AK Party

The Istanbul municipal council will meet to elect a new provincial mayor on Sept. 28.

Istanbul Başakşehir District Mayor Mevlüt Uysal looks set to be elected by the council as the new metropolitan mayor, replacing Kadir Topbaş who resigned on Sept. 22. 

This long holiday and vacation period has given time for politicians to re-establish relations with their party base and listen to the masses. Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has been very quiet for the past two weeks, while even President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opted to stay away from public speeches for at least a couple of days. 

I follow every article from every different political perspective, as well as discussions on social media and TV. But as a scriptwriter, the most interesting things for me to follow are the comments under articles.

Opposition circles, or the "other half of Turkey," are suffering from post-system change trauma. It is not just the end of the parliamentary system and the authoritarian sway that has been sealed after the July 2016 coup attempt and the April 2017 referendum, everybody feels a deeper transformation of the political regime underway.

By the time you read this article, another critical meeting in Ankara will have started. One year after the bloody coup attempt, this year's Supreme Military Council meeting seems to hold more importance than ever. The scenarios are limited but the signs are many. 

Turkey’s jailed pro-Kurdish opposition leader said no judge could stand up to Tayyip Erdogan, expressing doubts he could ever have a fair trial after the president publicly labeled him a terrorist.

Turkey reshuffled its Cabinet with five new ministers, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reported.
Speaking to reporters at the presidential complex in Ankara after an unscheduled meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Yildirim said six ministers have new portfolios, while five newcomers have joined the Cabinet.

Since the bloody coup attempt of July 15, are we a better nation? Are we more unified? Have the dangers and pitfalls in governance decreased?

In Turkey, mosques have a dual spiritual and economic purpose. This surprised me when I first moved to the country more than a decade ago. I expected God and money to be kept separate, at least outwardly, more in keeping with the discreet, cash-in-envelopes Christian churches of my youth.

Turkey's parliament on June 7 approved a draft bill allowing its troops to be deployed to a Turkish military base in Qatar.

The move appears to support the Gulf Arab country as it faces diplomatic and trade isolation from some of the biggest Middle Eastern powers.