Dear reader, we want to hear from you (and beer with you!) Turkey recap is more than a newsletter, and this is more than a reader survey.

You are cordially invited to an informal get-together on Thursday, June 11 at 1900 in Kızılay, Ankara. It’s nice outside, so let’s get off our phones and meet in real life.

Come join the Turkey recap team for a night of fun at the Mülkiyeliler Birliği, where we reserved the terrace for readers, friends and all the plus ones you want to bring.

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Turkey recap is an independent, reader-supported newsletter that helps people make sense of the fast-paced Turkey news cycle. Contact us: info@turkeyrecap.com.

Subscribe here on Substack (or on Patreon for discount options). Paid subscribers get full access to our recaps, reports, members-only chat and news tracking tools.

We are an affiliate of the Global Forum for Media Development and aim to produce balanced news that strengthens local media by supporting journalists in Turkey.

Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief

Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor

Ceren Bayar, Parliament correspondent

Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent

Günsu Durak, Stüdyo recap editor

Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager

Incumbent Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan is seeking re-election on a “Real Armenia” platform, which seeks to downplay historical territorial disputes beyond Armenia’s current borders in favor of EU integration and more cooperation with Azerbaijan and Turkey.

It’s a high stakes vote with implications for not just Armenia’s foreign policy alignments, but also regional trade and transit routes, as Turkey and Armenia are currently pursuing normalization efforts that, if successful, could reopen a land crossing on their shared border.

This podcast covers national election dynamics as well as the state of play for Baku-Yerevan peace negotiations and their impacts on Turkey-Armenia bilateral relations. We also review the prospects for EU-Armenia ties and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) aka Zangezur corridor.

Referenced in this talk:

Submit a question with this form

Armenia, Turkey and the Zangezur corridor with Nareg Seferian (Turkey recap)

A Risk Assessment for Armenia’s 2026 Parliamentary Elections (GMF)

Armenia, Turkey sign memorandum on restoration of Ani Bridge (Armenpress)

Turkish vice president’s Armenia visit marks turning point: Envoy (AA)

Macron sings at Armenian state dinner with Pashinyan on drums (AP)

Other ways to watch & listen:

Our webcasts are also available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast players.

Support us

Turkey recap is an independent, reader-supported newsletter that helps people make sense of the fast-paced Turkey news cycle. Contact us: info@turkeyrecap.com.

Subscribe here on Substack (or on Patreon for discount options). Paid subscribers get full access to our recaps, reports, members-only chat and news tracking tools.

We are an affiliate of the Global Forum for Media Development and aim to produce balanced news that strengthens local media by supporting journalists in Turkey.

Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief

Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor

Ceren Bayar, Parliament correspondent

Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent

Günsu Durak, Stüdyo recap editor

Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager

Also! Turkey recap and our Turkish team Stüdyo recap have partnered with the Heinrich Böll Foundation on a series of multimedia reports leading up to COP31, the UN Climate Conference coming to Antalya this November. 🌍 Stay tuned!

In this week’s edition:

• April inflation breakdown

• International cash flow monitor

• This week’s stat round-up

Alive and Kickin’: The April inflation breakdown

Read more

That means we’ll soon start publishing Turkey-focused climate change coverage here and, in Turkish, on studyorecap.com, where we’ll also launch a Turkish-language podcast series hosted by Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu on all things COP31.

Subscribe to Stüdyo recap if you haven’t already. Otherwise, stay tuned! We’ve been planting many seeds that will sprout soon — all made possible by your support. A big thank you to our readers!

In this week’s recap:

• Bahçeli wants a status update for Öcalan

• CHP plays offense, congress case looms

• Ankara-Yerevan advance normalization efforts

• Domestic and diplomatic wraps

• Turkish language watchdog eyes diacritic mârks

Also from us this week:

• Suzy Hansen joins Recap radio to talk about how Turkey changed under Erdoğan

• Tomorrow: Emily Rice Johnson covers the latest inflation bump in Economy recap

Disclosure: This week’s main news centers on the peace process, so let me again disclose that my wife is an MP with DEM Party.

