The ALO 153 Solution Center of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), which previously provided services in Turkish, English, and Arabic, has added the Kurmancî dialect of Kurdish as of today.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has added the Kurmancî dialect of Kurdish to its multilingual service offerings.
The ALO 153 Solution Center, which operates under the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Directorate of Public Relations, previously provided services in Turkish, English, and Arabic. As of today, the Kurmancî dialect of Kurdish has been added to the ALO 153 Solution Center.
With this new initiative, Kurdish speakers will also be able to access municipal services in their native language through the call center, where tens of thousands of people each day can submit requests, suggestions, and complaints without having to visit a municipal office.
Previously discussed in the Municipality Council
The implementation of this initiative had been brought up multiple times in the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Council.
There had been calls for this initiative to be expanded and implemented across all departments so that Kurds living in Istanbul could rise their concerns and complaints in their native language.
Beginning his public career as an academic, Ahmet Davutoğlu went on to serve as a foreign policy adviser, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Prime Minister, becoming one of the key political actors during some of the most critical turning points in Türkiye’s recent history.
Photo: Social media
One of the most influential figures in Türkiye’s politics over the past two decades, Ahmet Davutoğlu has announced his retirement from active politics. His political career—from academia to the prime ministership—has been marked by dramatic shifts in foreign policy, widespread human rights violations during curfew periods, urban destruction documented in civil society reports, and controversial security policies that have become part of the country’s political history through his own public statements.
As the chief architect of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) foreign policy, Davutoğlu entered the highest levels of government. His political legacy remains closely associated with some of the deepest crises in Türkiye’s domestic and foreign policy.
Former Turkish Prime Minister and Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) leader Ahmet Davutoğlu announced that he is withdrawing from politics and that his party will cease its political activities.
In a written statement, Davutoğlu said that in 2021 they had sought to establish an alliance among three conservative parties in response to an electoral system that effectively made political alliances necessary. After those efforts failed, he said they joined an alliance that balanced the main opposition party “to prevent the dangers of revanchism arising from polarization and to create common ground for social reconciliation.”
He continued:
“After the 2023 elections, we made every possible sacrifice—including our party’s name—in order to ensure that alternative conservative politics would be represented in the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye as a parliamentary group and would emerge as a strong political alternative for the future. We first formed a parliamentary group together with the Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi), and later under the name New Path Party (Yeni Yol Partisi). From the very beginning, we worked to transform this parliamentary group into a single party by first uniting internally and then, if possible, incorporating other conservative parties as well. Where a merger proved impossible, we sought to establish an organic alliance. Unfortunately, these efforts also failed.”
Davutoğlu argued that “the widespread erosion of political ethics and the transfer of members of parliament regardless of party affiliation have made it increasingly difficult to build a strong political alternative and have weakened our parties’ standing in the eyes of society.”
He continued: “At the point we have reached today, we see that the political system in general—and party politics in particular—has reached a profound impasse. On the one hand, power has become increasingly monopolized; on the other, fragmentation has rendered alternative political forces ineffective. The corruption that began at the highest levels of politics has spread, regardless of party affiliation, to political cadres, civil society organizations, and ultimately every layer of society. The existing political mechanisms have largely exhausted their capacity for self-correction.”
Davutoğlu announced his decision to withdraw from party politics and terminate the Future Party’s political activities with the following words:
“In light of these assessments, and following consultations with our party’s authorized bodies and the colleagues who have carried the Future Party to this day, we have decided to withdraw from party politics and end the political activities of the Future Party in order not to become part of the contaminated political climate. This is not a decision of surrender. It is a decision to establish moral distance. It is not an abandonment of politics, but rather a call for everyone to rethink politics.”
From academia to the center of power
Born in 1959 in the Taşkent district of Konya Province, Ahmet Davutoğlu pursued an academic career in international relations.
Known for his work on international relations, strategy, and foreign policy, Davutoğlu developed an approach arguing that Türkiye should make more effective use of its historical and geographical position in international affairs. This vision was most clearly articulated in his influential book Strategic Depth.
Following the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) rise to power in 2002, Davutoğlu entered government as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief foreign policy adviser.
In 2009, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, giving him the opportunity to translate his academic ideas directly into state policy.
During this period, Türkiye’s foreign policy came to be defined by the doctrine of “Zero problems with neighbors.”
