A week of crises in Turkey: Raging wildfires, a massacre and 'execution lists'
Massive forest fires blaze across Turkey • Seven members of a Kurdish family were killed at home • Refugee wave from Afghanistan triggers "foreign-funded media" debate • "Execution lists" of Erdoğan critics in Europe
Here is bianet's weekly summary of important news in Turkey:
Wildfires blaze across Turkey
• More than 100 wildfires have erupted in 30 provinces since July 28, mainly in the tourist spots in southern and southwestern parts of the country
• Hundreds of homes and greenhouses have been destroyed and seven people, two firefighters and an unknown number of animals have been killed
• Government is under heavy criticism over insufficient response to the fires and the lack of firefighting aircraft
• As unverified claims of "PKK sabotage" spread, vigilante groups close roads and perform ID checks in fire zones
On July 28, fires erupted in four locations in Manavgat district of the Mediterranean province of Antalya. Within hours, it was followed by half a dozen wildfires in three provinces in its vicinity -- Mersin, Adana and Osmaniye. By August 1, some 111 wildfires had erupted in 30 provinces.
The Titanic Hotel
The first thing that came to many people's mind was the possibility of arson, given the country's history of zoning burned forested areas for construction. Indeed, a luxurious hotel that had to be evacuated due to fires in Bodrum, Muğla, was built on land that had been burned in a wildfire in 2007.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was also a usual suspect with both pro-government and pro-opposition media outlets and social media users accusing it of starting fires. The hashtag "PKK burned" (#PKKyaktı) was a trending topic on Twitter with more than 100,000 posts.
The PKK claimed many forest fires in the past, in response to what it said security forces' burning of forested areas in the Kurdish-majority regions.
Amid the unverified news of "sabotage," vigilante groups emerged in Manavgat, Antalya, closing roads and performing ID checks.
While there has been no police action regarding such groups, Manavgat Mayor Şükrü Sözen said such actions "further increase our pain and do no good for anyone."
"These people are making this period more difficult by performing ID checks, blocking roads and firing in the air in an attempt to catch 'arsonists and suspects'," he wrote on Twitter.
Tortoises rescued by a citizen in Muğla (Photo: AA)
As the authorities don't rule out arson, several suspects have been detained in various parts of the country on the suspicion of starting fires.
Meteorologists point out the high temperatures and low humidity combined with the "föhn effect" caused by northern winds as the main cause of the fires in the country's south.
The minister of forestry warned on Saturday that "We should be much more cautious" as the humidity will further decrease to 10 percent in the coming days.
Fire zones have been declared disaster areas and the loss of agriculture, animal husbandry and greenhouse businesses will be covered by the government, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during a visit to Marmaris, Muğla.
About the sabotage claims, he said, "It's our duty to rip out the lungs of those who burned our lungs," adding that there were "indications" that "terrorists" burned the forests.
A pack of tea from the president
President Erdoğan drew ire from opposition politicians after throwing packs of black tea at the crowd who were listening to his speech in Marmaris. "Both those who throw and get these should be ashamed," said main opposition deputy Engin Özkoç as the "#akpartea" hashtag, a wordplay of the AKP and tea, became a trending topic on Twitter. The president also threw packs of tea at the crowd a couple of weeks ago when he visited his hometown Rize after floods.
Aerial response
The government has been able to deploy only a handful of firefighting planes that they leased from Russia and Azerbaijan as it has surfaced that it has no firefighting planes in its inventory.
The Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK), whose planes had been used in firefighting for decades, have not been able to participate in public tenders for firefighting in the last two years due to tender specifications.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry stipulates that the minimum capacity of the aircraft should be 5,000 liters while the THK planes have 4,900-liter tanks.
Both the president and the minister of forestry said that the THK's planes were too old and not usable. Yet the opposition points out that it's the government's responsibility to have firefighting planes.
Kurdish family massacred at home
Seven people from the Dedeoğlu family were killed at home by armed assailants in the Meram district in the Central Anatolian province of Konya.
The assailants reportedly raided the family's home and set the building on fire after killing the family members.
