defense.

CHP Chair Özgür Özel spent the Bayram holiday and the following days pressing his attack against new Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, accusing him of illicit enrichment and corruption.

The war in Gaza has already changed the dynamics in the Middle East. Before the region was able to digest all these changes, another front emerged: the confrontation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran that expanded in geographic and political scope.

The intended target of the ballistic missile launched from Iran and intercepted on Turkish airspace on March 4 remains disputed. While Turkey said the missile was heading toward the eastern Mediterranean, NATO said the target was Turkey, and U.S. officials pointed to the location, Incirlik Air Base. Iran, however, denied that Turkey was the intended target.

A former top prosecutor, wanted for nearly a decade over his alleged ties to the Gülenist movement, which Turkey officially designated as a terrorist group, was arrested after police found him hiding in a secret compartment inside a wardrobe.