Tensions rise as Turkiye talks normalization with Syria

Syrians take part in the funeral procession of a man killed during clashes with Turkish troops, in Afrin in northern Syria on July 2, 2024. (AFP)
Syrians take part in the funeral procession of a man killed during clashes with Turkish troops, in Afrin in northern Syria on July 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 03 July 2024
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Tensions rise as Turkiye talks normalization with Syria

Syrians take part in the funeral procession of a man killed during clashes with Turkish troops, in Afrin in northern Syria.
  • The events re-opened the debate on refugees and over Ankara’s ties with its war-torn neighbor
  • Both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently signaled a willingness to mend their fractured relations

ANKARA: Tensions continue to rise amid Turkiye’s normalization efforts with Syria after attacks were carried out on Syrian refugees in the country and Turkish flags were targeted in northern Syria.
The events re-opened the debate on refugees and over Ankara’s ties with its war-torn neighbor.
Both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently signaled a willingness to mend their fractured relations.
This comes after Turkiye reopened the Abu Al-Zandeen crossing near Al-Bab, establishing commercial connections between Turkish-controlled zones and regime-held areas in eastern Aleppo. Additionally, efforts are underway to widen the Hajjez Al-Shatt highway in Turkish-held Azaz, linking Aleppo to the Turkish border city of Gaziantep.
Turkiye also controls a buffer zone in northern Syria. However, the normalization efforts and the reopening of trade routes have ignited tensions in northern Syria.

BACKGROUND

Turkiye hosts about 3.1 million Syrian refugees, according to official data, and one motivation behind Ankara’s renewed dialogue with Damascus is the potential facilitation of refugee repatriation.

In recent days, anger has boiled over, with attacks targeting Turkish flags and trucks. Many Syrians in Turkish-controlled zones are demanding the withdrawal of Turkish forces, exacerbating the already volatile situation.
Reports indicate that Turkish-trained forces have even been filmed shooting at Turkish armored vehicles, prompting Turkiye to deploy additional troops to the region to maintain control.
The unrest is not confined to northern Syria. In Turkiye, tensions flared after a Syrian national allegedly harassed a Syrian child, sparking overnight violence in several cities, beginning in Kayseri. People were heard shouting: “We don’t want any more Syrians,” and “we don’t want any more foreigners.”
Turkish authorities detained 474 people for attacking Syrian-owned vehicles and shops. Simultaneously, approximately 79,000 social media accounts on X were identified for inciting violence.
Turkiye hosts about 3.1 million Syrian refugees, according to official data, and one motivation behind Ankara’s renewed dialogue with Damascus is the potential facilitation of refugee repatriation.
However, under dire economic conditions, with inflation in Turkiye running at 75 percent, Syrian refugees are often scapegoated and targeted by locals. In 2021, several refugees were targeted in Ankara after two Turkish citizens were allegedly stabbed by a Syrian.
Following the incident in Kayseri, Erdogan condemned the anti-Syrian riots, stating: “Turkiye is not and will not be a state that abandons its friends. We will proudly wear the medal of honor of being host to Syrian refugees in their most difficult days. Just as we know how to break the corrupt hands that reach out to our flag, we also know how to break the hands that reach out to the oppressed who take refuge in our country.”
Erdogan also criticized the opposition’s “poisonous” rhetoric about refugees. “Burning people’s homes, relatives, or setting fire to the streets is unacceptable, no matter who they are,” he declared.
The president’s remarks came on the same day he met Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al-Saud in Ankara.
Omar Kadkoy, program coordinator at Heinrich Boll Stiftung, explained that the policy solution to the violence over the past few years had involved relocating Syrians to provinces with lower refugee populations and closing new registrations in over 1,200 neighborhoods across several cities.




