Weekly Turkey Report: 4th Week of October 2025

While the Erdoğan regime has moved to repair relations with the West and taken notable steps toward pushing the PKK to abandon armed struggle, it is simultaneously tightening pressure on the CHP—above all on its greatest fear, Ekrem İmamoğlu. Unable to tame inflation and leaving minimum-wage earners below the poverty line, the regime keeps signaling at every turn that it does not intend to leave power through the ballot box. Yet these efforts appear only to have stiffened the resolve of the CHP, especially under Özgür Özel.

Even the limited moves on illicit finance reveal the swamp the regime is mired in and suggest that, under a potential change in government, many individuals tied to the AKP regime would be exposed. This picture indicates that Erdoğan and his accomplice Devlet Bahçeli will wage a fight to the bitter end to preserve the system they have built.

In short, the tunnel Turkey has entered looks longer and darker. A report by BirGün underscores the severity: since the start of the year, more than 8.5 million new files have been added to enforcement offices, bringing the total close to 25 million, while the amount of debt banks have placed in collections has hit a record 515 billion lira.

Court Dismisses Trusteeship Case Against the CHP

The fifth hearing of the suit seeking to annul the CHP’s 38th Ordinary Congress (November 4–5, 2023) and the 21st Extraordinary Congress (April 6, 2025) was held this week. After hearing the parties one last time, the court dismissed the case on the grounds that it had “become moot.”

Previously, former CHP convention delegates—including ex-Hatay Metropolitan Mayor Lütfü Savaş—had petitioned Ankara’s 42nd Civil Court to invalidate provincial congress elections held during the run-up to the party’s 39th Ordinary Congress.

Meanwhile, the hearing in Silivri over the “fake diploma” case targeting Istanbul’s elected Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was marked by controversy. Citing a “violation of the right to a fair trial,” İmamoğlu and his lawyers exited the courtroom and refused to participate. The presiding judge then ordered İmamoğlu to be brought to the courtroom by force. Following protests by İmamoğlu’s legal team, the hearing was postponed.

Espionage Accusation Against İmamoğlu

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an “espionage” investigation into CHP’s jailed presidential candidate and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, TELE1 Editor-in-Chief Merdan Yanardağ, and İmamoğlu’s adviser and campaign director Necati Özkan. Yanardağ was detained; police searched his home and the TELE1 building. The investigation refers to an “Ekrem İmamoğlu criminal organization,” with Hüseyin Gün identified as a key figure.

Reacting sharply, İmamoğlu said: “Even the devil wouldn’t conceive of such a slander, lie, and plot! We are faced with an indefensible, shameful immorality beyond words.”

The Prosecutor’s Office also announced that a trustee had been appointed to ABC Radio Television and Digital Broadcasting Inc., the company owning TELE1, as part of the “espionage” probe against Editor-in-Chief Yanardağ. After the trusteeship decision, TELE1 switched to taped broadcasts, and it was reported that the trustee board had entered the building. The channel’s YouTube page was shut down; reports say the trustee management deleted 76,000 videos and closed the channel. TMSF appointed İbrahim Paşalı, a columnist for the pro-Palace daily Yeni Şafak, to run the outlet.

CHP Rally at Çağlayan

While İmamoğlu was giving a statement at Istanbul’s Çağlayan Courthouse over the “espionage” claims, CHP leader Özgür Özel led a rally outside: “The leader of this March 19 coup told Akın to keep İmamoğlu in prison until the next election. He pushed hard, but they hit a wall. The indictment won’t hold. If they file it, the judge will order trial without detention. So they invented a new crime and called it ‘espionage.’ The so-called FETO used to do the same.”

Crime Boss Free, CHP Mayors Jailed

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has completed what the public knows as the “Aziz İhsan Aktaş investigation,” which has led to the arrest of numerous CHP municipal leaders. The indictment includes a request to send summaries of proceedings to Ankara’s Chief Prosecutor regarding CHP MPs Özgür Karabat and Burhanettin Bulut on “bribery” allegations.

Prepared by the Office’s Organized Crime Bureau, the 578-page indictment lists 19 individuals as victims. While Aktaş—named as the organization’s leader and facing up to 704 years—will be tried without pre-trial detention, several mayors remain behind bars. Among the 200 suspects, 40 are in custody, including Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat; Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar; Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere; Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer; Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara; Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar; and Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin. The indictment seeks up to 415 years for Akpolat, with varying sentences for the others.

PKK Announces Withdrawal from Turkey

The PKK leadership declared that, in line with the 12th Congress decisions and with Abdullah Öcalan’s approval, all its forces in Turkey have begun withdrawing to the “Media Defense Zones.” The statement affirmed commitment to implementing the 12th Congress decisions and called for “immediate” legal and political steps to advance the process: “A Transition Law specific to the PKK should be adopted without delay, and the legal framework for freedom and democratic integration enabling participation in democratic politics must be enacted.”

Cyprus Election Rattles the MHP

In northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar—backed by the AKP and MHP—lost the presidential election. Tatar, seen as having played a major role in turning the island’s north into a hub for narcotics, dirty money, illegal betting, and prostitution, is now out of office, which has agitated the MHP.

Addressing his party group, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli also weighed in on developments in the TRNC, calling on its Parliament to vote to join Turkey: “After our 81st province Düzce, it is now a matter of life and death that the 82nd be the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.” The AKP did not echo this line and instead congratulated the new President, Tufan Erhürman.

Illicit Finance and Gambling Crackdowns

In the Can Holding probe, 11 people—including former Bilgi University Rector Remzi Sanver and Can Yayın Holding Chair Kenan Tekdağ—were arrested on charges of “membership in an organization for material gain” and “laundering assets obtained from crime.”

Separately, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office widened an illegal betting investigation, putting major players in digital finance and gaming under the microscope. In an operation coordinated by the gendarmerie, raids targeted companies including Paribu, Papara, BN Teknoloji AŞ (Binance Turkey), and Elektronik Şans Oyunları ve Yayıncılık AŞ (Nesine). Prosecutors say illegal betting proceeds were laundered via digital transfers and crypto assets, with 3.665 billion lira in illicit flows over the past two years—posing a serious economic and social challenge to the state.

Media Sector Turmoil

A wave of layoffs hit the Gerçek Gündem news site owned by TV100, with most staff reportedly dismissed. Around 100 employees were also terminated from the TV100 channel itself, fueling speculation that the station could halt broadcasting in the near term.