Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched a narcotics investigation that led to the arrest of eight people including Habertürk Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Akif Ersoy and some anchors.
Authorities arrested 16 young leftists who were protesting the deaths of child laborers, many linked to MESEM, Vocational Training Centers run by the Education Ministry.
A Turkish court has handed a four-year prison sentence to journalist Fatih Altaylı after he was convicted of threatening President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Altaylı, known for his popular YouTube programs, denies the charges and plans to appeal, after prosecutors accused him of physically threatening the president based on remarks he made on his channel. He was arrested on June 22 and appeared before the judge for the second time at this week’s hearing. He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison for threatening the president. The court ruled that judicial control would be insufficient and ordered that his detention continue. Altaylı threw the notes and files in his hand after hearing the decision and left the courtroom.
Who is Ayşe Barım? Those who should know her, don’t. The people of this country—who have lived all their lives below the poverty line, and not even all of them, only a few—first heard her name in the news bulletins. When? Exactly 248 days ago, when she was arrested. They didn’t know Ayşe Barım, but in the evenings they gathered with their families or friends, cracking sunflower seeds and watching TV dramas with excitement. Yet those viewers had no idea what was happening behind the screen. Behind the mesmerizing shows they watched so devotedly stood an unknown figure. Under the headlines “Çağlayan Courthouse / Silivri Prison,” Ayşe Barım was forced—by the hand of the judiciary, not by her own will—to step onto the stage from behind the curtains.
Comedian Egemen Şimşek was arrested on charges of insulting religious values held by a segment of the public.Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation into Şimşek over jokes about Moses and Jesus in his stand-up performance titled “Contrary Thoughts.”
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into comments made on the YouTube channel Soğuk Savaş (Cold War) regarding the Islamic teaching that “alcohol is the mother of all evil.”
Ahmet Sungur, the AKP mayor of Yahşihan in Kırıkkale, who was arrested on charges of extortion, has been removed from office.
İsmet Sayhan, the former head of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) and a close associate of MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli, was arrested in Ankara. Amid speculation that the detention was a sign of cracks in the ruling alliance, Bahçeli and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in Bitlis’s Ahlat and Malazgirt on Aug. 25–26, posing for cameras to signal the strength of their alliance in their first meeting since July 10. They even listened to folk songs together.
İsmet Sayhan, former president of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) and a close associate of MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli, has been arrested.
Istanbul’s Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney has become the 16th CHP mayor sent to prison as part of a widening corruption probe targeting opposition-run municipalities.
Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that former HDP MP Hüda Kaya was unlawfully arrested and that her rights were violated after she was denied access to her file following her detention over the 2014 Kobani protests.
Gökalp İçer, chair of cryptocurrency exchange platform ICRYPEX, was arrested on charges of drug trafficking and attempted murder.