After months of abstract concepts and debates, the PKK peace process took on a more solid form this week with the release of a 15-volume book series on Kurdish literature and history by the Ministry of Culture and Mardin Artuklu University.

This flew under the radar and is not the much-awaited legal reforms, but it represents a meaningful recognition of Kurdish culture in Anatolia — the denial of which is at the core of the 40-year conflict the PKK and the Turkish state are currently trying to end.

Yet, how both sides are approaching a resolution remains highly abstract, mainly through the renaming of groups and individuals this week in keeping with the leftist tradition of changing words while leaving power structures intact. Though some real changes are coming maybe …

What happened: Following reports the peace talks had stalled, Pres. Erdoğan’s coalition partner and MHP chair Devlet Bahçeli called on the state Tuesday to grant the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan a more official status as a chief negotiator in the process (which he is).

This mirrors one of the requests shared by the PKK leadership the same day, when they announced the group would rebrand itself as an “Apoist Movement”, stemming from the “Apo” nickname for Öcalan.

In their statement, the militants said they had begun to disarm, completed withdrawal from border areas and released prisoners associated with Turkish intelligence as requested by state officials.

But they complained that Ankara has taken “no practical steps” to implement the proposals in the parliamentary peace process report finalized this February.

To facilitate the coming reforms, Bahçeli called for the establishment of a “Peace Process and Politicization Coordination Office.” It’s worth noting this all comes after he met with Erdoğan last week (pictured above), and the president has yet to comment on the status updates.

What’s changing: The peace talks remain opaque and public information is sparse, but the trend lines above will need to intersect at Imralı island, where Öcalan is imprisoned and may soon oversee some form of coordination office, according to Roj Girasun, director of Rawest Research.

“The new ‘status’ concept most likely refers to the redefinition of conditions for communication, meetings, work and political dialogue,” Girasun told Turkey recap.

“In practice, this could mean the opening of contact channels with different actors, further formalizing Imralı as a regular negotiation center.”

He added improved living conditions for Öcalan may also come at later stages, possibly in the form of new house arrest parameters.

None of this is new to close followers of the peace process, but drafting policies and executing them are two separate and complicated tasks. For now, the main takeaway is that the process has not stalled completely amid ongoing negotiations.

“I think [Bahçeli’s] speech is one that can breathe new life into the process, ease it, and pave the way for its ​progress,” DEM Party deputy group chair Gülüstan Kılıç Koçyiğit told Reuters Tuesday.

What’s next: MHP officials continue to lay the rhetorical groundwork for reforms, most recently with this commentary by Bahçeli’s advisor — who sells it as a loss for the US and Israel.

Meanwhile, MHP lawmakers told Stüdyo recap they believed the process should not be tied to elections, arguing a lasting resolution requires a timeline independent of calculated political payoffs.

As for the AKP, some officials remain more cautious, telling the BBC they want confirmation and verification systems in place to track the disarmament. Intel chief Ibrahim Kalın, who’s been out of the spotlight for a while, is currently overseeing these preparations, according to Türkiye Gazetesi.

The rest remains to be seen. Looking at the broader picture, Rawest research director Girasun said the peace process “passed the Syria test”, where SDF-Damascus integration is underway. It’s also passing the Iran test, after initial concerns of Kurdish separatism across Turkey’s eastern border.

That said, Girasun said the main obstacles remain in Turkey’s domestic sphere.

“The greatest dilemma I have observed regarding the process … is the difference and the gap between Erdoğan and Bahçeli. This largely stems from Erdoğan’s cautiousness due to elections,” he told Turkey recap.

“As the window narrows toward the election, Erdoğan’s caution regarding taking deep-rooted and radical steps may increase, the pressure from the MHP may rise, and the impatience of Kurdish politics may grow,” he added. “Managing the tension within these three areas will be the new test of the process.”

