The End Of April – “Process Frozen, Economy Cracking: Turkey at a Crossroads”

Weekly Turkey Report: The End Of April – “Process Frozen, Economy Cracking: Turkey at a Crossroads”

Executive Summary:   

• PKK commander Murat Karayılan issued a lengthy statement highlighting the absence of legal steps on key issues including Öcalan’s situation, democratisation and disarmament. Key points: The absence of meetings with Öcalan is “not normal.” The process is currently “frozen.” The government has taken no legal practical steps.
• The Interior Ministry extended the term of Tuncay Akkoyun, serving as trustee for Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, until 4 July 2026, confirming two more months of trustee administration.
• A detention order was issued for 34 people, including Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek, in an operation targeting ANSET, a subsidiary of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality. 
• The Turkey rapporteurs of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament sent a joint letter to Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi drawing attention to İmamoğlu’s detention of nearly two years and the broader situation of elected officials. The letter stated: “The current picture weakens democracy by undermining the will of voters.”
• Istanbul retail prices: +3.74% monthly, +36.83% year-on-year
• According to Istanbul Chamber of Commerce data, Istanbul retail prices rose 3.74% month-on-month in April, with annual inflation reaching 36.83%.
• SGK records show that the number of compulsorily insured workers fell by 324,000 in a single month, a shock wave reflected in TÜİK figures as a historic record of 31.5% in broad-definition unemployment (idle labour force).

The week was dominated by the Kurdish peace process, with statements from Kandil and İmralı followed by an unscheduled one-hour summit between Erdoğan and Bahçeli. The authorities once again barred workers and trade unions from Taksim Square on May Day. Pressure on the CHP and its municipalities continued, including further detentions. And the economic toll of the Iran War grew heavier.

KURDISH PEACE PROCESS

Abdullah Öcalan issued a clarification regarding statements about a new building and his status on İmralı Island. According to the Mezopotamya News Agency, Öcalan said: “My only concern is to resolve the problem. By ‘status’ I mean having working conditions — not personal comfort. My concern is communication. This is a heavy process and I want to bring it to a conclusion.”

PKK commander Murat Karayılan issued a lengthy statement highlighting the absence of legal steps on key issues including Öcalan’s situation, democratisation and disarmament. Key points: The absence of meetings with Öcalan is “not normal.” The process is currently “frozen.” The government has taken no legal practical steps.

Laying down arms without guarantees would be “irrational.” Demanding full disarmament before taking any steps is an imposition of surrender. The fundamental precondition for progress is Öcalan’s status — without his physical freedom, the process has no chance of developing.

The month of April — designated by government and AKP officials as the month when peace legislation would pass, and awaited with great anticipation — passed without a single meeting with Öcalan. This is not normal, and signals danger for the future of the process. The last comprehensive meeting took place on 27 March; its outcome apparently led the government to freeze the process.

“As a movement, we have fulfilled our obligations at this stage.” Ending a 42-year armed struggle and self-dissolution is no ordinary decision — it is the most strategic one possible. No one can claim we have not moved.

The rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitutional Court must be implemented immediately. This would pave the way for the release of Selahattin Demirtaş, Osman Kavala, Can Atalay and many others, with significant positive impact on the process.

The report noted that trustees (kayyums) should now be removed — yet no practical step has been taken. In several trustee-administered municipalities, including Mardin, defendants in the cases cited as justification have since been acquitted, yet trustee rule continues.

Hundreds of academics were dismissed for signing a peace declaration — if a new peace process is under way, they must be reinstated. No move has been made in this direction.

If the Turkish state wants to become a rising regional power, it can only do so through democratic reform and alliance with the Kurdish people. Bahçeli himself stated publicly that Öcalan has a status problem that must be resolved — and that status is, in effect, physical freedom.

The DEM Party’s İmralı delegation issued a statement regarding texts circulating as “İmralı notes” attributed to Öcalan. The delegation said the texts distort Öcalan’s views by inserting statements targeting specific individuals and groups without any connection to an original document, and warned that such attempts undermine the dialogue and solution process.

The Interior Ministry extended the term of Tuncay Akkoyun, serving as trustee for Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, until 4 July 2026, confirming two more months of trustee administration.