A man rides a motorcycle near a burning Turkish truck during protest sagainst Turkiye in Al-Bab, northern Syrian opposition-held region of Aleppo, on July 1, 2024. (AFP)

However, Kadkoy noted that the events in Kayseri underscore the policy’s failure.
“It is becoming harder for Turks and Syrians alike to make ends meet. Under similar conditions, almost universally, a tendency to blame others emerges. The same applies in Turkiye. Therefore, implementing humane, sustainable and respecting international law and human rights migration policy under a declining purchasing power due to high inflation is rather difficult.
Kadkoy emphasized that the recent riots in northern Syria are not solely due to Turkiye’s normalization efforts.
“The recent unrest in northern Syria is not exclusive to Turkiye’s statement about normalization with Syria a few days ago. One reason is the recent opening of an internal crossing, Abu Al-Zandeen, with Turkish-Russian consensus. The crossing connects Al-Bab in eastern Aleppo, (the) Euphrates Shield Zone, with the Syrian government in western Aleppo. The step generated reaction as the opening of the crossing meant dealing politically with the Syrian government — a taboo still in the northwest. Another reason has to do with Syrians’ long-standing discontent about the overall living conditions in the area. A third reason reflects Syrians’ dissatisfaction with the Syrian opposition’s failure to produce a democratic environment. Lastly, the violence in Kayseri where Syrians were subject to collective punishment over an alleged Syrian’s crime was that final straw the set off everything.”
Turkiye remains committed to UN Security Council resolutions that advocate for the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of refugees to Syria. However, experts caution that current conditions are far from meeting these standards.
Metin Corabatir, president of the Ankara-based Research Center on Asylum and Migration, said that any repatriation could only materialize after free and fair elections and the drafting of a new constitution in Syria, as mandated by the Security Council.
“Syrians in Turkiye feel very bad and unsafe after these incidents. Even Syrians with Turkish citizenship are living under the same fear. There is a horrifying hate speech that is becoming increasingly widespread. Political parties and some respected journalists are also fueling it. If this continues to spread, refugees will have nowhere to run, and their safety will be compromised,” Corabatir told Arab News.
Corabatir argues that the solution to the refugee crisis lies not in repatriation but in clarifying the legal status of refugees as they are still registered with “temporary protection” in the country.
“The anti-Syrian sentiment has turned into racism that vilifies Arabs. At this stage, at the very least, Erdogan and Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the main opposition CHP, need to come together and resolve this issue in cooperation,” he said.
Although Ankara has received billions of dollars in funding from international donors over the past decade, primarily from the EU to provide health care, education and employment opportunities for Syrians in the country, experts note that these projects are still a drop in the ocean to ensure a sustainable local integration especially amid deteriorating economic conditions.
Corabatir called for a tripartite agreement under UN supervision to facilitate the repatriation of refugees once safe conditions are established.
Zakira Hekmat, president of the Afghan Refugees Solidarity Association in Turkiye, resides in Kayseri. “Three Afghan youngsters were recently killed in Kayseri. There has been an organized anti-refugee sentiment in the region for a long time. We have been advising our community to remain silent during these chaotic times. People have come to our neighborhood and demolished shops. For the past three days, we have stayed in our homes out of fear. Many people cannot even buy bread and water. This situation will eventually impact the Turkish economy. Syrians, despite having work permits, cannot go to the shops in the industrial zone where they are employed.”
Pro-government journalist Abdulkadir Selvi suggested on Wednesday that Erdogan may meet Assad on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Astana on 3-4 July as part of the new Turkiye-Syria rapprochement bid. However, there has been no official statement confirming any plans for such high-level backstage diplomacy.


Who are the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages?

Who are the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages?
Updated 27 February 2025
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Who are the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages?

