Justice and Development Party (AKP)

Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute, does not beat around the bush. “On Syria, Turkey needs to cut and run. Built a wall on its border and turn away,” he said when we talked last month in Istanbul.

Turkey does not deserve to be robbed in the name of religion, the country’s main opposition leader has said, while adding that government interference that prompted a parliamentary commission to postpone a decision on whether four former ministers should stand trial on graft claims has cast a shadow on the panel.

More than $35 billion worth of privatization income was transferred to the Treasury between 2002 and October 2014, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said in response to a parliamentary question asked by CHP Deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu to learn how privatization income was distributed and among which public institutions.

As this piece was being written, the parliamentary commission looking into corruption allegations against four former ministers from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) had not yet voted on whether they should be sent to the Supreme Council to stand trial or not.

A critical vote will take place today at a parliamentary inquiry commission on whether to send four ministers engulfed in the massive corruption and graft operation that was launched last year on Dec. 17 to the Supreme Council.

Interior Minister Efkan Ala gave a detailed briefing to Cabinet members on the ongoing Kurdish peace process at the last Cabinet meeting, where he assured ministers that the process will continue under full public order with the expectation of a permanent truce in the coming months.

The infamous Ergenekon case was launched in May 2007, after the police found 27 grenades in a suburb of Istanbul. Turkey's most important operation turned out to be a political case that had serious consequences on the country's political life, particularly on civil-military relations.

The Turkey of 2014 is very reminiscent of the Turkey of 2010. Again, the government, especially President Tayyip Erdoğan, is slamming a "treacherous" power that has allegedly conspired to overthrow his government. Again, a certain segment of the media is carrying out a bitter propaganda campaign against this evil cabal, in a language that borders on hate speech.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has pledged to respect the free will of its members of Parliament in an upcoming vote on regarding an inquiry into corruption allegations.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş has said that he knew there was bug in his offices at the Turkish Parliament before creating a wave online by sharing a jocular Tweet.