Analysis
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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.
A rift within the ruling AKP divulged to public view after Tamar Tanrıyar — a social media phenomenon, a Turkish-Armenian known mainly as the wife of a former celebrity journalist and the owner of a small television channel — released a video targeting pro-government Turkuvaz Media Group that owns Sabah newspaper and ATV television channel.
In the CHP, rapidly heading toward a split after the absolute nullity ruling, one of the key questions people are looking to answer is what stance Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş will take.
The ruling AKP submitted the omnibus bill known as the 12th Judicial Package to parliament. The draft law aims to increase judicial efficiency. However, the AKP group stripped the document of numerous highly debated articles originally proposed by the Justice Ministry.
The ruling AKP submitted the omnibus bill known as the 12th Judicial Package to parliament. The draft law aims to increase judicial efficiency. However, the AKP group stripped the document of numerous highly debated articles originally proposed by the Justice Ministry.
Despite expectations that early election scenarios would dissolve following the absolute nullity ruling that split the CHP into two, the debate has not ended.
No sooner had Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu settled into the party leadership — declaring 'first purification, then a congress' in the immediate wake of the absolute nullity ruling — than he did exactly what everyone expected: signed off on expulsions.
Selling pressure intensified on Istanbul’s stock exchange today following a court ruling of "absolute nullity" regarding the main opposition CHP congress. The benchmark BIST 100 index plunged over 6%, triggering a market-wide circuit breaker. The banking index took an even heavier hit, dropping more than 8% to close at 13,163 points.
"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.
Efforts by conservative and right-wing parties to build a “third way” outside the ruling and main opposition blocs are gaining momentum, as Saadet Party and YRP — both rooted in Turkey’s first political Islamist tradition, the National View (Milli Görüş) shaped by Necmettin Erbakan — step up talks on election cooperation. The renewed contacts signal a shift in relations between the two parties, which had previously been at odds over the movement’s legacy following the founding of YRP in 2018. This time, the talks focus on bringing together Saadet Party, YRP, Gelecek Party and DEVA Party under a common framework, with a broader alliance that could also include the İYİ Party.
The expected has happened. The “new peace process,” now more than a year old, has fallen under the shadow of Syria. Map-altering clashes between the new Damascus government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose backbone is formed by Kurds, have driven a wedge between the AKP-MHP ruling bloc and the DEM Party in Turkey.
The parliamentary delegation’s visit to PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on Nov. 24 — involving MPs from the AKP, MHP, and DEM — reignited tensions and revived coup speculation. The ruling parties' silence further fueled the controversy.