Özgüerilla tactics: CHP plays offense, congress case looms

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• May 1

  • Public Holiday: International Workers’ Day

  • Fidan hosts Falih al-Fayyad, the head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces Commission, in Ankara

Read more

It’s a brutally honest look at Turkey under Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told through the people and street life of the Karagümrük, a rapidly changing neighborhood in Istanbul’s historic Fatih district.

This podcast covers migration to Istanbul over many decades, from the rural-to-urban migration of the past till the modern relocation of Syrian refugees over the last 15 years.

Also covered are Hansen’s takeaways after years as a foreign correspondent based in Turkey, tips for young journalists and a peek at her new projects, like Equator Magazine.

Referenced in this talk:

Submit a question with this form

From Life Itself: Turkey, Istanbul, and a Neighborhood in the Age of Erdoğan (Macmillan)

The Erdogan Loyalists and the Syrian Refugees (NYTimes - gift article)

Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World (Macmillan)

Equator Magazine (Equator)

Other ways to watch & listen:

Our webcasts are also available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast players.

Support us

Turkey recap is an independent, reader-supported newsletter that helps people make sense of the fast-paced Turkey news cycle. Contact us: info@turkeyrecap.com.

Subscribe here on Substack (or on Patreon for discount options). Paid subscribers get full access to our recaps, reports, members-only chat and news tracking tools.

We are an affiliate of the Global Forum for Media Development and aim to produce balanced news that strengthens local media by supporting journalists in Turkey.

Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief

Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor

Ceren Bayar, Parliament correspondent

Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent

Günsu Durak, Stüdyo recap editor

Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager

Whether the city has sorted the parking situation since 2021 remains unconfirmed. 🫣If you know, you know. Vroom Vroom! 🏁

In this week’s edition:

• Ankara’s push for foreign capital

• Doruk Miners’ strike resolved

• Unemployment, economic confidence and food inflation

• International cash flow monitor

• This week’s stat round-up

Tax haven and hell: Ankara’s push for foreign capital

Read more

In this week’s recap:

• AKP prepping for Nov. 2027 elections

• Yavaş in the spotlight, CHP shifts to fieldwork

• Horizon Europe debate further bruises Turkey-EU ties

• Domestic and diplomatic wraps

• Göbeklitepe visitors are not impressed

Also from us this week:

• Nebahat Tanrıverdi Yaşar on Turkey’s military and energy projects in Somalia

• Emily Rice Johnson dropped This Day In Turkey’s May edition for news tracking tools subscribers

Not a week goes by in Ankara without speculation over the next election date. It’s the local sport. It’s also a great conversation-starter when meeting strangers or when trying to revive a boring dinner date.

The heart beats faster for Turkish politics. Especially after Hürriyet reported Sunday the ruling AKP has already started preparing for elections in November 2027.

Turkey recap readers will know this was the most cited date for the next vote — slated for May 2028 at the latest — and the apparent confirmation by a leading pro-government newspaper serves to firm up the election date further.

Of course, other media outlets have made the case for election dates before and after Nov. 2027, including Turkey recap, so the following is a look at the current narratives and their merits.

What does the facts say: Turkey’s constitution allows two terms per president unless an early election is called or the constitution is changed.

For context, Pres. Erdoğan is currently serving his third term as president (elected in 2014, 2018 and 2023), but he is technically serving his second term under the executive presidential system that began in 2018, according to a Supreme Election Council decision.

Before that, he served as Prime Minister from 2003-2014, which also doesn’t count.

All that to say, Erdoğan is just facing his latest term limit dilemma, and it’s the AKP’s duty to fix it. But they don’t have the parliamentary votes to change the constitution again (at least for now), so calling an early election seems like the clearest path for a third Erdoğan term under the current legal system (subject to change).

What does the reporting say: Early elections can be held any time before May 2028. So, sources cited in the Hürriyet report said they want the next vote to coincide with the AKP’s 25^th anniversary in November 2027.

To read between the lines, this would be an emotional appeal to party supporters, who would need to take an extra psychological step to betray the AKP on such an occasion — regardless of the state of the economy. Think of it like a divorce on a wedding anniversary.

