RESIGNATIONS ROCK AKP ELAZIĞ BRANCH
After eight AKP provincial heads stepped down from duty, all members of the Elazığ Provincial Executive Committee, including the newly appointed acting head, İbrahim Sencer Selmanoğlu, resigned.
Analysis
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ANKARA MAYOR PUSHES TO REOPEN CORRUPTION FILES FROM HIS PREDECESSOR’S ERA
As the CHP-led Ankara municipality braces for a possible wave of prosecutions, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş has pressed for charges to be brought against former Mayor Melih Gökçek and his son, Osman Gökçek, an AKP deputy and owner of Beyaz TV.
U.S. SANCTIONS IMPACT AIRCRAFT PROJECTS
The CAATSA sanctions imposed by the U.S. for the past six years have also negatively impacted Turkey's aircraft carrier projects.Originally designed to deploy F-35Bs, the first ship named TCG Anadolu was converted into an unmanned aerial vehicle carrier when aircraft could not be procured from the U.S.
AYŞE BARIM FACES HOSPITALIZATION AND RE-ARREST
Talent manager Ayşe Barım, on trial for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government in connection with the 2013 Gezi Park protests, was briefly granted conditional release under judicial supervision—until an upper court overturned the ruling and issued a new arrest warrant just as she was about to undergo a medical procedure.
EYES ON ERDOĞAN’S MESSAGE, BAHÇELİ’S INITIATIVE AS NEW TERM BEGINS
As the Turkish Parliament begins its new legislative year on Oct. 1, attention will center on MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli—who launched the “Terror-Free Turkey” peace initiative a year ago—and on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks regarding its future. Following a 70-day recess, Parliament will convene with a special General Assembly session at 2:00 p.m. As usual, Erdoğan will deliver an opening address, though the CHP will boycott the ceremony in protest of recent mayoral arrests and crackdowns on municipalities. This year, the political spotlight will remain on post-PKK arrangements such as the “Return Home” law, the “right to hope,” and amendments to the penal code.
TURKISH PRESSURE OR LOCAL WILL? NORTHERN CYPRUS FACES ITS CHOICE
It was already known that the questions posed to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on board the presidential plane were pre-prepared by the Directorate of Communications. Media Ombudsman Faruk Bildirici has revealed, with concrete evidence this time, what has been an open secret. Bildirici received the full text of the questions and answers long before the conversation took place on the plane taking Erdoğan and journalists back to Turkey from Washington.
KEDİ
The word of the week is kedi, or cat, the agile, intuitive feline who is supposed to have nine lives. The Turkish word kedi ultimately goes back to Late Latin cattus (“cat”), with an intermediate form in Byzantine Greek gati (γ α τί, “kitten”) from which it passed into Ottoman Turkish as kedi. So why is it the word of the week? Because of the Istanbul Biennial, the must-see flagship event of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) that continues until the end of November.
THE CHP IN GENERAL, AND ‘ÖZEL’ IN PARTICULAR
“In every heart hides a lion.” This is a common folk saying. And in every CHP member’s heart and mind lies the thought: “One day I could be chair of the party.” A sort of “Why not?” sentiment. Let’s put aside the phrase “every CHP member” as it might be an exaggeration—but still, 90% of them live with this mindset, something unseen in any other party. No matter their place inside the party—ordinary member or deputy chair—it makes no difference. What fuels this thought is not what has happened so far, but the fact that names keep surfacing for the chairmanship. The reasoning is: “If he can do it, why can’t I?”
EIGHT AKP PROVINCIAL CHAIRS STEP DOWN: WHAT DOES THE SHAKE-UP MEAN?
As politics remains focused on CHP, the resignation of eight provincial chairs from the ruling AKP has prompted the question: What is happening on the government side? The resignations of the provincial chairs of Çanakkale, Niğde, Adıyaman, Elazığ, Muğla, Ordu, Bitlis, and Tunceli—submitted within just 48 hours—were followed by statements from the party headquarters stressing that this was merely a “change of duties to take the party forward” and that “no criminal situation is involved.”
PRO-GOVERNMENT FIGURES APPOINTED TO RUN SEIZED TV NETWORKS
New executives for Can Media—recently seized by Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) amid a money laundering investigation—have now been officially appointed.
HOST AND GUEST OF YOUTUBE PROGRAM ARRESTED
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation into comments made on the YouTube channel Soğuk Savaş (Cold War) regarding the Islamic teaching that “alcohol is the mother of all evil.”
TELE1 EXECUTIVES RELEASED
Detained for comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the TV screen, TELE1 TV executives were released on judicial supervision after giving statements to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.