From “Zero problems with neighbors” to regional intervention
At the heart of Davutoğlu’s foreign policy vision was the idea that Türkiye should strengthen its relations with neighboring countries and act as a stabilizing regional power.
During the period when relations with Syria improved, Ankara and Damascus significantly expanded their economic and diplomatic ties. However, the popular uprising that began in Syria in 2011 and rapidly evolved into a civil war became the greatest test of this policy. Türkiye soon adopted a much more confrontational stance toward the government of Bashar al-Assad.
The government’s direct involvement in Syria’s internal affairs—guided by the symbolic slogan of the time, “We will pray at the Umayyad Mosque”—marked one of the most controversial turning points in Turkish foreign policy. During this period, the political, logistical, and military support provided to armed opposition groups in Syria effectively made Türkiye a direct party to the conflict.
Security policies and controversial statements
As the Syrian civil war deepened, ISIS emerged as one of the region’s most significant security threats. Türkiye came under both domestic and international criticism over border security, the movement of foreign fighters, and ISIS’s presence within the country.
Some of the statements Davutoğlu made during this period became the subject of intense public debate regarding the state’s approach to ISIS and the limits of its security policies.
While assessing the organization’s rapid territorial expansion in the Middle East, Davutoğlu said that “ISIS may be seen as a radical, terrorist organization, but (…) the situation there reflects earlier grievances and anger that have produced a broad reaction across a wide front.” Although he did not literally describe ISIS members as “angry young men,” these remarks were widely summarized and remembered by the public under that characterization.
Another statement that drew widespread attention came after the 10 October 2015 Ankara Train Station Massacre. Speaking during a television interview, Davutoğlu said:
“We have a list of suicide bombers currently in Türkiye. However, under the rule of law, we cannot arrest them before they carry out an attack.”
The statement, which was widely paraphrased in public discourse as “We cannot arrest suicide bombers before they blow themselves up,” triggered intense criticism, particularly in the aftermath of the Ankara Train Station Massacre.
From the peace process to renewed armed conflict
One of the defining turning points of Ahmet Davutoğlu’s tenure as prime minister was the collapse of the Kurdish peace process and the resumption of armed conflict.
The Peace Process, which began in 2013, entered a new phase with the Dolmabahçe Declaration in 2015. However, escalating violence during the summer of 2015 led to extensive security operations across predominantly Kurdish cities.
During the clashes in Sur, Cizre, Nusaybin, and several other districts, numerous civilians lost their lives, residential areas were heavily damaged, and thousands of people were displaced. As prime minister, Davutoğlu was one of the government’s highest-ranking political officials responsible for the security policies implemented during this period.
Human rights organizations criticized the government’s handling of the curfews, the protection of civilians, forced displacement, and the large-scale destruction of urban areas.
The Civilian Toll of Curfews
Field reports and data compilations by civil society organizations—the Human Rights Foundation of Türkiye (TİHV) and the Human Rights Association (İHD)—clearly documented the devastating impact of the operations on the civilian population:
Civilian Deaths
321
According to the Human Rights Foundation of Türkiye (TİHV), at least 321 civilians lost their lives during the period when curfews were most extensively imposed, between 16 August 2015 and 16 August 2016.
Scope of the Curfews
369 Times
Curfews were imposed 369 times between 2015 and 2019 across 11 provinces and 51 districts. In some locations they lasted for weeks or even months, including uninterrupted curfews exceeding 100 days in Diyarbakır’s Sur district.
Forced Displacement and Destruction
~500,000
Approximate number of people who were forcibly displaced. Urban neighborhoods and historic city centers were devastated during clashes involving the use of heavy weaponry.
Violations of Fundamental Rights
1.5 Million+
More than 1.5 million people living in areas under curfew faced restricted access to water, food, and healthcare. The rights to life, education, health, and housing were systematically violated.
Sur and the “Toledo” remark
One of the areas most severely affected by the clashes was the historic Sur district of Diyarbakır, renowned for its rich cultural heritage and centuries-old urban fabric.
The destruction of Sur and the subsequent reconstruction projects became the subject of extensive public debate.
Among the most controversial statements of the period was Davutoğlu’s pledge:
“We will turn Sur into Toledo.”