LEGAL AND POLITICAL PRESSURE ON CHP / MUNICIPALITIES

A detention order was issued for 34 people, including Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Muhittin Böcek, in an operation targeting ANSET, a subsidiary of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office also issued detention orders for Böcek’s daughter-in-law Zuhal Böcek and two others in a separate line of investigation. 

The court in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) trial ordered the release of 15 defendants, including Emrah Yüksel, İsmet Korkmaz, Nuri Cem Ceylan, Mehmet Çağlar Kuru, Ulaş Yılmaz, Yusuf Utku Şahin, Esma Bayrak, Çağlar Türkmen, Adem Soytekin, Murat Keleş, Fatih Özçelik, İsmail Akkaya, Seyhan Özcan, Harun Cengiz Beğenmez and Mehmet Kaya.

The 27th hearing of the 414-defendant İBB trial — in which Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and numerous district mayors are being tried in pre-trial detention — was marked by a sharp dispute over defence rights. When the presiding judge rejected defence counsels’ request for five minutes each to address the detention review, tensions rose sharply. After lawyers filed successive recusal motions against the judge, the hearing was adjourned.

A significant development occurred in the 200-defendant case alleging that a crime network led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş arranged contracts through bribes to municipal officials, including three CHP mayors. The first anonymous witness, identified as “Xyzq49p,” repudiated all statements attributed to him in the case file, saying: “I never made such a statement — I don’t even know that person.”

The Turkey rapporteurs of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament sent a joint letter to Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi drawing attention to İmamoğlu’s detention of nearly two years and the broader situation of elected officials. The letter stated: “The current picture weakens democracy by undermining the will of voters.” 

MAY DAY 2026

Istanbul’s May Day began with police barricades and bans. Roads leading to Taksim Square were blocked and closed to traffic from 05:00. Many people attempting to reach Taksim in the early hours were detained. The Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD) reported nearly 700 people detained in total. All were released the following day. 

SECURITY AND PERSONNEL CHANGES

A government decree published in the Official Gazette on 29 April 2026 brought sweeping personnel changes in civil administration and the police. National Police Chief Mahmut Demirtaş was removed and replaced by Nevşehir Governor Ali Fidan. Yakup Canbolat, Governor of Aydın, was appointed Governor of Ankara. Police chiefs in ten provinces were also changed, including in Ankara, where Chief Engin Dinç was reassigned to headquarters.

LABOUR

Miners on hunger strike demanding their rights from Doruk Madencilik attempted to march from Kurtuluş Park to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, but were blocked by police. Declaring “we’ll be detained if necessary,” the workers broke through the police cordon. After their action, the Interior Ministry intervened and union leaders were received by Minister Mustafa Çiftçi to present their demands. The miners subsequently called off their protest.

ISRAEL / GAZA — FREEDOM FLOTILLA

Following an overnight raid on the Global Sumud Fleet, which was attempting a symbolic breach of the Gaza blockade, numerous activists — including 18 Turkish nationals — were reported detained by Israeli forces. The Turkish Foreign Ministry described the Israeli operation against the fleet as “an act of piracy.”

ECONOMY

Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan delivered key messages to markets at the 94th Ordinary General Assembly. Reviewing the economic balance sheet for 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, Karahan flagged rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East and warned: “In the event of a significant and sustained deterioration in the inflation outlook, we will tighten our monetary policy stance.”

According to Istanbul Chamber of Commerce data, Istanbul retail prices rose 3.74% month-on-month in April, with annual inflation reaching 36.83%.

Turkey’s employment crisis was laid bare by both SGK (Social Security Institution) and TÜİK (Statistics Institute) data. SGK records show that the number of compulsorily insured workers fell by 324,000 in a single month, a shock wave reflected in TÜİK figures as a historic record of 31.5% in broad-definition unemployment (idle labour force).

According to TÜRK-İŞ data, the hunger line reached TL 34,600 and the poverty line TL 112,700 in April. Food inflation for the first four months of the year was calculated at 14.74%.

A survey by IPA found the following rates of deprivation among elderly people in Turkey:

Unable to purchase needed medication: 22.7%

Unable to access a doctor or health facility: 20.6%

Report not eating regularly or adequately: 36.8%

Unable to pay utility bills: 25.9%

Unable to cover rent or housing costs: 23.0%

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