Yet, according to the BBC, an early election is not likely unless “absolutely necessary”, as might be the case if Erdoğan wants to secure the third term route. If so, the report states parliament could call for snap elections slightly before May 2028 to greenlight Erdoğan’s candidacy.

In a scenario where Turkey’s economy remains under pressure from the Iran war, other AKP sources told Türkiye Gazetesi that holding elections in the spring of 2028 would allow the party to “gain an extra 6-7 months” for economic mitigation policies.

Meanwhile, our team at Stüdyo recap reported, the AKP is publicly stating elections will be held in May 2028 as they prepare for elections in the second half of 2027. For their part, opposition sources told us they expect the AKP to introduce economic reforms, criminal justice reforms and other pre-election initiatives, though not until 2027.

Analysis: Seda Demiralp, a professor of political science and chair of international relations at Işık University in Istanbul, said the fact that both the incumbent bloc and the opposition are now openly entertaining early election scenarios makes the discussion more credible than before.

Given his mandate till May 2028, she said Erdoğan had little incentive to call for early elections, but the playing field is changing.

“Recent polling trends suggesting some recovery in support — possibly due to the rally around the flag effects of the Iran war — may be feeding a perception within the ruling camp that conditions are becoming more favorable,” Demiralp told Turkey recap.

She noted CHP chair Özgür Özel has also been calling for elections with greater frequency, adding pressure to the mix as the party’s presidential candidate and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu faces multiple trials.

“Early elections become more likely when both sides believe they have a viable path to victory,” Demiralp said. “We may be approaching such a moment.”

“That said,” she continued, “this window could be short-lived. If external factors — such as regional tensions involving Iran — subside and polling trends shift again, the current alignment of incentives could quickly dissolve.”

The Mansurian Candidate: Yavaş in the spotlight, CHP shifts to fieldwork

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1 May

1923

• Labor Day was first celebrated in Turkey.

1948

• Hürriyet newspaper published its first issue.

1964

• The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) was established, marking the beginning of public broadcasting in Turkey.

1977

• The “Bloody May 1st” Massacre. Toward the end of a May Day rally of 500,000 people in…

Read more

This podcast covers Ankara’s growing military and commercial interests in the Horn of Africa, including the TURKSOM military base in Somalia and offshore energy drilling activities there, which began earlier this month.

Also discussed are the implications of Turkey’s presence in the Horn of Africa amid regional competition between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Additionally, we touch on how the Iran war is impacting dynamics and how regional actors view Turkey’s rapid rise as a leading weapons provider in Africa.

Referenced in this talk:

Submit a question with this form

Turkey launches first overseas deep-sea drilling mission in Somalia (Reuters)

TURKSOM military base trains Somali forces since 2017 (DS)

Unpacking Turkey’s Security Footprint in Africa (SWP)

Turkey’s quest for direction in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea (FT)

Turkey’s Drone Industry at a Strategic Crossroads (WOTR)

Other ways to watch & listen:

Our webcasts are also available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast players.

Support us

Turkey recap is an independent, reader-supported newsletter that helps people make sense of the fast-paced Turkey news cycle. Contact us: info@turkeyrecap.com.

Subscribe here on Substack (or on Patreon for discount options). Paid subscribers get full access to our recaps, reports, members-only chat and news tracking tools.

We are an affiliate of the Global Forum for Media Development and aim to produce balanced news that strengthens local media by supporting journalists in Turkey.

Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief

Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor

Ceren Bayar, Parliament correspondent

Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent

Günsu Durak, Stüdyo recap editor

Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager

In this week’s edition:

• MPC holds interest rates

• Şimşek: From on stage to front page

• International cash flow monitor

• This week’s stat round-up

Steady, as she goes: MPC holds rate

Read more

47 years ago today: TRT’s first International Children’s Festival aired with great disco gyrations.

Happy National Sovereignty and Children’s Day from Ankara! (and Şanlıurfa!!)

