Author: Daily Sabah

Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş says the terrorist group PKK should take “the next step” in an initiative to end the latter’s campaign of violence. “The call from Imrali was the first step, and now those who are supposed to respond to it should do so in a concrete way and announce that terrorism is not a path they should follow,” he told broadcaster TRT Haber on the sidelines of his meetings in Uzbekistan’s Tashkent on Monday. Kurtulmuş’s remarks came amid a new statement by Ömer Öcalan, a lawmaker and relative of jailed terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan, who visited the latter…

Türkiye is set to take the pulse of foreign policy this week as it prepares to host leaders from over the world for meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, as well as the much anticipated Antalya Diplomacy Forum. First on the schedule is a visit from Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto – upon Erdoğan’s invitation – at the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara, on Thursday. Subianto is also expected to deliver a speech at Parliament and become the third sitting Indonesian leader to deliver such a speech after the country’s first president, Sukarno and sixth president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The…

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) chairperson, Özgür Özel, escalated his rhetoric against the government as he was reelected in a controversial intraparty election on Sunday. As he claimed that a junta was in power in Türkiye and implied that the arrest of Istanbul’s CHP mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, was sanctioned by the United States, ministers hit out at Özel in scathing remarks while dismissing allegations. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was Özel himself who sought foreign assistance after the mayor’s arrest on charges of corruption, while Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç Özel attempted to divert attention from accusations Imamoğlu…

Real Madrid know the terrain of the Champions League like no other. Arsenal, meanwhile, are desperate to carve a path of their own. Tuesday’s quarterfinal first leg at the Emirates is a collision of legacy and ambition. It is the first-ever competitive meeting between the clubs in North London, and Real Madrid arrive with scars from a rare domestic stumble – but a tournament pedigree that dwarfs Arsenal’s. Fifteen-time European champions Madrid needed penalties to escape a feisty round-of-16 tie with crosstown rivals Atletico. Arsenal, in contrast, bulldozed their way past PSV with a 7-1 first-leg masterclass in Eindhoven, booking…

Deputy chairs of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lambasted Özgür Özel after the Turkish main opposition leader claimed Türkiye was ruled by a junta. Addressing members of his party on Sunday as he stood as the only candidate for the top seat of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Özel has branded the presidency led by AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a junta “fearing the public.” Ömer Çelik, AK Party spokesperson and deputy chair, responded to Özel in kind, highlighting that the CHP itself has been a staunch supporter of juntas of the past. “The CHP…

Berhan Şimşek, a former lawmaker for the Republican People’s Party (CHP), told reporters that his challenge to the party’s current leader Özgür Özel was not accepted because of a “five-minute delay in his application.” Şimşek was the only other candidate for the top seat of the main opposition party, which held an extraordinary election on Sunday in the capital Ankara. The organizing committee of the election declared Özel the only candidate prior to the vote, while a CHP mayor had declared his withdrawal from the race earlier for unspecified reasons. He was seen in a heated argument with Özel at…

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Sunday held an extraordinary meeting where its chair, Özgür Özel, is favored to win an intraparty election. The convention in the capital, Ankara, aims to prevent what the CHP calls an attempt to appoint a trustee to the party amid allegations of corruption in the last such election in Türkiye’s oldest party. Özel would have competed with Ümit Uysal, the CHP mayor for the southern province of Antalya’s Muratpaşa district, but he declared his withdrawal from the race at the last minute. Berhan Şimşek, an actor who was a former lawmaker for…

A lawyer representing the victims of a deadly arson attack in Solingen, Germany, that claimed the lives of four Turkish-origin Bulgarian citizens has filed a criminal complaint against police officials, citing concerns that they may have concealed evidence. Attorney Seda Başay Yıldız submitted the complaint to authorities following the ninth hearing of the trial at the Wuppertal Regional Court, according to German news agency dpa. The complaint targets the Wuppertal police chief and several officers involved in the investigation. Yıldız alleged that “there is reason to suspect evidence was withheld” and that “other crucial evidence may exist” in the case.…

TRT Arabi, Türkiye’s Arabic-language news channel launched to amplify the country’s voice in the international arena, is celebrating its 15th anniversary, the broadcaster announced Thursday. Established on April 4, 2010, TRT Arabi serves as a communication bridge between Türkiye and Arabic-speaking communities, reaching a region of over 450 million people, including the 22 member states of the Arab League. The channel continues its broadcasting mission with a focus on diversity of perspectives, offering rich field reporting and in-depth coverage across various topics, including culture, history, politics, and economics. Since October 2023, TRT Arabi has been closely covering Israel’s genocidal war…

The initiative launched by the People’s Alliance to achieve a terror-free Türkiye through ending PKK terrorism is proceeding as planned, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Friday. “Türkiye is standing tall. It is holding the agenda in its hands. And the People’s Alliance is everything to Türkiye right now,” he told reporters in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district. PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in late February called on his group to lay down arms and dissolve in what would mark the end of more than four decades of the PKK’s campaign of terrorism targeting Türkiye. The terror-free Türkiye initiative was launched last year…