The remark sparked criticism from many who argued that it reflected an approach prioritizing urban redevelopment over preserving the district’s historical and cultural identity.
The Ankara Train Station Massacre
The attack targeting a peace rally outside Ankara’s main railway station on 10 October 2015 became one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Türkiye’s history.
More than one hundred people were killed and hundreds more were injured.
In the aftermath of the massacre, public debate extended beyond the perpetrators themselves to include questions surrounding intelligence failures, security shortcomings, and the state’s obligation to protect the right to life.
Following the attack, Davutoğlu stated:
“We conducted polling after the terrorist attack in Ankara, and there is an upward trend in our support.”
Like his earlier remarks concerning ISIS, this statement provoked widespread public criticism.
In later years, responding to criticism directed at him, Davutoğlu argued that he had never personally used the phrase “angry young men” to describe ISIS. He also maintained that his comments regarding suicide bombers and post-attack polling had been taken out of context and distorted as part of a campaign to discredit him.
Academics for peace
Davutoğlu’s term as prime minister was also marked by intense debate over freedom of expression, press freedom, and academic freedom.
The appointment of government trustees to media outlets, legal proceedings against journalists, and investigations targeting academics drew criticism regarding Türkiye’s democratic standards.
Following the publication of the Academics for Peace declaration titled “We Will Not Be a Party to This Crime” in 2016, criminal and administrative investigations were launched against its signatories.
In subsequent years, the Constitutional Court of Türkiye ruled in several cases that the proceedings against some of the signatory academics had violated their right to freedom of expression.
The period reignited broader debates over how the balance should be drawn between state security policies and fundamental freedoms, particularly freedom of expression and academic independence.
Departure from power
Davutoğlu stepped down as Chairman of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Prime Minister in 2016. His departure was widely viewed as more than a routine leadership change; it marked a significant political turning point that reflected shifting power dynamics within the ruling party.
One of the defining episodes of this process was the publication of the document that became known as the “Pelican Brief” (Pelikan Bildirisi), an anonymous manifesto sharply criticizing Davutoğlu and widely regarded as a catalyst for his resignation.
In the years that followed, Davutoğlu increasingly advocated for the rule of law, judicial independence, stronger democratic institutions, and the restoration of institutional checks and balances.
However, this new political stance continued to be evaluated in light of the policies implemented during the years in which he had served in government.
A new party
In 2019, Davutoğlu founded the Future Party (Gelecek Partisi).
The party presented itself as an alternative conservative political movement, emphasizing the rule of law, the separation of powers, judicial independence, and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
Despite these ambitions, the Future Party struggled to establish itself as a major political force. In later years, Davutoğlu sought cooperation with other conservative opposition parties, ultimately participating in parliamentary alliances in an effort to consolidate an alternative political bloc.
Following the 2023 general elections, these efforts resulted in the formation of a parliamentary group first with the Felicity Party (Saadet Partisi) and later under the banner of the New Path Party (Yeni Yol Partisi). Nevertheless, attempts to unite the conservative opposition under a single political organization ultimately proved unsuccessful.
A contested political legacy
Ahmet Davutoğlu’s political career is closely associated with one of the most transformative and contentious periods in Türkiye’s recent history.
As the principal architect of the AKP’s foreign policy, he played a central role in shaping Türkiye’s regional strategy through the doctrine of “Strategic depth” and the policy of “Zero problems with neighbors.” Yet the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Ankara’s direct involvement in the conflict, and the subsequent deterioration of regional relations fundamentally altered that vision.
His tenure as prime minister also coincided with the collapse of the Kurdish peace process, prolonged curfews and security operations in predominantly Kurdish cities, the Ankara Train Station Massacre, and widespread debates over human rights, freedom of expression, and democratic governance.
While Davutoğlu has consistently argued that some of his most controversial statements were taken out of context and that his later political agenda sought to strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law, critics continue to hold him politically responsible for many of the policies implemented during his years in office.
With his announcement that he is withdrawing from politics and bringing the Future Party’s political activities to an end, Davutoğlu closes a chapter that remains one of the most debated in contemporary Turkish political history.
The Ahmet Davutoğlu Era: Key Turning Points
2002
Entered government as Chief Foreign Policy Adviser.
2009
Appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the “Zero Problems with Neighbors” policy was officially introduced.
