Diplomacy do: Use Turkish flag nail art for a royal visit to Ankara.
Diplomacy don’t: Send greetings from Pennsylvania. Hershey is heresy.
In this week’s recap:
12th CHP mayor jailed in Istanbul
Votes to test opposition unity
US Syria staff rotated out
Erdoğan, Netanyahu trade historic blows
Domestic and diplomatic wraps
Dam report copy-pasted at least once
Also from us this week:
Çınar Özer on the lawyers facing trial (or not) in Turkey’s “dual justice system”
Wolfgango Piccoli weighs Turkey’s economic outlook on our podcast
Next week: Arife Köse joins Recap radio to discuss the outcome of the CHP Congress and how the party might respond to ongoing judicial pressure.
Watch the livestream here Tuesday at 0900 EDT / 1300 UTC / 1600 TRT.
When jailed Istanbul Mayor Erkem Imamoğlu accused the government of running an “Escobar scheme” Wednesday, he was not talking about the latest AKP cocaine tangle.
Instead, he was referring to a mafia-style system that has jailed 12 opposition-affiliated Istanbul district mayors over the last year.
The latest episode involved Bayrampaşa Mayor Hasan Mutlu, who was detained Saturday in a corruption investigation into his municipality. Mutlu was then arrested Wednesday, along with 26 affiliates, and dismissed from duty – with elections to replace him set for Sep. 21.
While CHP officials said there was no evidence to justify his arrest Wednesday, Mutlu shared a statement on social media reading:
“The only reason for my arrest and suspension is that I refused to bow to pressure to join the AK Party.”
Following a visit to Silivri Prison the same day, CHP Chair Özgür Özel reiterated the claim, adding that AKP and MHP officials pressured Hasan Mutlu to switch parties in a phone call.
“It was recorded. It's in the Telecom records. Mr. Devlet [Bahçeli] can find out who made this call whenever he wants,” Özel told reporters.
Context: The news comes after several CHP members flipped to the AKP in recent weeks as the party faces a snowballing pressure campaign. The most prominent case – the CHP Congress trial – threatens Özel’s leadership and its most recent hearing Monday adjourned with the next trial date set for Oct. 24.
Taken together, the CHP trials denote an unprecedented level of interference with the main opposition party’s functions and internal elections. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Erdoğan said the AKP is not involved in the CHP trial, and maintained it is a judicial process.
In effort to shield itself, the CHP will hold extraordinary congresses on Sep. 21 and Sep 24, to reaffirm the party's general and Istanbul provincial leaders, respectively.
Analysis: Seda Demiralp, a professor and dean of the Faculty of Administrative, Economic and Social sciences at Işık University in Istanbul, said she expects Özel and Istanbul provincial chair Özgür Çelik to be reelected.
“This would effectively undercut the lawsuit filed on grounds of absolute nullity over allegations of fraud in the current leadership’s rise to power,” Demiralp told Turkey recap.
In theory, the congresses would also void last week’s appointment of Istanbul provincial trustee Gürsel Tekin, whose status remains unclear after a challenge by an Ankara court last week.
Demiralp said the upcoming votes will serve to signal the party is rallying “against attempts by the courts to design the CHP from the outside” and solidify the opposition base.
“In the past, we watched how the AKP repeatedly held elections to mobilize its base,” she said. “Now, it is the CHP that is benefiting from repeated elections, successively putting leadership positions to a vote, keeping the spotlight on itself and energizing its own electorate.”
(Internal CHP dynamics below)
Kılıç in the matrix: Votes to test opposition unity
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