Turkey marked its 102nd Republic Day Wednesday, and sharpshooter Yusuf Dikeç took the gold for AI-generated Atatürk content.
Silver goes to the Iğdır Governor, who held an IRL volleyball tournament in a salt cave to mark the occasion.
In this week’s recap:
Imamoğlu hit with new ‘espionage’ case
DEM visits palace, PKK leaves Turkey
Ankara appoints new Syria envoy
Domestic and diplomatic wraps
Montenegro suspends visa-free travel for Turkey
Also from us this week:
Fiona Mullen outlines the significance of the TRNC elections on Recap radio
If you haven’t already, please take our ‘one minute’ reader survey
Tomorrow: Emily Rice Johnson breaks down the Merz and Starmer visits and what they mean for Turkey’s defense sector in our Economy recap
Next week: Analyst Sinem Adar joins our podcast to discuss the latest developments in the Turkey-PKK peace negotiations.
Watch the livestream here Nov. 5 at 1300 UTC / 1500 TRT.
If we had prediction markets for trustee (kayyım) appointments in Turkey, the main opposition CHP would have seen two shifts this week:
A lower trustee probability for the party after the Congress trial got thrown out Friday.
A higher trustee probability for the Istanbul Municipality after imprisoned Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu was hit with a new ‘espionage’ trial on the same day.
Following a string of corruption and terrorism investigations, Imamoğlu is now accused of coordinating his 2019 Istanbul election campaign with a blacklist of state adversaries including foreign spies, FETÖ and the PKK.
Imamoğlu has denied the charges, which extend a judicial pressure campaign on the opposition’s presidential candidate since his arrest in March, renewing concerns about Imamoğlu’s ability to compete in the next elections, expected in 2028 or earlier.
Investigation: An Istanbul court Sunday ordered the arrest of Imamoğlu – who’s already in jail – Necati Özkan, his campaign manager, and Merdan Yanardağ, the editor-in-chief of TELE1, who was detained Friday.
Yanardağ is charged with creating “the press leg of the espionage activities”, according to Anadolu Agency. A trustee was appointed Friday evening to the pro-opposition broadcaster, TELE1, whose YouTube channel went offline temporarily and has since remained inactive.
Özkan is charged for exchanging encrypted text messages with Hüseyin Gün, a businessman in Turkish custody since July. The communications reportedly included citizen’s personal data, which was allegedly shared with intelligence services in Israel, England and the US.
After testifying in Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse Sunday, as supporters rallied outside, Imamoğlu, Özkan and Yanardağ were arrested on “strong suspicion of a crime,” “risk of tampering with evidence” and “probability of escape.”
Reaction: CHP Eskişehir deputy Utku Çakırözer said the latest charges are “nonsense” and “baseless”. Speaking to Turkey recap, Çakırözer said the case aims to keep Imamoğlu in jail and tarnish his image in the public eye.
“They just want to keep him in prison until the next elections. It’s simple,” Çakırözer said.
He continued, saying past investigations against the Istanbul mayor “haven’t worked” because most voters don’t believe the allegations and, instead, see them as politically-motivated cases.
Additionally, Çakırözer said the trials have not created divisions in the CHP, as previously expected. Instead, they have consolidated support in the party and among voters for the leadership of Özgür Özel, who has led weekly rallies since the March jailing of Imamoğlu.
“Erdoğan’s strategy is to keep CHP busy with its internal debates, so what we need to do is to just the opposite,” Çakırözer said, adding Özel’s rally speeches have sought to address everyday economic issues impacting voters as well as democratic backsliding in Turkey.
When asked what he thought the CHP should do next, Çakırözer said the party should double down on its rally strategy, citing the state takeover of TELE1 is a clear sign that the party needs to “deliver our message directly” to citizens in the face of growing media censorship.
Take it at phase value: DEM visits palace, PKK leaves Turkey
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