2011
With the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, Türkiye adopted an “open-door” policy at the border and embraced a more interventionist approach toward the Syrian government.
Summer 2015
The Peace Process collapsed. Extensive curfews and military operations began across predominantly Kurdish cities.
10 October 2015
The Ankara Train Station Massacre, the deadliest terrorist attack in Türkiye’s history, took place.
Early 2016
Following the publication of the “We Will Not Be a Party to This Crime” declaration, investigations and dismissals targeting the Academics for Peace began.
May 2016
Following the process associated with the “Pelican Brief,” he was sidelined from the center of power and stepped down as Prime Minister and AKP Chairman.
2019
Founded the Future Party (Gelecek Partisi), launching a new political movement.
According to research conducted by KONDA, 41 percent of society finds the arrest of comedian Deniz Göktaş “wrong,” while 34 percent said they find it “right.”
In its July 2026 Barometer, KONDA included the case of comedian Deniz Göktaş, who was arrested on July 3 on charges of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility.”
In the study conducted on July 11–12 with 1,895 people, interviewees were asked whether they agreed with the statement, “I find Göktaş’s arrest right.”
While 22 percent of the participants stated they found Göktaş’s arrest “definitely wrong,” 19 percent said they found it “wrong.”
Fifteen percent of the interviewees answered “definitely right” and 19 percent answered “right.”
Survey participants were also asked about the statement, “Anything can be the subject of humor.” Only 16 percent of the interviewees said “I agree” with this statement.
Additionally, the research included analyses of which party participants would prefer to vote for if an election were held today, whom they want to govern Türkiye, potential Presidential election scenarios between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, as well as between Erdoğan and Özgür Özel, and an analysis of Erdoğan’s report card grade.
What had happened?
Göktaş was investigated on allegations of “insulting the President” and “degrading religious values” due to statements he used in his stand-up show titled “Ölü Deniz” (The Dead Sea), which was published on YouTube on June 24. Detained at Istanbul Airport on July 2, Göktaş was arrested the following day and sent to the Çorlu Karatepe High-Security Penal Execution Institution in Tekirdağ.
A new wave of operations targeting law enforcement officers has been carried out in the Gülistan Doku case. In a statement posted on his social media account, Akın Gürlek announced that 18 people had been detained in simultaneous operations conducted across 15 provinces.
Fotoğraf: Elif Tuna / csgorselarsiv.org
As part of the investigation into the disappearance of Munzur University student Gülistan Doku, who went missing on January 5, 2020, another detention operation took place on Monday (July 27). During the operation, 18 law enforcement personnel who had been involved in the investigation process were taken into custody.
Coordinated by the Erzurum and Dersim Chief Public Prosecutor’s Offices, teams from the Erzurum Provincial Gendarmerie Command carried out simultaneous raids in the early morning hours across 15 provinces: Nevşehir, Istanbul, Isparta, Bilecik, Bursa, Çanakkale, Ordu, Aydın, Diyarbakır, Kayseri, Ankara, Erzincan, Eskişehir, İzmir and Antalya. According to a statement made by Justice Minister Akın Gürlek on his X account, searches were conducted at 21 addresses, and 18 of the 19 suspects for whom detention orders had been issued were taken into custody.
Suspicion of misconduct and tampering with evidence
Analyses of testimonies, along with technical, digital and field work, produced findings indicating that some law enforcement personnel who had served in Dersim committed misconduct and tampered with evidence during the judicial process carried out after Doku’s disappearance.
Those detained include one deputy police chief, one police superintendent, one chief inspector, one inspector, one senior police officer, 10 police officers, one computer operator and three retired police officers.
In the investigation concerning allegations that Doku’s disappearance resulted in a murder, it was reported that indications suggesting evidence had been concealed by certain public officials were being examined in all their aspects.
Former Governor Sonel at Erzurum Courthouse
On the same day, former Dersim Governor Tuncay Sonel, who is currently in custody, along with his protection officer Şükrü Eroğlu and retired police officer Gökhan Ertok, were referred to the Erzurum Courthouse to have their statements taken in connection with new evidence.