Who are the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages?
  • Hamas handed over the remains of four hostages overnight without any public display, and Israel released the 600 prisoners

JERUSALEM: Israel released about 600 prisoners overnight, including the longest-serving prisoner and a man convicted of killing an American peace activist, in the latest exchange for Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
They were supposed to have been released last weekend after Hamas freed six living hostages. But Israel delayed the release to protest Hamas’ practice of parading the captives before crowds during handovers. Hamas handed over the remains of four hostages overnight without any public display.
Israel released the 600 prisoners, but the Palestinian prisoners club, a group representing current and former prisoners, said Israel held back the release of 24 Palestinians detained in Gaza after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023 that sparked the war. They include 23 teenagers and men aged 15 to 19 and a woman who is 35. The group were set to be released later on Thursday, along with 22 more minors and one woman whose names were subsequently added to the list.
Israel views the prisoners as terrorists. Palestinians often see them as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long Israeli military occupation.
Nearly every Palestinian has a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel for militant attacks or lesser offenses such as rock-throwing. Most are convicted in military trials that rights advocates say often lack due process. Some are incarcerated for months or years without trial in what is known as administrative detention. Israel says it’s needed to prevent attacks and avoid sharing sensitive intelligence.
Among those being released overnight into Thursday, 151 had been sentenced to life or long sentences for involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. Forty-three were to be returned to the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, while 97 were to be sent into exile.
Around 500 others had been detained in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war.
Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of people in Gaza and held them without trial. As part of the ceasefire, Israel committed to releasing more than 1,000 detainees who hadn’t participated in the Oct. 7 attack.
A look at some prominent prisoners released since the truce took effect on Jan. 19:
Nael Barghouti, 68
Barghouti, 68, from the West Bank village of Kobar, has spent over 45 years in Israeli prison and was serving a life sentence. Guinness World Records has called him the world’s longest-serving political prisoner. Israel says he is affiliated with Hamas.
First arrested in 1978 for his role in an attack that killed an Israeli bus driver, he was among more than 1,000 prisoners released in 2011 in exchange for an Israeli soldier held by Hamas in Gaza. Israel re-arrested Barghouti in 2014 and says his offenses include intentional manslaughter, membership in an illegal organization, producing a bomb, possessing explosives and conspiracy. He will be deported.
Bilal Abu Ghanem, 31
Ghanem, 31, from east Jerusalem, was serving three life sentences and 60 years for a bus attack in 2015 that killed three Israelis. One of those killed was Richard Lakin, an American educator who marched for civil rights and coexistence between Muslims and Jews.
Ghanem, who Israel says is affiliated with Hamas, will be deported. Israel says his offenses include intentional manslaughter, membership in an illegal organization, building a bomb, possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Ammar Al-Ziben, 50
Al-Ziben, 50, is from Nablus, in the West Bank. He was sentenced to 27 life terms for planning a bombing in a Jerusalem market in 1997 that killed 16 people, including a US citizen.
Israel says he is affiliated with Hamas and his offenses include possession of firearms, incitement, forgery, throwing firebombs and attempted murder. He will be deported.
Ahmed Barghouti, 48
He is a close aide of militant leader and political figure Marwan Barghouti, who is still imprisoned. The two aren’t closely related.
Ahmed Barghouti was given 13 life sentences for dispatching assailants to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians during the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s. As a commander in Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, an armed offshoot of the secular Fatah Party, he was also convicted of possession of firearms and attempted murder.
He was sent to Egypt.
