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KEY SUSPECT IN SINAN ATEŞ MURDER CASE SHOT DEAD
Inside Turkey Oct 6, 2025

KEY SUSPECT IN SINAN ATEŞ MURDER CASE SHOT DEAD

Serdar Öktem, a lawyer affiliated with the MHP and a defendant in the 2022 assassination case of former Grey Wolves leader Sinan Ateş, died after being shot outside his office by masked assailants on Oct. 6. The attackers opened fire while Öktem was inside his car in front of his office on Büyükdere Avenue in Istanbul’s Zincirlikuyu district. Surveillance video showed six bullet holes in the window of his car. Despite emergency medical intervention, Öktem succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

Editorial Team
CHP FACES NEW SETBACK AS COURT HALTS ISTANBUL CONGRESS PROCESS
Deep Dive Sep 5, 2025

CHP FACES NEW SETBACK AS COURT HALTS ISTANBUL CONGRESS PROCESS

Turkey’s main opposition CHP suffered a fresh blow as a court dissolved its largest provincial board in Istanbul over cash payment claims. The party now awaits either a Sept. 5 ruling by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) or a Sept.15 court hearing that could unseat Chair Özgür Özel’s administration. The CHP, which came to power at a November 2023 congress with the slogan “Change,” now risks being replaced by the team of former chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The 45th Civil Court of First Instance ruled that irregularities in the October 2023 Istanbul provincial congress were “approximately proven.” The court suspended provincial chair Özgür Çelik, the executive and disciplinary boards, and 196 delegates. Attention has now turned to another court set to review the CHP’s 2023 congress in Ankara. “The Istanbul decision is null and void. We do not recognize it,” said Özel, vowing not to hand over CHP’s Istanbul building to the appointed administration. The Istanbul administration also started a stage-in protest in front of the building for 24 hours.

Editorial Team
ERDOĞAN AND BAHÇELİ MEET AS SECOND CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF BAHÇELİ ARRESTED
Deep Dive Aug 28, 2025

ERDOĞAN AND BAHÇELİ MEET AS SECOND CLOSE ASSOCIATE OF BAHÇELİ ARRESTED

İsmet Sayhan, the former head of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) and a close associate of MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli, was arrested in Ankara. Amid speculation that the detention was a sign of cracks in the ruling alliance, Bahçeli and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in Bitlis’s Ahlat and Malazgirt on Aug. 25–26, posing for cameras to signal the strength of their alliance in their first meeting since July 10. They even listened to folk songs together.

Editorial Team
COMMISSION SPLIT OVER RULE OF LAW
Inside Turkey Aug 28, 2025

COMMISSION SPLIT OVER RULE OF LAW

The parliamentary National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission held two tense meetings this week, first hearing from Turkey’s bar associations and then from former parliamentary speakers.The MPs on the commission, who had so far avoided direct confrontation, engaged in their first open war of words after bar leaders gave long speeches stressing constitutional rights and the rule of law.

Editorial Team
SECOND BAHÇELİ-ALLY ARRESTED
Inside Turkey Aug 27, 2025

SECOND BAHÇELİ-ALLY ARRESTED

İsmet Sayhan, former president of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) and a close associate of MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli, has been arrested.

Editorial Team
TURKEY’S SYRIA DILEMMA
Guest Voices Jul 25, 2025

TURKEY’S SYRIA DILEMMA

Turkey and the U.S. were the key backers of HTS - a former offshoot of ISIS turned Western ally - in its surprise victory over the Bashar Al-Assad regime in December. Ankara hoped this would give it a role in rebuilding Syria under the HTS and also help eliminate the PYD/YPG threat in north-eastern Syria. However, neither goal materialized. Only seven months after the power change in Damascus, it is not Turkey, but Israel, followed by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that are now influential in Syria. Although Turkey remains dominant in the occupied northern strips of Syria, it failed to establish new bases, let alone an airbase in mid-Syria, because of Israel’s opposition.

Guest Voices
NEW TERM IN KANAL 7
Media, Internet and Culture Jul 18, 2025

NEW TERM IN KANAL 7

The former head of Turkey’s media watchdog RTÜK, Zahid Akman, who served as editor-in-chief of pro-government broadcaster Kanal 7 for many years, has been replaced by Kanal 7 Ankara bureau chief Mehmet Acet.

Editorial Team
THE BLESSED BAKLAVA OF ALİ KOÇ
Portrait of the Week May 30, 2025

THE BLESSED BAKLAVA OF ALİ KOÇ

Ali Koç is the president of Fenerbahçe, one of Turkey’s “big three” football clubs, alongside Galatasaray and Beşiktaş. Recently, he was seen eating baklava ahead of Fenerbahçe’s EuroLeague basketball final match in Abu Dhabi. Former minister and current ruling party MP Mustafa Varank was feeding him the baklava, which had been brought from Turkey. Varank said the baklava had been “prayed over,” to which Koç responded with an “amen.” In Turkey, when something is said to be “prayed over,” it means it has been blessed.

Anonymous