Sonel, Eroğlu and Ertok, at Erzurum Courthouse
Following examinations conducted by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, it was reported that correspondence between Sonel and Ertok, a dismissed police officer held in custody in the same case file, was being assessed within the scope of the offenses of “destroying, concealing or altering evidence of a crime,”“unlawfully obtaining personal data,”“deprivation of liberty,”“intentional injury,”“robbery” and “destroying or altering data in an information system.”
Gülistan Doku
What Happened?
Gülistan Doku, a second-year student in the Department of Child Development at Munzur University, disappeared on January 5, 2020, after leaving the dormitory where she was staying. Her family filed a missing person report with the Provincial Police Directorate the following day.
Camera footage reviews showed Doku boarding a minibus, but where she got off could not be determined.
After Gülistan Doku disappeared, searches were conducted for days in the Munzur River and in the Uzunçayır Dam Reservoir in Dersim, where her phone had last transmitted a signal. However, despite the reservoir being drained, no trace of Gülistan was found.
Zeinal Abakarov, Doku’s ex-boyfriend and the last person she had contact with, was detained in Antalya in 2022, two years after the incident, and was released under judicial control measures by the court to which he was brought.
June 2024:Ebru Cansu, appointed to the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office by a decree of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK), took up the case again. A special team was formed from JASAT, and approximately 700 hours of security camera footage and license plate recognition system records were re-examined.
2025: A secret witness statement that emerged reportedly said that Doku’s body had been moved more than once and accused the governor’s son of raping Gülistan Doku and killing her by shooting her.
April 14, 2026:Tuncay Sonel, then Governor of Tunceli, his son Mustafa Türkay Sonel, Doku’s ex-boyfriend Zeinal Abakarov and his mother and father, the mother and father of fugitive suspect Umut Altaş, dismissed police officer Gökhan Ertok, Sonel’s then-protection officer Şükrü Eroğlu, Provincial Special Administration employee Erdoğan Elaldı, and Munzur University officials responsible for the cameras, Savaş Gültürk and Süleyman Önal, were detained. Everyone except Gültürk and Önal was arrested. A red notice was issued for Umut Altaş, who was in the United States, and he was later apprehended and arrested there.
April 25, 2026: As part of the investigation, Dersim State Hospital IT staff B.Y. and Y.E. were detained.
July 21, 2026: Simultaneous operations were carried out in Elazığ, Malatya, Ankara, Istanbul and Dersim. A total of 15 people were detained, including three doctors, one nurse, one IT staff member, five data-entry personnel, former Governor Sonel’s wife Handan Sonel, IT company owner Mehmet Aca, who is believed to have tampered with Doku’s phone, one businessman and two village guards.
July 24: Among the suspects detained as part of the investigation, village guard Fatih Özmen was arrested, while Okan Yarıcı was released under judicial control.
July 25: Tuncay Sonel’s wife Handan Sonel and Mehmet Aca, the owner of the IT company, alleged to have tampered with Doku’s phone, were arrested, while village guard Yılmaz Arslan was released under judicial control.
The family of 17-year-old E.K., who was injured when an armored vehicle struck her in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari, said that police had approached people known as “tribal elders” in an effort to get them to withdraw their complaint. Deaths and injuries caused by armored vehicles continue to pose a risk to children in the region.
Photo: Yüksekova Halkın Sesi Journal
E.K., 17, who was injured on July 24 when an armored vehicle struck him in the Güngör neighborhood of Hakkari’s Yüksekova district, is receiving treatment at Yüksekova State Hospital. Examinations found two fractures in E.K.’s right leg, and she is expected to undergo surgery. The course of his condition remains uncertain for now.
While the investigation into the incident continues, the family has not been given any official notification as to whether any judicial or administrative proceedings have been initiated against the police officers who were driving the vehicle.
“When I heard my daughter’s scream, the vehicle had already thrown her to the ground”
In a statement to Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), E.K.’s mother, Vesile Kına, described how, as she was walking with her daughter, the armored vehicle came speeding toward them at an intersection. Kına said that while she was able to step up onto the pavement, her daughter could not get away, describing the moment with the words: “The road was narrow, but even so the vehicle was coming very fast.”
Kına pointed out that armored vehicles are frequently driven at high speed in the neighborhood, and stressed that this was a safety problem concerning not only her own family but the entire neighborhood.
