Turkey Weekly 13 – 19 July 2026
Turkey Today – 19.07.2026
Mehmet Şirin Çelik, a prisoner who suffered a brain haemorrhage, was taken back to prison from the hospital where he had been admitted and is being held alone in the prison infirmary.
Footage has emerged showing that Fırat Kovan, a member of the DEM Party Youth Assembly, was forcibly detained on 15 July in Esenyurt by individuals who identified themselves as police officers. Kovan stated that he was taken to the banks of a stream in Esenyurt in the vehicle he had been forced into, and that he was pressured into acting as an informant whilst being asked for the names of certain individuals.
MHP chair Devlet Bahçeli, reacting to the European Parliament’s 2025 Report on Turkey, said, “From our point of view, the European Parliament’s assessments are politically flawed and devoid of substance.”
The Van Provincial Coordination of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects issued a statement in response to the attempt by the appointed administrator to convert a park in Van city centre into military accommodation. Stating that “defending a park means defending our children’s future and the public’s right to a shared life”, they called for a united struggle.
Turkey Today – 18.07.2026
The Saturdays Mothers gathered once again for their 1,112th week to demand that the fate of Ferhat Tepe, a journalist who went missing whilst in custody, be revealed and that those responsible be brought to justice.
The timing of the framework bill’s submission to Parliament has become a matter of debate. Whilst the AKP wants the legislation to be postponed until October, the MHP and the DEM Party want the bill to be placed on the agenda before Parliament goes into recess.
As the 24-hour vigil organised by KESK to demand the reinstatement of public sector workers dismissed under the Decree-Laws drew to a close, a message was conveyed that the struggle for labour rights and democracy would continue.
The tent vigil launched by local residents in protest against the geothermal project threatening 16 villages on the border between Muş and Bingöl is continuing. On the 76th day of the vigil, members of EMEP paid a solidarity visit to the protest tent.
President Erdoğan has dismissed the governor of Ardahan, Mehmet Fatih Çiçekli, after his public appearances in a cycling outfit drew criticism from the secularist opposition.
Turkey Today – 17.07.2026
The appeal court’s ruling of ‘absolute nullity’ against the CHP reached the Court of Cassation 56 days later.
The Constitutional Court, which ruled on the application of Kevser Demir – who was subjected to insults and assaults by police officers during a home raid and suffered a broken arm and three broken teeth – five years later, found that the prohibition on ill-treatment had been breached and ordered a fresh investigation into the police officers.
Antalya 4th Heavy Penal Xourt sentenced a man to life in prison for the murder of 45-year-old trans woman Nida Nazlıer.
Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner and Councillor Emre Doğan, who were arrested on 14 July as part of an operation targeting Çankaya Municipality and sent to Sincan Prison, have been transferred to Kırşehir High-Security Prison.
In a bill they tabled in Parliament, HÜDA PAR MPs called for “classes to be established in schools that are reserved exclusively for either girls or boys, depending on the type of education, available resources and needs”.
Turkey Today – 16.07.2026
Trendyol, one of Turkey’s largest e-commerce platforms, has shut down the Pirtukakurdi store, which sells Kurdish books and cultural items without providing any concrete justification, according to the store owner Bawer Berşev.
During the meeting between the Imralı Delegation and AKP members Efkan Ala and Abdullah Güler, it was noted that the ‘framework law’ would be tabled in Parliament in July and that the commitment to this matter had been confirmed.
The appointed leadership of the CHP has removed eight provincial chairpersons from their posts and referred two provincial chairpersons to the disciplinary committee with a request for their definitive expulsion.
Legal organisations, which reject the charges against the lawyers arrested as part of the NATO Summit investigations, have stated that the practice of law is being targeted.
The theatre actor Levent Üzümcü was brought before the duty magistrate’s court on a charge of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility”, with a request for his arrest.
Turkey Today – 15.07.2026
A new legislative proposal submitted to parliament seeks to increase sentences for juvenile delinquency through amendments to the child protection law and several other statutes.
Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner, who was arrested as part of the operation carried out against Çankaya Municipality, has been suspended from office.
Özgür Özel, noting that preparations for the new party were continuing, said, “The party constitution is being drafted, the manifesto is being drawn up, and decisions are being made regarding the founding committee.”
