TURKEY: New Trustee Appointment & more – 25th Feb 2025

Merhaba from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 25th of February twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

On Friday the 21st, authorities banned the entry and exit from Kağızman, a district in the eastern city of Kars, after a court sentenced Mehmet Alkan, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy or DEM Party co-mayor, to six years and three months in prison for alleged membership in a terrorist organization. The ban was likely put in place to prevent potential uprisings.

The Interior Ministry appointed the Kağızman District Governor as trustee. The DEM Party co-mayors called Alkan’s prison sentence a pretext for appointing a trustee and hung a banner rejecting removal. The Kars Governor’s Office then imposed a ten-day ban on protests. The police set up security checkpoints on roads leading to the district, preventing DEM Party members, including Kars’ co-chair, from entering.

The move follows a pattern of government interventions against pro-Kurdish mayors since the twenty twenty-four local elections.

Next up, On Sunday the 23rd, the ruling Justice and Development Party or AKP reshuffled its leadership during its eighth congress, appointing thirty-nine new members to its seventy-five-person Central Decision and Executive Board, marking a 52% change.

The new list included seven defectors from the opposition parties Good Party and the Future Party, alongside political dynasties like Mücahit Arınç, the son of the former AKP speaker Bülent Arınç. Mesut Özil, an ex-footballer, and Ünal Karaman, a former coach, were also added.

The changes come after several lawmakers switched to the AKP after the previous parliamentary elections in twenty twenty-three, strengthening President Erdoğan's grip ahead of the twenty twenty-eight elections.

On Monday the 24th, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, visited Turkey to discuss recent talks between Russian and United States officials on ending the war in Ukraine. The visit coincided with the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A foreign ministry source said Lavrov and Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Minister, talked about Turkey’s possible role in the peace process.

The discussions also covered the ceasefire in Gaza and Syria, where Turkey stressed the need for territorial unity and the removal of terrorist groups. Turkey, which hosted early negotiations in twenty twenty-two, has maintained ties with both Russia and Ukraine throughout the war.

In unrelated news, on Saturday the 22nd, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul from the main opposition the Republican People’s Party or CHP, over allegations that his university diploma was fake. The investigation follows allegations from The Council of Higher Education to prosecutors, leading to accusations of document forgery.

İmamoğlu is set to testify on Wednesday the 26th. If the investigation leads to a lawsuit, this will be the sixth ongoing against him.

As a major rival to President Erdoğan, İmamoğlu tends to face legal challenges that could result in a political ban. He is expected to become the CHP’s presidential candidate next month.

Speaking of investigations, on Thursday the 21st, the Capital Markets Board, or SPK, opened a case into unusual price movements in Borsa Istanbul or BIST, the country’s main stock exchange.

The SPK is reviewing transactions and potential manipulative news that may have influenced the market. It stated that any actions threatening market security, transparency, or stability would face legal or administrative penalties. Legal action has also been announced against those responsible for spreading misleading information.

On that note, on Wednesday the 19th, Reuters reported that J.P. Morgan, a major U.S. investment bank and financial services firm, projected that Argentina and Turkey’s equity markets could gain over 20% this year, driven by policy reforms to curb inflation. Analysts stated that lifting capital controls in Argentina could boost growth, while Turkey’s efforts to lower inflation and interest rates might strengthen its stock market.

However, investors are watching closely, as on Friday the 22nd, an Istanbul court imposed travel bans on Orhan Turan, the president of the Turkish Industry and Business Association, or TÜSİAD, and Ömer Aras, the banking executive of Qatar National Bank, after they criticized the government’s crackdown on opposition figures. The two have been under investigation since their remarks last week. The probe triggered a stock market dip before stabilizing.

President Erdoğan accused the TÜSİAD of meddling in politics and exploiting the country, whereas the investigation is called into question as part of a wider effort to silence dissent.

Switching gears, on Saturday the 23rd, Technischer ÜberwachungsvereinTürk lost the vehicle inspection contract it held for eighteen years. The new contract, worth a little short of two billion dollars, went to MOI Joint Venture Group, a consortium led by Sweden-based Opus.

Lothar Geilen, the CEO of Opus, said the company plans to modernize inspections, introduce new technology, and reduce wait times below fifteen minutes. He added that half of the contract’s first ten years' revenue will go to the government.

The MOI will expand inspection stations, working with new and existing operators. Geilen described the project as a major investment and said Opus sees Turkey as a key market for future growth.

On Friday the 22nd, Iraq’s oil ministry announced that all procedures were in place to restart oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline, ending a nearly two-year dispute. Hayyan Abdul Ghani, Iraq’s oil minister, said exports from Kurdistan would resume next week as relations between Kurdistan and Iraq have improved. Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq, has long clashed with the country over oil revenue and political autonomy.

The two-year delay stemmed from disagreements over payments and control. However, the two parties resolved that issue earlier this month, with the Iraqi parliament approving a budget amendment, which adds a sixteen-dollar-per-barrel rate for transport and production costs, and requiring Kurdistan’s oil to be sold through Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization.

In other news, on Wednesday the 19th, the head of Turkey’s Egg Producers Central Union stated that the country is exporting 15,000 tonnes of eggs to the United States, as a severe bird flu outbreak in the US has cut production and driven up prices. He said that shipments started this month and will continue until July, generating around twenty-six million dollars in revenue.

The U.S. bird flu outbreak, which began in twenty twenty-two, has killed 162 million birds, causing shortages. The virus, first detected in dairy cattle in Texas, has spread to seventeen states, infecting nearly seventy people, mostly farm workers. Grocery stores are rationing eggs, and restaurants have raised prices. Turkey, one of the world’s top egg exporters, is now filling the supply gap, as U.S. producers seek alternative sources.

On Friday the 22nd, numerous environmental groups, professional chambers, and over a hundred individuals sued to annul the Environmental Impact Assessment approval for the Highway Project along the country’s southern Mediterranean coast.

Attorney Tuncay Koç argued the project aimed to transfer wealth and open coastal areas for development. He criticized the approval process, highlighting the destruction of 150 acres of farmland, 7,000 hectares of forest, and over 60,000 trees. The project would also affect archaeological sites, biodiversity, and water sources. Koç questioned its high cost, estimated at over two billion liras, which is around 250 million US Dollars, and suggested alternative investments for regional development.

Wrapping up this edition, on the night of Monday the 24th, the Istanbul Governor’s Office warned of temperatures dropping to below-freezing levels, urging caution due to ice and frost. It added that the snow will weaken overnight.

The Governor addressed students on social media, saying he knew they hoped for another snow day, but with weather conditions improving, classes would continue. He wished them a successful day at school.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

In case you didn’t know, besides the Rorshok Turkey Update, we also do others! We’ve got many country updates from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. But we also have non-country updates, including the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions, and the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water,

If you want to check out the full list of updates, go to https://rorshok.com/updates/. The link is in the show notes.

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