Author: Daily Sabah

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar pledged he would not allow anti-Türkiye movements on the island after Cyprus was mired by demonstrations in recent weeks. In a written statement on Saturday, Tatar said the Turkish army was the architect of peace for Turkish Cypriots on the island. He also said certain people have tried to exploit a domestic debate in the country to divide Turkish Cypriots and sought to advance their own political agenda through anti-Turkish sentiment. In the past few weeks, the TRNC was rocked with rallies by labor unions and other nongovernmental organizations after the…

Testimony of a businessperson claiming he bribed Ekrem Imamoğlu to receive a building permit has added to the legal woes of the arrested mayor of Istanbul from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The latest statement reported by Sabah newspaper dates back to Imamoğlu’s tenure as mayor of the far-flung Istanbul district of Beylikdüzü. In the meantime, an Istanbul court on Friday ordered the release of the head of a company of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) who was arrested alongside Imamoğlu in March when he decided to collaborate with authorities. The newspaper reported earlier this month that Imamoğlu was…

Media outlets reported on Saturday that Turkish fighter jets airdropped leaflets written in Kurdish in mountainous areas of northern Iraq where PKK terrorists are hiding, urging them to heed the call of their jailed leader and lay down arms. PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned on an island near Istanbul, has called upon the group to lay down arms and dissolve as part of the terror-free Türkiye initiative in February. The initiative, launched by government ally Devlet Bahçeli last year, is expected to conclude with a “congress” by the terrorist group, where it may formally end decades of violence that killed…

Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) director Ibrahim Kalın met with Muhammad Darwish, the head of the Hamas Shura Council, security sources said Saturday. Kalın and Darwish, as well as the accompanying delegation, discussed measures to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza under Israeli attacks and the coordination of international efforts for it, sources said. The pair also discussed the latest efforts to reach a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire that “will stop Israel’s genocidal activities” in Gaza. Demonstrating a shared stance against all Israeli plans to expel the people of Gaza from their homelands was also on the table, according to security…

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is headed to Algeria on Sunday for a two-day working visit, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Fidan and his Algerian counterpart Ahmed Attaf will chair the third meeting of the Türkiye-Algeria Joint Planning Group, the ministry said. Fidan is also expected to be received by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and later formally inaugurate Türkiye’s consulate general in Oran. The Turkish top diplomat will review preparations for the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting that will be held when Tebboune visits Türkiye. He will address the negotiation processes of the agreements planned to be signed to strengthen…

First Lady Emine Erdoğan emphasized the significance of sustainability and charitable giving during the opening of Cemre Çarşısı, a charity market organized by the Social Development Center Association for Education and Solidarity (TOGEM-DER), held this year under the theme “Family, Kindness, and Sustainability.” The event, hosted in the foyer of The Peninsula Hotel in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, featured over 70 brands and brought together prominent names from the world of business, fashion, gastronomy, and the arts. The proceeds from the marketplace will go toward TOGEM-DER’s various social aid and development projects. During her visit, Erdoğan toured the stands with Family…

First Lady Emine Erdoğan emphasized the significance of sustainability and charitable giving during the opening of Cemre Çarşısı, a charity market organized by the Social Development Center Association for Education and Solidarity (TOGEM-DER), held this year under the theme “Family, Kindness, and Sustainability.” The event, hosted in the foyer of The Peninsula Hotel in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, featured over 70 brands and brought together prominent names from the world of business, fashion, gastronomy, and the arts. The proceeds from the marketplace will go toward TOGEM-DER’s various social aid and development projects. During her visit, Erdoğan toured the stands with Family…

Sümeyye Erdoğan Bayraktar, Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Women and Democracy Foundation (KADEM), delivered a compelling speech highlighting systemic discrimination against women in the workforce – especially Muslim women who wear headscarves – as she criticized restrictive policies in France and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and urged institutional reforms to protect religious freedoms. Speaking at a high-level event titled “The Right to Believe, the Right to Work: Women’s Religious Freedom in the Workplace” at Istanbul’s Ibn Haldun University, Erdoğan Bayraktar, who recounted her personal experiences of exclusion during Türkiye’s Feb. 28 post-modern coup era,…

Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, a prominent and controversial journalist, was detained on Thursday on charges of disseminating disinformation. Kütahyalı had raised eyebrows after a tweet on Wednesday, in which he claimed that authorities would appoint a trustee to the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which is under investigation over a shady intraparty election. Kütahyalı has claimed that security forces in the capital, Ankara, were reinforced “against a likely uprising” over the decision. Kütahyalı’s manipulative tweet faced sharp criticism, with some social media users and fellow journalists accusing him of attempting to harm the volatile stock exchange at a time when…

Doctors attending to Deputy Parliament Speaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who was hospitalized Tuesday after a heart attack, said his situation improved slightly on Thursday, but he will remain in intensive care. Önder has a history of ailments and has suffered from a pancreatic tumor and brain clotting in the past. The hospital in Istanbul where he is being treated issued a statement on Thursday, saying that Önder was “responding” to the treatment and his health parameters were improving. Doctors stated that it would be a long process for him, and they had to “wait for longer” for full recovery. Get-well-soon…