The Sarahneh brothers
Three brothers from east Jerusalem were released after more than 22 years in prison for their involvement in suicide bombings that killed Israelis during the second intifada. Israeli authorities brought Ibrahim, 55, and Musa, 63, to their homes in the West Bank.
The third brother, Khalil, 45, who was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life in 2002, was sent to Egypt.
Ibrahim Sarahneh’s Ukrainian wife, Irena, had been sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for organizing with her husband a suicide bombing that killed two people in the Israeli city of Rishon Lezion. She was released in 2011 as part of a swap for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas.
The Aweis brothers
Hassan Aweis, 47, and Abdel Karim Aweis, 54, from the occupied West Bank, were released on Saturday after nearly 23 years in prison.
Hassan Aweis was sentenced to life in 2002 on charges of voluntary manslaughter, planting an explosive device and attempted murder. He was involved in planning attacks during the second intifada for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade.
Abdel Karim Aweis — sentenced to the equivalent of six life sentences for throwing an explosive device, attempted murder and assault, among other charges — was transferred to Egypt.
Iyad Abu Shakhdam, 49
Abu Shakhdam was sentenced to the equivalent of 18 life sentences over his involvement in Hamas attacks that killed dozens of Israelis during the second intifada. They included a suicide bombing that blew up two buses in Beersheba in 2004, killing 16 Israelis, including a 4-year-old.
Abu Shakhdam was arrested in the West Bank in 2004 following a gunfight with Israeli security forces in which he was shot 10 times.
During 21 years in prison, his family said, he finished high school and earned a certificate for psychology courses. He was released on Feb. 8.
Jamal Al-Tawil, 61
Al-Tawil, a prominent Hamas politician in the occupied West Bank, spent nearly two decades in and out of Israeli prisons, in part over allegations that he helped plot suicide bombings.
Most recently, the Israeli military arrested Al-Tawil in 2021, saying he had participated in riots and mobilized Hamas political activists in Ramallah, the seat of the semiautonomous Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ main rival. He was held without charge or trial.
Too weak to walk, Al-Tawil was taken to a hospital after his release in Ramallah on Feb. 8.
Mohammed el-Halabi, 47
The Palestinian manager of the Gaza branch of World Vision, a Christian aid organization, was arrested in 2016 and accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars to Hamas in a case that drew criticism from rights groups. He was freed on Feb. 1.
El-Halabi and World Vision denied the allegations and independent investigations found no proof of wrongdoing.
Zakaria Zubeidi, 49
A prominent militant leader in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade during the second intifada, Zubeidi later became a theater director in the Jenin refugee camp, where he promoted what he described as cultural resistance to Israel.
His jailbreak in 2021 — when he and five others used spoons to tunnel out of one of Israel’s most secure prisons and remained at large for days before being caught — thrilled Palestinians and stunned the Israeli security establishment.
In 2019, after Zubeidi had served years in prison for attacks in the early 2000s, Israel arrested him again, accusing him of being involved in shooting attacks that targeted buses of Israeli settlers but caused no injuries.
Zubeidi had been awaiting trial when he was sentenced to five years in prison for his jailbreak. He was released on Jan. 30 into the West Bank.
Mohammed Odeh, 52, Wael Qassim, 54, and Wissam Abbasi, 48
They hail from east Jerusalem and rose within the ranks of Hamas. Held responsible for deadly attacks during the second intifada, they were handed multiple life sentences in 2002.
They were accused of plotting a suicide bombing at a pool hall near Tel Aviv in 2002 that killed 15 people. Later that year, they were found to have orchestrated a bombing at Hebrew University that killed nine people, including five American students.
All were transferred to Egypt on Jan. 25.
Mohammad Al-Tous, 67
Al-Tous held the title of longest continuously held prisoner in Israel until his release on Jan. 25, Palestinian authorities said.
First arrested in 1985 while fighting Israeli forces along the Jordanian border, the Fatah party activist spent a total of 39 years behind bars. Originally from the West Bank, he was sent into exile.