Footage of the attack:
The family, who had been living in Konya for 24 years, were previously attacked by a group of about 60 people in May. They said the attackers had told them "We are the grey wolves [an ultranationalist group]. We won't let you live here."
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Chair Mithat Sancar blamed the government, saying that its "language of hate and provocation" was the main responsible for the recent attacks on Kurds.
The prosecutors investigating the case said the incident happened as a result of a longstanding dispute between the two families and was not racially motivated.
• The government has been under criticism over the refugee deal with the EU and a new refugee wave from Afghanistan with the apparent lack of border controls
• The main opposition leader promised to send refugees back to their countries
• Some pundits faced a social media backlash after reminding him of international conventions. Eventually, foreign-funded media outlets all together became the object of the anger
• The president's communications director stepped in, hinting at new legislation to prevent "fifth column" activities
The debate was sparked by the recent developments in the country's refugee issue. Over the past month, hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan have been reportedly crossing into Turkey every day.
The opposition criticizes the government's silence on the new refugee wave and its agreement with the EU to keep refugees in exchange for monetary support.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu recently promised to send refugees back to their countries once he assumes power. In a video statement, he criticized the ruling AKP and the EU over the refugee deal while warning the people that "refugees are not our enemies."
An unverified video showing Afghan refugees crossing from Iran to Van in Turkey's east:
When some pundits on Medyascope, an online news outlet, pointed out refugee rights and criticized racist reactions to the new refugee wave, they faced a backlash on social media.
On July 21, OdaTV, a secular-nationalist-leaning news portal, published a report about funds provided to Medyascope and three other outlets by the US-based Chrest Foundation. The information OdaTV claimed to have revealed was already public on the relevant organizations' websites.
After this report and several similar reports, all media outlets funded by foreign and international organizations have become the object of anger among both government and opposition supporters on social media.
On Friday, Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun hinted at new regulations to prevent "fifth column activities" by media outlets.
The financing of the independent media has been a problematic issue in Turkey as all mainstream outlets are owned by business groups with close ties to the government and pro-government outlets benefit from the public funds more than others. The government has also been criticized for using the RTÜK and the Press Advertisement Institution (BİK) to exert financial pressure on media outlets critical of the government through monetary penalties.
Following physical attacks in threatening messages against two journalists from Turkey, Germany on July 26 confirmed the existence of "execution lists" journalists and writers critical of the Erdoğan government.
In response to a parliamentary question, Germany's Minister of Interior Helmut Teichman said, "There are currently references to various lists of the people who are allegedly criticizing the Turkish government."
There have recently been several news articles and statements about the existence of a 55-people execution list targeting people from Turkey, especially the exiled journalists currently living in Germany.
Journalist Erk Acarer on July 20 announced that a threatening message was left in the yard of his home in Berlin, Germany. On July 8, he was assaulted by a group of people in front of his home.
After the first attack, an "execution list" containing dozens of names was published on Twitter by a seemingly pro-AKP account.
Celal Başlangıç, the editor-in-chief of Artı TV and Artı Gerçek website, was notified by Germany's police that his life was in danger.
Kurdish musician Ferhat Tunç was also informed by the Darmstadt police that he was on the "death list," he said on Twitter.
Öcalan and the DEM Party delegation at İmralı prison on Feb 27.
Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), met with family members on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, marking a rare visit permitted at İmralı Island Prison. Three other prisoners held at the facility, Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım, and Veysi Aktaş, were also allowed family visits.
The visits took place as part of the holiday visitation rights granted by prison authorities, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported. Öcalan met with his nephew, Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP Ömer Öcalan.
Family visits to Öcalan have long been restricted. Since 2014, he has been allowed to meet with relatives only seven times. The previous visit took place on Oct 23, following a 44-month period of total incommunicado detention. That visit, which involved Ömer Öcalan, came amid a broader political initiative launched by the ruling bloc in October to address the Kurdish issue.
The other inmates have also faced severe limitations. Konar and Aktaş, both transferred to İmralı in March 2015, have each had only four family visits to date, including this one. Yıldırım has had just three.