In this week’s recap:

• Rutte visits Ankara, von der Leyen tests ties

• US envoy scorned for anti-democratic comments

• More CHP mayors removed from office

• Domestic and diplomatic wraps

• Sheep joins wild goat herd, owner bids farewell

Also from us this week:

• Alan Makovsky gauges Ankara’s diplomacy pivot and US-Turkey ties on Recap radio

• Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu on ‘absolute nullity’ and possible developments for the CHP

EU leaders are supposed to praise Turkey publicly and exclude it privately. European Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen broke protocol and put the NATO chief in a rut during his visit to Ankara this week.

In a conversation with Germany’s Zeit newspaper published Sunday, Leyen said:

“We must succeed in completing the European continent so that it is not influenced by Russia, Turkey or China. We must think bigger and geostrategically.”

The unusual language for an official EU candidate country comes as European nations seek to deepen defense cooperation with Turkey to help deter Russian threats amid ambivalence from Washington on transatlantic security guarantees.

To call it awkward timing does not begin to describe the polarizing effects in Brussels, where the spotlight returned to the EU’s inconsistent messaging and lack of unity on Turkey as NATO Sec. Gen. Mark Rutte was in Ankara … to bolster the Western alliance with Turkey.

Reactions: Damage control duties first fell on Paula Pinho, von der Leyen’s chief spokesperson, who tried to clarify the remarks with variations of this quote:

The Turkey reference was a “recognition of its geopolitical clout, size and ambitions — not least in the Western Balkans — and not meant as a comparison with any other country,” Pinho told Bloomberg.

In response, AKP deputy chair and spox Ömer Çelik issued a long list of criticisms for EU leaders in this interview with Anadolu Agency Wednesday.

“Turkey’s Balkan vision is based on peace, opposed to the divisive policies we call Balkanization and is more based on values. For von der Leyen to include Turkey among the countries she positions as opposed to the EU is a truly grave mental and political contradiction,” Çelik said.

Von der Leyen’s comment also did not pair well with statements by Marta Kos, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, who Monday said: “We need Turkey in light of the changing geopolitical realities in Europe and the Middle East.”

Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, was also critical. When asked if he thought the statements were intentional, he told Turkey recap:

“I don’t think von der Leyen purportedly wanted to depict Turkey as a threat on the same level as Russia and China, but if it is simply a misstep and not a mistake, it’s very enlightening about the attitude of von der Leyen — always dismissing and forgetting Turkey as a candidate country,” Amor said in a phone call Wednesday.

Rutte in Ankara: Local news channels covered the episode on a split screen as Rutte visited the Turkish capital this week in preparation for July’s NATO summit in Ankara — which got a new logo with the presidential palace on it, in what may be another unintended political message that offers deep insights on Turkey’s western partners.

While in town, Rutte met with Pres. Erdoğan, FM Hakan Fidan, Defense Min. Yaşar Güler and visited the facilities of Turkish defense giant Aselsan, where he praised the nation’s young engineers and ‘defense industry revolution’.

Analysis: Putting it all together, Turkey appears to be hedging on Europe by cooperating with Russia and China. Meanwhile, Europe is also hedging by both working with Turkey and taking precautions, said Dimitar Bechev, director of the Dahrendorf Programme at St. Antony’s College and author of the upcoming book The Scramble for Europe.

Bechev told Turkey recap that Ankara is pursuing “soft revisionism” with the end goal of having more power to modify the institutions and rules governing Europe. He noted this does not mean Ankara poses an existential threat to Europe.

“It [Turkey] seeks equal status and is against scrutiny into its domestic politics,” Bechev said, referring to the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and other political repression. “The EU’s response is to offer incentives for cooperation. Not fight back. Especially after Russia invaded Ukraine.”

He summed up the EU approach as an attempt to “Co-opt Erdoğan. Not contain him.”

Cooperation vs. candidacy: Asked to comment on what this all means for Turkey-EU defense cooperation, Nacho Sánchez Amor told Turkey recap:

A defense partnership “is convenient and could be important, but this idea that we need Turkey is exaggerated and it’s not depicting the real thing. Turkey has not been allowed to enter SAFE and nothing happened,” he said, referring to the EU defense program.