Tugay Bek, the lawyer representing the family of Kadri Bağdu, a staff member of the Azadiya Welat newspaper who was murdered, stated that they would apply to the public prosecutor’s office to have Talip Güler, a member of DAISH, re-questioned, and that the case could not be treated as a “criminal case”.
The Committee for the Review and Assessment of Legal Proceedings in Local Government, established at the CHP Headquarters to examine administrative and legal proceedings concerning local authorities and party officials, held its first meeting.
Turkey Today – 14.07.2026
833 party delegates from the CHP, who had collected signatures calling for an extraordinary party congress, filed a lawsuit at the Ankara Magistrates’ Court on the grounds that their applications had not been processed.
As part of the ‘bribery’ investigation into Güzelbahçe Municipality, arrest warrants were issued for seven people, four of whom have been taken into custody.
MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli said that Turkey’s EU accession process had been assessed through the prism of political bias and that Turkey’s legitimate expectations were constantly being overshadowed by other issues.
Comedian Tuba Ulu was sentenced to five months in prison for “publicly degrading a segment of the public” in a case over a stand-up joke about Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife, Hürrem Sultan.
Syrian singer Omar Souleyman denied entry to Turkey for concert. The concert scheduled for tomorrow has been canceled.
Turkey Today – 13.07.2026
The DEM Party’s Imralı Delegation is due to meet with Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and AKP Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala on Wednesday.
Celal Fırat, an MP for the DEM Party in Istanbul, raised the investigation into the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, Bolu, on the agenda of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and asked why an indictment had not been drawn up in the past 10 months.
Tanju Özcan, the former Mayor of Bolu, has been acquitted in a trial in which he faced charges of “hate and discrimination” over his treatment of asylum seekers during his time as mayor.
Despite the signatures being submitted on 17 June, the appointed leadership of the CHP has not taken any steps towards convening an extraordinary party congress. The elected leadership has announced that they will submit an application tomorrow for the appointment of a convening committee for the party.
Mahmut Arıkan, chair of the Felicity Party, who visited Selahattin Demirtaş in Edirne, emphasised that Turkey had grown weary of the language of conflict, stating, “It is clear that today, more than ever, there is a need for courageous, virtuous and solution-oriented approaches.”
Deputy President Cevdet Yılmaz said during a panel discussion that they were “at a crucial stage in the process of finding a lasting solution to this problem”.
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Turkey Weekly 6 – 12 July 2026
Turkey Today – 12.07.2026
In a statement made in Niğde, CHP chair Özgür Özel claimed that judges were being interviewed on the question: “Will you arrest CHP members?” Özel stated: “We will have these recorded by a notary and present them to our people.”
Citizens protesting against the drilling operations being carried out on the highlands in Ordu blocked the path of the company officials’ car, demanding that the operations in the area be halted.
Neighbourhood residents and environmental organisations organised a march in protest against the planned solar power plant project in the Ergani district of Diyarbakır, calling for the project to be cancelled.
Haluk Levent has been taken into custody as part of an investigation into the Ahbap Association being conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Turkey Today – 11.07.2026
A citizen who played an Ahmet Kaya song at a çiğköfte shop in Bursa was subjected to a racist attack by another person. The attacker threatened the citizen, saying, “Are you playing a Kurdish song?”
In a letter sent from Bolu Type F prison, Mesut Yurtsever described the rights violations experienced by prisoners and noted that the releases of Ömer Okul and Hüseyin Yıldırım, both of whom have completed 32 years in prison, have been prevented.
Ill prisoner Zerdeşt Oduncu, who is being held at Bolu Type F Closed Prison, told his family during a phone call that prisoners are being denied their medication.
Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner against whom a detention order had been issued as part of an investigation being conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, was taken into custody upon his return to Ankara from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Saturday Mothers gathered at Galatasaray Square in week 1111 and set out their demands regarding their loved ones who had gone missing.
Turkey Today – 10.07.2026
A written statement was issued marking the first anniversary of the weapon-burning ceremony held on 11 July 2025 and reaffirming the commitment to a strategy of democratic political struggle.
Six graves and a fountain inside the Surp Garabet Armenian Cemetery in Üsküdar, İstanbul, were damaged in an attack on he night of 7 July, the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey announced.
In a statement marking the anniversary of the weapons-burning ceremony, the Peace Foundation said, “Abdullah Öcalan’s legal status, working conditions and communication arrangements must be regulated in an open and transparent manner, in accordance with the principles of the rule of law.”