Lawyer access has similarly been restricted. Öcalan has had only five meetings with his legal team over the past 14 years, the last of which took place on Aug 7, 2019. Konar, Yıldırım, and Aktaş have not had any lawyer visits since being moved to İmralı.
On Mar 28, the Asrın Law Office, which represents Öcalan and the other prisoners, stated that 52 requests for family and lawyer visits had gone unanswered and called on the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to urgently visit the prison.
As part of ongoing political engagement, a DEM Party delegation visited İmralı three times, on Dec 28, Jan 22, and Feb 27, within the framework of efforts to find a democratic and peaceful resolution to the Kurdish issue. After the third meeting, Öcalan issued a call for the PKK to lay down its arms after four decades of armed insurgency. (VK)
Mahir Polat, deputy secretary-general of the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, was transferred back to prison after undergoing angioplasty at a hospital. Polat had been remanded in custody along with 50 others, including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
After experiencing health issues on Mar 27, Polat was taken to the hospital from Silivri Prison.
During earlier police and prosecutor questioning, Polat had described his health conditions and requested they be taken into consideration.
He said that he had undergone angiography two weeks prior to his detention and had six stents inserted. “In addition, two of my arteries are still blocked,” he said.
Polat added that a second angiography had been scheduled and that his treatment was ongoing, including a course of medication. “Because I had thyroid cancer, I regularly undergo PET scans to monitor for metastasis. I also live with sleep apnea and rely on a CPAP device. On top of that, I have hypertension and diabetes,” he told authorities.
Polat, who previously overcame thyroid cancer, is under regular cancer screening and suffers from hypertension and diabetes.
Background
İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, along with Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, Beylikdüzü Mayor Murat Çalık, and nearly 100 others, were detained during early-morning police raids on Mar 19.
The detentions were part of two separate investigations. The first probe focuses on allegations of organized corruption involving municipal companies, including claims of rigged tenders, fraud, bribery, and unlawful acquisition of personal data. Prosecutors allege that İmamoğlu formed a “criminal organization for personal gain” during his time as mayor of Beylikdüzü, prior to his election as İstanbul mayor in 2019.
The prosecution claims that municipal subsidiaries were used in connection with these alleged offenses.
More than 90 individuals were detained in connection with this invstigation, including İmamoğlu's advisor and Medya Inc. executive Murat Ongun; his campaign manager Necati Özkan; Tuncay Yılmaz, general manager of İmamoğlu Construction; Metropolitan Municipality Secretary-General Can Akın Çağlar; İstanbul Planning Agency head Buğra Gökçe; Culture İstanbul Director Murat Abbas; İlbak Holding board chair Murat İlbak; and shareholder Mustafa İlbak.
The second investigation pertains to what prosecutors call a "terrorism" case tied to a political agreement, dubbed as "urban consensus" between İmamoğlu's Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party in the 2024 local elections.
As part of this probe, detention orders were issued for seven people, including İmamoğlu. Prosecutors allege that some municipal council members and deputy mayors appointed through the CHP quota had links to outlawed organizations, and that sympathizers were employed through İBB subsidiaries such as the İstanbul Planning Agency (İPA) and BİMTAŞ.
Mahir Polat, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, and Reform Institute Director Mehmet Ali Çalışkan were among those detained in this investigation.
Following four days in custody, İmamoğlu and others were referred to court on Mar 22. On the morning of Mar 23, the court ordered the arrest of 48 individuals, including İmamoğlu, Murat Çalık, Buğra Gökçe, and Murat Ongun, in connection with the corruption probe. An additional 44 people were released under judicial supervision.
In the terrorism-related file, the court rejected the prosecution’s request to detain İmamoğlu. However, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, Deputy Secretary-General Mahir Polat, and Reform Institute Director Mehmet Ali Çalışkan were formally arrested on Mar 23 under the "terrorism" investigation. Şişli Deputy Mayor Ebru Öztürk, who was also sought in the case, was taken into custody on Mar 29.
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