“Sometimes, we exaggerate … to compensate for the lack of commitment to the accession process,” Amor continued. “The more we underline the partnership … the less we underline the accession process and the status of Turkey as a candidate country.”

Show him the conquista-door: US envoy scorned for anti-democratic comments

Read more

This podcast covers Turkey’s growing efforts to mediate conflicts and host diplomatic meetings like this weekend’s Antalya Diplomacy Forum and the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara.

Also discussed are recent comments by US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack on democracy in the Middle East and on a possible resolution to the S-400 sanctions on Turkey as well as European security and opportunities for Turkey’s defense industry.

Referenced in this talk:

Submit a question with this form

In Turkey, Middle Powers Ponder Diplomacy With a Rogue U.S. (NY Times)

US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack Speaks at Antalya Diplomacy Forum (YouTube)

Envoy expects U.S.-Turkey to ‘soon’ solve issue of sanctions over S-400 defences (Reuters)

‘Turkey: Managing an unfriendly ally’ by Alan Makovsky (Brookings)

Other ways to watch & listen:

Our webcasts are also available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast players.

Support us

Turkey recap is an independent, reader-supported newsletter that helps people make sense of the fast-paced Turkey news cycle. Contact us: info@turkeyrecap.com.

Subscribe here on Substack (or on Patreon for discount options). Paid subscribers get full access to our recaps, reports, members-only chat and news tracking tools.

We are an affiliate of the Global Forum for Media Development and aim to produce balanced news that strengthens local media by supporting journalists in Turkey.

Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief

Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor

Ceren Bayar, Parliament correspondent

Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent

Günsu Durak, Stüdyo recap editor

Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager

Whether the crows have been notified remains unclear. 🐦‍⬛

In this week’s edition:

• INRAIL’s World Bank financing

• Positive forecasts and pessimistic indexes

• Scandal scanner: Management shakeups

• International cash flow monitor

• This week’s stat round-up

  

Bridging the funding gap: INRAIL’s World Bank financing

Read more

But why did he announce it with a picture from Greece? Email us wrong answers only.

In this week’s recap:

• Probes loom for CHP’s Ankara mayor

• Opposition playbook and election prospects

• Antalya to host security pact talks on Iran war

• Domestic and diplomatic wraps

• East Med broils over işkembe soup and halloumi

Also from us this week:

• László Szerencsés on the Hungary elections and takeaways for Turkey

• Ceren Bayar and Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu assess CHP’s by-election strategy on Stüdyo recap

There are many new readers here—Hoş geldin!—so here are four things you need to know about the judicial pressure on Turkey’s main opposition CHP:

1. After gains in the 2024 local elections, the CHP has faced sprawling corruption investigations for about 1.5 years.

2. Many elected CHP officials have been removed from office and/or jailed before standing trial.

3. Throughout, Erdoğan and the CHP have threatened to pull large turps out of bags (a Turkish vegetable idiom explained here).

4. The largest turp actually came out of Batman this week at just under 4 kilos.

Now that we’re all caught up, the next turp is taking shape with looming investigations into CHP Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş.

A popular figure with nationalist appeal, Yavaş is seen as a viable presidential contender after last year’s arrest of the CHP’s official candidate, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu.

What happened: Interior Min. Mustafa Çiftçi authorized a second probe into Yavaş over the alleged misuse of Ankara Municipality vehicles for a 2023 election rally in Karabük. The Ankara mayor denied wrongdoing Tuesday, stating: “There is nothing to fear.”

“Granting permission for an investigation without concrete evidence is a violation of the law. This approach is nothing more than an attempt at intimidation and discrediting,” the Ankara municipality responded in a statement Tuesday.

CHP chair Özgür Özel added that Pres. Erdoğan has routinely made use of state vehicles and resources without similar inquiries.

For his part, Erdoğan criticized the CHP in a speech to AKP lawmakers Wednesday, saying:

“Turkey, which is experiencing a period of resurgence in global politics, is unfortunately experiencing a ‘period of decline’ in the municipalities run by the main opposition.”

