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FULL-FLEDGED CRACKDOWN ON CHP CONTINUES
Inside Turkey May 29, 2026

FULL-FLEDGED CRACKDOWN ON CHP CONTINUES

The financial crimes police raided Şile Municipality on July 10, detaining Mayor Özgür Kabadayı as part of the widening corruption investigations targeting CHP-run municipalities. It was yet another ordinary day for the main opposition, which has been facing near-daily legal turmoil since Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained on March 19. CHP Istanbul Chair Özgür Çelik said Kabadayı and several others were detained in house raids at 1:30 a.m. Arrest warrants were issued for at least six individuals, said the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Editorial Team
REASONED VERDICT RELEASED 13 MONTHS AFTER SENTENCING
Inside Turkey May 29, 2026

REASONED VERDICT RELEASED 13 MONTHS AFTER SENTENCING

Thirteen months after sentencing, the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court has released its reasoned verdict in the high-profile Kobani trial, in which former HDP Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ were sentenced to 42 and 30 years in prison, respectively.

Editorial Team
SABRE-RATTLING BREAKS OUT AFTER CADETS SWEAR OATH TO ATATÜRK
Deep Dive May 29, 2026

SABRE-RATTLING BREAKS OUT AFTER CADETS SWEAR OATH TO ATATÜRK

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a U-turn about the oath sworn by cadets graduating from a military academy in which they drew their swords and promised to be the soldiers of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in protecting secularism in the country.  “Against whom are you drawing these swords?” asked Erdogan eight days after the incident, joining the chorus that associated the unofficial oath with the military tutelage that Turkey suffered in the past. Then, arguing that the new graduates had fallen into a trap set by others, he told a workshop arranged for religious high school graduates that he would fire those who had influenced the cadets.

Editorial Team
DEFECTIONS, CONFESSIONS AND NOW CLOSURE: THE CHP'S MOUNTING TROUBLES
Deep Dive May 29, 2026

DEFECTIONS, CONFESSIONS AND NOW CLOSURE: THE CHP'S MOUNTING TROUBLES

The CHP is facing an unprecedented convergence of crises one after the other. Afyonkarahisar Mayor Burcu Köksal has defected to the AKP. Jailed Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım and Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek have applied for the effective remorse law, alleging they paid CHP Chair Özgür Özel and his close ally MP Veli Ağbaba in exchange for nomination in the municipal elections. The allegations have raised the spectre of closure proceedings against the party — with Özel increasingly in the crosshairs.

Editorial Team
RISING FORECASTS, OPPORTUNIST PRICING
Economy and Finance May 21, 2026

RISING FORECASTS, OPPORTUNIST PRICING

Turkey's inflation and high cost of living show no sign of easing. A new Central Bank survey points to rising price expectations — coming just days after the bank officially revised its own forecasts upward.

Editorial Team
COURT RULING OUSTS ÖZEL, HANDS CHP BACK TO KILIÇDAROĞLU
Deep Dive May 21, 2026

COURT RULING OUSTS ÖZEL, HANDS CHP BACK TO KILIÇDAROĞLU

A fresh blow has landed on the CHP as a court annulled the party's 2023 congress — the elective gathering at which the party leadership, including its chair, changed hands following an election defeat — ordering the party's administration to revert to its pre-congress configuration.

Editorial Team
TURKEY’S UNREQUITED LOVE WITH CHINA
Guest Voices May 21, 2026

TURKEY’S UNREQUITED LOVE WITH CHINA

The way Donald Trump was received in Beijing by Xi Jinping showed China’s increased power and confidence in its relations with the US. Trump’s flattery of his host was a clear indication that China will no longer be regarded as an underdog that Trump can push around with arbitrary tariff increases.

Guest Voices
WHAT ANKARA DOES NOT PUT ON THE BROCHURE
The Third Desk May 21, 2026

WHAT ANKARA DOES NOT PUT ON THE BROCHURE

A city’s cultural field does not stop at its administrative boundary. If Ankara reveals itself in layers, some of its most telling ones begin once the city has thinned into road, valley and plateau.

Editorial Team