UAE president to release hundreds of inmates in Ramadan pardon

UAE president to release hundreds of inmates in Ramadan pardon
Updated 27 February 2025
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UAE president to release hundreds of inmates in Ramadan pardon

UAE president to release hundreds of inmates in Ramadan pardon
  • Nearly 1300 inmates receive Ramadan pardon from UAE president

RIYADH: The UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has ordered the release of 1,295 inmates from the nation’s correctional institutions, state news agency WAM reported on Thursday.

Sheikh Mohamed has also pledged to settle any financial obligations of the inmates in a gesture to mark Ramadan.

The UAE president wants to ensure those released can have a fresh start in life, and alleviate any hardship faced by their families.

The aim is to foster stability within their households and the local community, especially during Ramadan, WAM reported.

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Israeli official says the army won’t withdraw from a Gaza corridor in potential jolt to truce

Israeli official says the army won’t withdraw from a Gaza corridor in potential jolt to truce
Updated 27 February 2025
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Israeli official says the army won’t withdraw from a Gaza corridor in potential jolt to truce

Israeli official says the army won’t withdraw from a Gaza corridor in potential jolt to truce
  • Hamas confirmed that over 600 prisoners had been released overnight
  • Israel delayed the release of the prisoners on Saturday over Hamas’ practice of parading hostages

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: Israel will not withdraw from a strategic corridor in the Gaza Strip as called for by the ceasefire, an official said Thursday. Israel’s refusal could spark a crisis with Hamas and key mediator Egypt at a sensitive moment for the fragile truce.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Israeli forces needed to remain in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, on the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, to prevent weapons smuggling.
The official spoke hours after Hamas released the remains of four hostages in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners, the last planned swap of the ceasefire's first phase, which ends this weekend. Talks over the second and more difficult stage have yet to begin.
Israel was supposed to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor on Saturday, the last day of the first phase, and complete it within eight days.
Much could hinge on a visit by U.S. President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, who is expected in the region in the coming days.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas or Egypt. But in a statement earlier on Thursday, the militant group said the only way for Israel to secure the release of dozens of hostages still held in Gaza was through negotiations and adhering to the ceasefire agreement.
Remains of 4 hostages are identified
The remains released Thursday were confirmed to be those of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsachi Idan, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of the captives.
Mantzur, 85, was killed in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war, and his body was taken into the territory. The other three were abducted alive and the circumstances surrounding their deaths were not known.
“Our hearts ache upon receiving the bitter news,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said. “In this painful moment, there is some solace in knowing that they will be laid to rest in dignity in Israel.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said he shared the “immense pain” of the family and loved ones of Yahalomi, who had French citizenship.
Hamas confirmed that over 600 prisoners had been released overnight. Most were detainees returned to Gaza, where they had been rounded up after the Oct. 7 attack and held without charge on security suspicions.
A joyful return for released prisoners
Some of the released prisoners fell to their knees in gratitude after disembarking from buses in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. In the West Bank town of Beitunia, dozens of prisoners were welcomed by crowds of relatives and well-wishers.
The released prisoners wore shirts issued by the Israeli prison service bearing a message in Arabic about pursuing one's enemies. Some of the prisoners threw the shirts on the ground or set them on fire.
Israel delayed the release of the prisoners on Saturday over Hamas' practice of parading hostages before crowds and cameras during their release. Israel, along with the Red Cross and U.N. officials, have called the ceremonies humiliating for the hostages.
Hamas released the four bodies to the Red Cross in Gaza overnight without a public ceremony.
The prisoners released Thursday included 445 men, 21 teenagers and one woman, according to lists shared by Palestinian officials that did not specify their ages. Only around 50 Palestinians were released into the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in this round, while dozens sentenced to life over deadly attacks against Israelis were exiled.
The truce is in peril
The latest handover was the final one planned under the ceasefire’s first six-week phase, which expires this weekend. Hamas has returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Trump's envoy, Witkoff, has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase. Those talks were supposed to begin the first week of February.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to return all the hostages and destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas, which remains in control of Gaza. The Trump administration has endorsed both goals.
But it's unclear how Israel would destroy Hamas without resuming the war, and Hamas is unlikely to release the remaining hostages — its main bargaining chips — without a lasting ceasefire.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of war that erupted after Hamas’ 2023 attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. About 250 people were taken hostage.
If the identities of the four bodies are confirmed, then 59 captives will remain in Gaza, 32 of whom are believed to be dead. Nearly 150 have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals, while dozens of bodies have been recovered by Israeli forces and eight captives have been rescued alive.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, who don't differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths but say over half the dead have been women and children.
The fighting displaced an estimated 90 percent of Gaza’s population and decimated the territory’s infrastructure and health system.


