Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek has staked his reputation on a sweeping review of Turkey's unsolved murders — a calculated move that appears designed as much to rehabilitate the judiciary's battered image as to deliver justice.
As the CHP’s criminal court case on its 2023 party congress nears, speculation that the former administration under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will replace the chairmanship of Özgür Özel has resurfaced. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks fueled the flames, as did Kılıçdaroğlu’s snub of Özel at a funeral.
As the war between the US-Israel and Iran disrupts global energy routes, Turkey is trying to transform the regional crisis into an opportunity to offer security of supplies.
While mass school shootings remain rare in Turkey, the back-to-back attacks in Şanlıurfa and Kahramanmaraş have intensified calls for the resignation of Education Minister Yusuf Tekin, as discussions on the increasing violence in education system have come under scrutiny.
Parliament approved the first six articles of a landmark bill that includes a ban on children under the age of 15 from using social media platforms. Under the new rules expected to pass as a whole on April 14, social network providers will be prohibited from offering services to children who have not reached the age of 15.
The Istanbul Municipality corruption trial reached its 19th hearing session this week, bringing some of the most dramatic courtroom scenes since proceedings began. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the CHP's presidential candidate and Istanbul's jailed mayor, set the tone for the week. Describing the indictment as "not just garbage but rotten garbage rotting inside garbage," he told the court the case had already collapsed at its foundations: "If the alleged leader of the organization does not even know the alleged members, the whole thing collapses from the start."
CHP Chair Özgür Özel continued visiting parties in support of a by-election. While DEM and left-wing parties supported the offer, smaller parties gave stronger support for an early election rather than a by-election.
Turkey has launched its campaign to lead the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) after nominating former Agriculture Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker for the position of Director-General.
“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.
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.