Crackdown in context: The investigation into Turkey’s second-largest city comes amid a widening probe into its third largest, Izmir.

Former CHP Izmir mayor Tunç Soyer was re-arrested Wednesday after the party’s Ankara provincial chair Ümit Erkol was arrested after his detention last week. Both arrests are linked to bribery allegations involving IZBETON, a subsidiary of the Izmir municipality.

For the full picture, here’s a few more news items on the CHP this week:

• Bolu’s acting mayor was detained Friday and later arrested for an ongoing extortion investigation that jailed Bolu’s elected mayor in February.

• 31 people were detained Friday for a corruption probe into the CHP-led Yenişehir district municipality in Mersin.

• Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki was released Friday though his municipality remains under investigation for alleged fraud.

• Former CHP chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was sentenced to nearly a year in prison for insulting the president. His lawyer vowed to appeal the verdict.

• And the European Court of Human Rights notified Turkey of a case brought by Ekrem Imamoğlu regarding his pre-trial detention and investigations.

Analysis: Commenting on the investigations into Yavaş and other CHP officials, Seren Selvin Korkmaz, co-founder and co-director of the IstanPol Institute, said the key issue is “not so much their legal substance, but their political impact.”

“These cases function in two main ways. First, they damage the reputations of political figures, regardless of the eventual legal outcome,” Korkmaz told Turkey recap this morning.

“Second, even in the absence of a conviction, they can paralyze these actors—either by keeping them entangled in lengthy legal processes or, in some cases, through temporary detention. In this sense, the process itself becomes the punishment.”

She continued, stating the trajectory of the Yavaş investigation will be determined primarily through the government’s own “risk calculations.”

“More broadly, these judicial processes … constrain political actors by discouraging bold action, and they contribute to shaping public perception—reinforcing a narrative that no one within the CHP is ‘clean’,” Korkmaz added.

“In that sense, they operate as instruments of political control as much as legal proceedings.”

Process of alleviation: Opposition playbook and election prospects

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This podcast begins with a deep dive into Hungarian politics, detailing the fall of Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán and the rise of opposition leader Péter Magyar, before exploring possible lessons for Turkey’s opposition.

Also covered are expectations for the new government’s foreign policy and continued dependency on Russian gas, which arrives to Hungary from Turkey through the TurkStream pipeline—a key pillar of the Ankara-Budapest bilateral relationship.

Note: This talk was recorded at 1100 Turkey time on Tuesday, April 14.

Referenced in this talk:

Submit a question with this form

Péter Magyar maps out grand bargain to reset Hungary’s ties with Brussels (Politico)

Unpacking Turkey-Hungary relations with László Szerencsés (Turkey recap)

The Turkish Energy Hub and the Hungary Connection: Challenging EU Gas Diversification Efforts (SUITS)

President Erdogan gifts Togg to Hungarian Prime Minister Orban (YouTube)

Other ways to watch & listen:

Our webcasts are also available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcast players.

Support us

Turkey recap is an independent, reader-supported newsletter that helps people make sense of the fast-paced Turkey news cycle. Contact us: info@turkeyrecap.com.

Subscribe here on Substack (or on Patreon for discount options). Paid subscribers get full access to our recaps, reports, members-only chat and news tracking tools.

We are an affiliate of the Global Forum for Media Development and aim to produce balanced news that strengthens local media by supporting journalists in Turkey.

Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief

Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor

Ceren Bayar, Parliament correspondent

Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent

Günsu Durak, Stüdyo recap editor

Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager

As for me, every day is Street Animal Day — my wallet and neighborhood strays can attest to that. 🐾

In this week’s edition:

• Is Gulf capital moving to Istanbul?

• From energy hikes to ceasefire talks

• TÜIK’s March CPI surprise and bank reports

• International cash flow monitor

• This week’s stat round-up

Out of the bunker, into the ‘bull: Is Gulf capital moving to Istanbul?

Read more

And more recently with the unfortunate 2007 film ‘300’, which had no links to the ‘War on Terror’, just like this newsletter has no links to the war on Iran.