Responding to criticism that they had been too slow to establish a new party, CHP Leader Özgür Özel said, “Either our patience will pay off and we will return to the party, or, when our patience runs out, we will establish a new party and become the leading party once again.”
The trial of journalist Timur Soykan, who is being prosecuted over his social media posts was held in Istanbul. The court ordered that the case file be transferred to the newly assigned prosecutor. Trial adjourned until September.
Turkey Today – 09.07.2026
Eight of those detained in Adana, Antalya, Istanbul and Bursa ahead of the NATO Summit were placed under house arrest, whilst 32 people were remanded in custody.
The 11th hearing in the trial of 19 journalists and media workers charged with “membership in a terrorist organization” was held in Diyarbakır. Following the defense statements, the court ruled to maintain the judicial control measures. Trial adjourned until November.
Özgür Han, the Deputy Mayor who was arrested as part of the investigation into Marmaris Municipality, was released to stand trial on bail following the drafting of the indictment.
Standup comedian Deniz Göktaş, arrested on Jul 3 after a video of his show went viral, said police filmed his transfer in handcuffs multiple times to create social media content.
The National Criminal Bureau’s report on the SIM card in the Gülistan Doku investigation has been finalised. According to the report, after Gülistan Doku went missing, the card was used in a phone of the same model.
Turkey Today – 08.07.2026
A new investigation has been launched into Ekrem İmamoğlu on the grounds of “threatening a public official”.
Kadir Karaçelik, President of the Muş Bar Association, who stated that the “right to hope” must be implemented without being reduced to a matter of negotiation, remarked, “The positive phase of peace will undoubtedly take legal forms.”
Ezgi Önalan, Chair of the Istanbul Branch of the Lawyers’ Association ÇHD, who was detained during an operation carried out ahead of the NATO summit, has been remanded in custody.
In the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) case, the prosecutor requested the release of Beyoğlu Mayor İnan Güney, Ceyda Kıryak and Serap Karay.
The YouTube video of Deniz Göktaş’s stand-up show entitled “Dead Sea”, which has been viewed approximately 12.5 million times, has been blocked.
Turkey Today – 07.07.2026
At least 75 people were detained on the first day of the NATO leaders summit in the capital city of Ankara during a protest against the gathering.
The DEM Party stated that Ankara had effectively been subjected to a state of emergency under the pretext of the NATO Summit, and called for the immediate release of those detained and for an end to “unlawful practices”.
The hearing in the case filed against Etkin News Agency correspondents Züleyha Müldür, Ezgi Gürbüz and Simay Ada Kart on charges of “membership of an organization” and “propagandizing for an organization” was held in İstanbul. Trial adjourned until September.
Berfin Ay, a journalist who was detained on 5 July in the Silopi district of Şırnak, has been released on bail.
The Human Rights Association (İHD), issuing a statement regarding Gürkan Türkoğlu—who went on hunger strike demanding the closure of ‘Kuyu-type’ prisons and lost his life on 4 July—called for the closure of high-security prisons.
Turkey Today – 06.07.2026
The Constitutional Court, whilst ruling that the security forces’ use of lethal force—in the incident where Hacı Lokman Birlik’s body was tied to an armoured vehicle and dragged—did not constitute a violation of the substantive aspect of the right to life, found that the state had failed to fulfil its obligation to conduct an effective investigation and had breached the prohibition on treatment incompatible with human dignity.
The second hearing in the ‘political espionage’ trial in which the detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Necati Özkan and Merdan Yanardağ are standing trial took place in Silivri. Imamoğlu addressed MİT Director İbrahim Kalın: “Why aren’t you speaking out? Why can’t you write a single article? Is Ekrem İmamoğlu a spy or not? Is Merdan Yanardağ a spy or not? Is Necati Özkan a spy or not?”
The detention period of Berfin Ay, Editor-in-Chief of Azadîya Welat, who was taken into custody yesterday, has been extended by one day.
An explosion has occurred along the border in the Başkale district of Van. According to reports, an unidentified explosive device detonated in the vicinity of the border post for reasons as yet unknown. One military personnel member and two soldiers were injured in the incident.
Ahead of the NATO summit, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Tom Barrack, the US Ambassador to Ankara and Special Representative for Syria and Iraq, in Ankara.