Family: We were asked to withdraw the complaint
Vesile Kına claimed that after the incident, police approached them and asked them to withdraw the complaint. She said that she had been told “we will do everything we can,” but she would not give up her demand for justice. Kına stated that they wanted the camera footage to be examined and the incident to be brought to light in all its aspects:
“Let the camera footage be examined, let the incident be uncovered in all its aspects. I will defend my daughter’s rights and I will not withdraw my complaint.”
E.K.’s father, Lokman Kına, meanwhile, claimed that the police officers who hit his daughter were trying to have the complaint withdrawn through people known as “tribal elders” who are influential in the region. Recalling that his daughter had previously undergone surgery on her arm twice and that her mother has MS, Kına called for an effective investigation into those responsible: “It happened to us today; tomorrow it could happen to another family.”
A situation that has persisted in the region for years
According to the Diyarbakır Bar Association’s report titled “Violations of Children’s Rights Stemming from Armored Vehicles, Mines and Conflict/War Remnants,” covering the 2011-2021 period, 22 children lost their lives and 27 children were injured in accidents caused by armored vehicles over that ten-year span. The report listed Şırnak, Diyarbakır, Hakkari and Mardin as the provinces where armored-vehicle-related injuries were most concentrated. Hakkari, where E.K. was injured, is also on this list.
The annual rights-violations reports of the Human Rights Association (İHD) also show that this situation remains current. Deaths and injuries caused by armored vehicles continue to be recorded as an ongoing risk to children in the region.
Speaking to Niha+ ahead of COP31, which will be held in Antalya this November, Polen Ecology Collective activist Cemre Nayir argued that climate summits serve to protect the interests of capital rather than nature. Describing COP31 as “a site of struggle that must be challenged,” Nayir called on social movements to confront the summit rather than accept it as a solution to the climate crisis.
Countries that are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—the international agreement adopted in 1992 to combat climate change, meet annually at the Conference of the Parties (COP). These summits address issues such as climate finance, greenhouse gas emission policies, and energy transition. The 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026.
Environmentalists and climate activists, however, argue that these conferences do not genuinely aim to protect nature or address the climate crisis.
In an interview with Niha+, Polen Ecology Collective activist Cemre Nayir described COP summits as arenas of political struggle that should be confronted by all sectors engaged in social movements.
Cemre Nayir
Cemre Nayir was arrested on 3 February during a police operation targeting socialists on charges of “membership in an organization” and was released on 2 June.
“COP is a meeting where the system reproduces itself”
Although COP summits have been held for more than three decades, ecological collapse including global climate change, has continued to deepen worldwide, Nayir said, arguing that it is necessary to examine the systemic foundations of these meetings.
“At their core, COP summits are no different from other international summits whose political framework is determined by monopoly capital under the stage of imperialist globalization. They are organized under the leadership of the world’s largest monopolies—those that have secured the greatest share of global economic plunder—and the imperialist states that have historically provided the foundation for these monopolies. Whether it is the G7, the G20, NATO summits, or conferences organized under various United Nations conventions, COP functions in essentially the same way: it is another forum where the interests of imperialist powers and a handful of global monopolies are protected and expanded, where new commercial frameworks and market mechanisms are established, where the hegemony of these centers is consolidated, and where the system reproduces itself.”
According to Nayir, the annual COP summits function as a mechanism through which capital attempts to “greenwash” itself. He argued that this strategy can only be challenged through sustained pressure from social movements defending the interests of people and oppressed communities most affected by climate change.
“Like every other commodified element of nature, it is primarily working people who bear the destruction caused by this crisis. While historical responsibility should certainly be discussed at the level of states, today’s class struggles must also be brought to the forefront. Rather than searching for ways to preserve capitalism, we need to build a political path based on the understanding that the liberation of workers and peoples requires a fundamentally different social order.”
“COP31 is a site of struggle”
Nayir argued that large capital groups see nature as “a free source of rent to compensate for declining profitability.” According to her, summits such as COP help establish the legal framework necessary to remove barriers to profit-making while simultaneously “manufacturing consent among workers for new models of capital accumulation.”
Nayir stated that workers are forced to secure their livelihoods under worsening climate conditions while, at the same time, contributing through their labor to the destruction of the planet and to their own exploitation.