Turkiye’s pro-Kurd party teases ‘historic’ news from PKK leader

Turkiye’s pro-Kurd party teases ‘historic’ news from PKK leader
Updated 27 February 2025
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Turkiye’s pro-Kurd party teases ‘historic’ news from PKK leader

Turkiye’s pro-Kurd party teases ‘historic’ news from PKK leader
  • Ocalan, 75, has been serving life without parole on Imrali prison island since his 1999 arrest in Kenya

Istanbul: Turkiye’s leading pro-Kurd party said it was expecting a “historic declaration” Thursday from the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, amid efforts to end a decades-long conflict with Ankara.
The pro-Kurdish DEM party will send a delegation Thursday to meet Ocalan at his prison on an island off Istanbul, it said in a statement.
The visit, the third in the past few months, comes as Ankara seeks to reset ties with the PKK, which has fought a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
“If everything goes smoothly, tomorrow, we expect Ocalan to make a historic declaration,” said DEM, whose visit to the jailed PKK leader was approved by the justice ministry on Wednesday.
It said there would be a statement to the press following the visit, at about 5:00 p.m. (1400 GMT).
The seven-person delegation, which includes Ocalan’s lawyer, Faik Ozgur Erol, would like the PKK leader to make his expected peace appeal in a video message instead of by writing, but the justice ministry has not yet agreed, Turkish media reported.
Ocalan, 75, has been serving life without parole on Imrali prison island since his 1999 arrest in Kenya.
But starting in late December, he has been twice visited by two DEM lawmakers who then briefed the parliamentary parties on the content of their talks.
The dialogue with Ocalan is an initiative of ultra-nationalist political leader Devlet Bahceli, a close ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and has led to growing anticipation that Ocalan will soon issue a public call to his fighters to lay down their arms, in exchange for concessions for the country’s Kurdish minority.
PKK leaders, who are mostly based in the mountains of northern Iraq, could then relay Ocalan’s message, Turkish media said.
But the extent of Ocalan’s appeal is uncertain.
Thursday’s delegation includes DEM co-chairs Tulay Hatimogullari and Tuncer Bakirhan, and veteran Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk, 82, who has a long history of involvement in efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue.
Deputy speaker Sirri Sureyya Onder and lawmaker Pervin Buldan, who were both part of the earlier delegations, will also go, as will another DEM lawmaker.
The conflict between PKK rebels and the Turkish state, which erupted in 1984, has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
A previous round of peace talks collapsed in a storm of violence in 2015, after which the Turkish government cut off all contact.


Turkish police detain opposition mayor over alleged collusion, NTV says

Turkish police detain opposition mayor over alleged collusion, NTV says
Updated 27 February 2025
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Turkish police detain opposition mayor over alleged collusion, NTV says

Turkish police detain opposition mayor over alleged collusion, NTV says
  • An Istanbul prosecutor ordered the detention of Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Koseler and three others over the alleged collusion

ANKARA: Turkish police on Thursday detained an Istanbul district mayor from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), along with 20 others, over alleged collusive tendering, broadcaster NTV reported, amid a widening government crackdown on opposition figures.
An Istanbul prosecutor ordered the detention of Beykoz Mayor Alaattin Koseler and three others over the alleged collusion, as well as 17 others for establishing, joining, and aiding an organization with criminal intent, according to NTV.
The state-owned Anadolu news agency had said on Tuesday that prosecutors had launched an investigation into three concerts by the Beykoz Municipality last year over irregularities, and added that the municipality’s cultural and social matters representative was detained as part of the probe.
The move is the latest in a wave of arrests, detentions, and investigations carried out by authorities in recent months into opposition politicians, mayors and journalists. Critics say the crackdown aims to silence the opposition and weaken President Tayyip Erdogan’s rivals’ electoral prospects.
Earlier this month, the crackdown expanded to the country’s top business group, after two of its executives criticized the legal measures, prompting Erdogan to accuse them of meddling in politics.
The government dismisses the accusations that the moves are aimed at muzzling dissent and says the judiciary is independent.