ONCE-WINNING OPPOSITION IS FALLING APART
After defeating the AKP in the 2024 local elections, the opposition set its sights on the presidency but the split and rivalry between the CHP and the Yeni Party are now weakening it by the day.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
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NOOSE TIGHTENS AROUND TURKEY'S OPPOSITION
Clouds are gathering over opposition politicians. Each new development makes them darker. Judicial rulings block opposition parties at every turn.
CRACKDOWN HAND IN HAND WITH 'FAMILY SAFE' OPERATION FOR OBSCENITY
After years of demonizing rhetoric against LGBTQ+ people, Turkish authorities launched a nationwide operation named 'My Family Is Safe,' detaining hundreds of people from civil society. The crackdown continued with arrests and access bans targeting dissidents, media outlets and civil society organizations' X accounts, widening to include broader opposition voices who spoke out against the operations. The main charge in the investigation was 'obscenity.'
ZÜLFÜ LİVANELİ'S WISE DECISION
Zülfü Livaneli made a clear decision this week. The musician and novelist put an end to the playing of his celebrated composition at opposition rallies protesting the operations that have targeted Ekrem İmamoğlu — and subsequently numerous other mayors and municipal officials — since March 19, 2025.
ERDOĞAN'S MEETING WITH YAVAŞ IS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE IN AKP'S MUNICIPAL PLAYBOOK
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş for the first time since the opposition took control of the capital amid rumors the mayor could be the next target of the judicial assault on opposition municipalities.
A THIRD-STAGE IMMUNITY OPERATION?
There's a Turkish saying for describing one misfortune piling on another: 'What happened to us didn't even happen to the boiled chicken'. The last three years for opposition leaders Özgür Özel and Ekrem İmamoğlu, and the 'Change Movement' they lead, bring that saying to mind.
AKP PUSHES TO GAIN MORE SEATS IN ISTANBUL
The opposition's advantage in Istanbul's Municipal Council is decreasing while the ruling AKP and MHP are increasing their numbers.
YENİ PARTY BECOMES MAIN OPPOSITION AS DETENTIONS CONTINUE UNABATED
The Yeni Party became Turkey's main opposition party soon after its founding, with 91 lawmakers among its founders. Mayors and municipal council members continued to join the party, while the crackdown against its supporters continued at full speed across the country.
NATIONALIST PARTIES DENOUNCE FRAMEWORK LAW
Turkey's nationalist opposition parties escalated their criticism of the framework law that is expected to regulate the return of PKK members, rebuking the government for showing the draft to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan before parliament or the public.
ANKA OWNER CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE AS CHP MEDIA FUNDING ROW ESCALATES
ANKA News Agency, widely regarded as the voice of the CHP-aligned opposition, and its owner Ali Fırat Atabaş have come under renewed scrutiny over the funding they receive from the CHP following the split in the party due to the absolute nullity ruling.
COURT PAUSES LEGAL BATTLE OVER ISTANBUL’S ANCIENT BASILICA CISTERN
In the latest episode of a legal battle between the central government and the opposition-led Istanbul municipality, a Turkish appeals court on June 4 temporarily blocked the transfer of the historic Basilica Cistern, a major tourist attraction of Istanbul, from the municipality to the Directorate General of Foundations.
MORE THAN A CONGRESS: HIDDEN BATTLEGROUNDS OF THE CHP CRISIS
Since the court voided the CHP's 2023 party congress, the main opposition has been unable to untangle the knot — and each new court decision pulls it tighter. The question is whether the party can hold an extraordinary congress to break the deadlock. But the forces shaping what comes next run deeper: when and how the CHP headquarters under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, 77, will move to press disciplinary charges, expelling some figures; whether the parliamentary immunity of ousted chair Özgür Özel, 51, and his allies — implicated by recent testimonies from Antalya and Uşak — will be lifted; and when a new party will be established.