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CHP’S RELENTLESS RALLIES FAIL TO SWAY CORRUPTION PROBE
Inside Turkey Aug 1, 2025

CHP’S RELENTLESS RALLIES FAIL TO SWAY CORRUPTION PROBE

Since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s detention on March 19, the CHP has held 40 rallies despite no upcoming elections, yet failed to shift the political agenda. The party opened İmamoğlu’s first campaign office in its Çankaya stronghold in Ankara, only to see its provincial chair dismissed days later. Though operations against Istanbul Municipality slowed, confessions from businessperson Aziz İhsan Aktaş continue to dominate headlines. A fresh wave of arrests targeted subsidiaries ISFALT and IETT, as well as tender officials.

Editorial Team
NO NEW LAW, NO MASS RELEASES: GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO SÖZCÜ HEADLINES
Media, Internet and Culture Jul 25, 2025

NO NEW LAW, NO MASS RELEASES: GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO SÖZCÜ HEADLINES

Ahead of renewed hopes for a peace process, Sözcü — known for its opposition stance — has stirred controversy with successive headlines alleging the mass release of PKK-linked prisoners. The Justice Ministry has twice rejected the newspaper’s reports, which first claimed 200 prisoners had been released and later suggested an additional 700 would follow.

Editorial Team
TURKEY AND FRANCE: STRATEGIC RIVALS, RELUCTANT PARTNERS
Guest Voices Jul 25, 2025

TURKEY AND FRANCE: STRATEGIC RIVALS, RELUCTANT PARTNERS

Turkey and France, NATO allies and regional heavyweights, are locked in a relationship best described as a cocktail of competition, cooperation, and confrontation. Despite shared interests in trade and global security, Ankara and Paris appear increasingly out of step on strategic and ideological matters even as flashpoints multiply.

Guest Voices
TRUSTEE AT İMAMOĞLU FAMILY FIRM ALSO IN OVER 20 SEIZED COMPANIES
Economy and Finance Jul 25, 2025

TRUSTEE AT İMAMOĞLU FAMILY FIRM ALSO IN OVER 20 SEIZED COMPANIES

Enis Güçlü Şirin, the trustee appointed to İmamoğlu İnşaat—the family business of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu—holds positions on the boards of more than 20 other companies. All the firms where Şirin serves are under the administration of Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) which operates firms that have been seized by the state often because of bankruptcy, tax debts, or links to the Gülenist movement.

Editorial Team
SYMBOL OF FEAR RETURNS
Inside Turkey Jul 25, 2025

SYMBOL OF FEAR RETURNS

One of the prosecutors overseeing the case against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has come under fire after CHP Chair Özgür Özel revealed that the prosecutor displays a model of a Beyaz Toros—a car widely associated with disappearances and state violence in the 1990s. İmamoğlu, who has been held at Silivri Prison since his March 19 arrest, recounted the incident during an interview with journalist Ruşen Çakır of Medyascope as he visited the Istanbul Mayor in prison. İmamoğlu said the prosecutor, who took his testimony following the sweeping police operation, placed a symbolic image of the white Renault Toros on his desk and ended the interrogation by saying: “Tomorrow you become president, then you judge us.”

Editorial Team
İMAMOĞLU CLEARED OF ‘TARGETING’; RECEIVES PRISON SENTENCE FOR ‘THREAT’ AND ‘INSULT’
Inside Turkey Jul 16, 2025

İMAMOĞLU CLEARED OF ‘TARGETING’; RECEIVES PRISON SENTENCE FOR ‘THREAT’ AND ‘INSULT’

Jailed Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was acquitted of charges of “targeting public officials involved in counterterrorism” but was convicted of “publicly insulting a public official due to his duty” and “making threats” in the case concerning Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek. The court sentenced İmamoğlu to one year and five months in prison for the insult charge and an additional two months and 15 days for the threat charge, totaling one year and eight months. If upheld by the appeals court, the ruling could result in a political ban.

Editorial Team
IS THE CAUCASUS SLIPPING THROUGH RUSSIA'S FINGERS?
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy Jul 11, 2025

IS THE CAUCASUS SLIPPING THROUGH RUSSIA'S FINGERS?

After the Middle East, Russia is losing its standing in the Caucasus, reads the headline of the article penned by a prominent Turkish journalist who is an expert on Russian issues. The article is referring to press reports that Armenia and Azerbaijan are close to an agreement on the Zangezur corridor which will also facilitate the signing of a permanent peace agreement between the two neighbors.

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TRT COULD BROADCAST LIVE İMAMOĞLU’S TRIAL
Inside Turkey Jul 11, 2025

TRT COULD BROADCAST LIVE İMAMOĞLU’S TRIAL

The possibility the trial of imprisoned Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu could be televised by state broadcaster TRT has sparked rare agreement among political rivals. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan endorsed MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli’s call for the hearings to be aired live. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç also weighed in, saying that Parliament can act on the matter if there is consensus.

Editorial Team