Thank you to all our readers and contributors over the years. This is a shared milestone, reached through a shared dedication to balanced, trustworthy news—and puns.

In this week’s recap:

• 198 IS suspects detained over Israeli Consulate gunfight

• Ankara repositions itself amid regional turmoil

• CHP faces one court battle after another

• Domestic and diplomatic wraps

• Police week brings flowers and fake fights

Also from us this week:

• Howard Eissenstat details the Turkey-Israel rivalry in a changing region on Recap radio

• Journalist Hilmi Hacaloğlu shares updates from the Istanbul Municipality trial on Stüdyo recap

Turkey’s recent experience with militant attacks is long, and another one got added to the list as regional turmoil appears to have played out in Istanbul once again this week.

Midday Tuesday, three armed militants in tactical gear attempted to attack a building housing the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul, resulting in a gun fight that left one attacker dead, the other two wounded and two police officers with minor injuries.

No motive has been publicized, and no Israeli staff were in the consulate, as they had been recalled in late 2023. Yet, initial reporting indicates the deceased attacker had Islamic State links.

Investigations ongoing: Turkish Justice Min. Akın Gürlek Wednesday announced a nationwide anti-IS operation, detaining 198 suspects in relation to the attack.

This comes as the two injured assailants remain in police custody, and new details emerge about the deceased attacker, who was identified as Yunus Emre Sarban.

Halk TV columnist Ismail Saymaz reported in detail about Sarban, who was charged with “IS membership” in 2019 on suspicion of preparing an attack, but was released after five months.

Sarban’s assets were later frozen in 2021 over links to IS financial networks and reactivated in August 2024 following his acquittal. The other two attackers were brothers and one had a criminal record for a drug offense, according to the interior minister.

Separately, Turkey’s personal care retail chain, Gratis, launched its own investigation and fired several employees for apparently ridiculing police responders during the attack and posting the video on social media. Eight Gratis staffers have been detained.

Responses: Like US envoy to Turkey Tom Barrack, Pres. Erdoğan quickly condemned the attack, adding: “We will not allow Turkey’s climate of security to be damaged by … provocations.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the event in a statement, while sharing appreciation for “Turkish security forces’ swift action in thwarting this attack.”

“The incident, coupled with Israel’s gratitude for the swift response of Turkish security forces, underscores a zero-tolerance policy regarding terrorist threats against Jewish or Israeli targets on Turkish soil,” Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), told Turkey recap.

She added, “The incident also highlights that limited tactical cooperation between Israel and Turkey is still possible, and that ISIS remains a threat to Turkey.”

Advantage point: Ankara repositions itself amid regional turmoil

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The podcast outlines growing concerns about a looming regional competition between the two states, past and present bilateral dynamics and how the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran is shifting power balances and perceptions in the region.

Also covered are Israeli threat perceptions, Turkish contingency planning and the role of NATO allies in mitigating escalation risks on the road ahead.

Note: This talk was recorded at 1600 Turkey time on Monday, April 6, before reports of an armed attack on the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday, April 7.

Referenced in this talk:

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The Next Big Middle East Conflict? The Turkish-Israeli Rivalry (SUITS)

‘The New Iran’: Bennett Warns of Emerging Axis at Conference of Presidents (Media Line)

PM Netanyahu’s remarks at the start of today’s Government meeting (Gov.Il)

What Ankara sees in Riyadh — and why it still needs Abu Dhabi (MEI)

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Diego Cupolo, Editor-in-chief

Emily Rice Johnson, Deputy editor

Ceren Bayar, Parliament correspondent

Yıldız Yazıcıoğlu, Parliament correspondent

Günsu Durak, Stüdyo recap editor

Demet Şöhret, Social media and content manager

In this week’s edition:

• Central bank’s TL defense

• Disinflation put to the test

• Scandal scanner: MASAK’s Yeni Şafak response

• International cash flow monitor

• This week’s stat round-up

Feeling under-depreciated?: Central Bank’s TL defense

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