“As the Polen Ecology Collective, we advocate what we call labor ecology (emekoloji): a perspective that seeks to build a revolutionary, class-based struggle aimed at political power against workers’ alienation from both their labor and nature, and against the increasingly exploitative conditions created by the deepening climate crisis.”
Nayir also argued that the past thirty years of climate negotiations have amounted to little more than a delaying tactic.
“One does not even need a Marxist class analysis to recognize that these thirty years, dominated by capital’s proposed solutions, have merely served to postpone real action. We therefore see COP31 not as the place where solutions will emerge, but as a site of struggle that must be surrounded and challenged. We regard it as a legitimate target for workers, oppressed peoples, and socialists in an internationalist context. Rather than participating, the summit should ideally be protested or even obstructed, much like NATO summits, which are themselves summits of war. Of course, the level of organization, shared political purpose, and collective struggle required for such action does not currently exist within Türkiye’s social movements. But that should not lead us to retreat from these principled political discussions.”
“Ecology must be at the center of politics”
According to Nayir, the Turkish government uses international summits such as COP as a means of reinforcing its domestic legitimacy during a period of political crisis. At the same time, Nayir argued, these gatherings are important for strengthening the position of Turkish capital within the imperialist hierarchy, expanding its access to markets, and securing new sources of finance.
Nayir described everyday life in Türkiye marked by workplace fatalities, femicides, hunger, and inadequate urban infrastructure, as “a form of internal warfare.” In this context he argued that the government’s ability to consolidate its power can only come through gains made on the frontlines of war, adding that the current regime is no longer capable of maintaining lasting social consent or legitimacy.
Reflecting on the fragmented state of opposition movements, Nayir said that one of the principal reasons for disunity among oppressed groups is their tendency to seek solutions within the existing political order while remaining under the influence of various bourgeois ideological currents.
Nayir argued that the first step should be for revolutionary organizations and social movements to come together and collectively discuss what a common line of struggle should look like.
“Today, ecology must become central to the politics of all revolutionary socialist, left-wing, and progressive parties. Workers’ parties and trade unions, women’s organizations, LGBTI+ groups, and those fighting for animal liberation must recognize ecological collapse as a crisis that concerns them directly. They need to discuss how ecological destruction affects their own constituencies and how their struggles can converge on this basis. We are talking about a genuine mobilization—a matter of life and death for all species. Life on Earth will continue in one form or another; no species is indispensable. But preserving a healthy and biodiverse ecological condition is essential for the survival of all species, including humanity and the cultures we have created. We see here the foundation for an ecosocialist society: one that unites these different struggles on a class basis and enables people to act with an awareness of their shared class interests.”
Nayir added that building alliances among social movements is also inseparable from the broader task of revolutionary construction. Pointing to the “fifty-year history of organization and struggle” within Türkiye’s revolutionary movement, he said:
“There exists a movement that has endured the heaviest sacrifices, constantly sought to renew itself, developed new forms of struggle appropriate to changing conditions, and achieved a certain level of political maturity. Over the past ten to fifteen years, a variety of revolutionary alliances and fronts, both legal-democratic and underground have been established, historical thresholds have been crossed, and important gains have been won.
Today, social movements must approach this question with the seriousness it deserves. The only lasting way to secure sectoral demands is through the collective resistance of all oppressed people. We do not need to reinvent everything. Instead, we must build upon these experiences using contemporary forms of organization and communication, while cultivating cadres who are resilient, driven by class anger, prepared to face sacrifice, and consciously determined to break with the existing order. The rest, we will write as our own history.”
“The People’s Climate Summit should be a counter-summit”
Nayir said that the Polen Ecology Collective is closely following preparations for the People’s Climate Summit (Halkların İklim Zirvesi – HİZ), which will be held simultaneously with COP31. He described the process as an opportunity to reach new audiences and strengthen grassroots organizing.
According to Nayir, HİZ should function as a genuine counter-summit, one that does not confer legitimacy on any tendency operating within the existing political order. Instead, it should provide a space to discuss how to expand the organizational capacity and mobilization of the ecological liberation movement. He continued:
“This gathering does not necessarily have to take place in Antalya. On the contrary, locations that have historically suffered destruction under regional imperialism and capitalism—and where that destruction continues today—could serve as more meaningful centers for such discussions. The Varto resistance area, for example, could become a focal point for this counter-summit or for debates on ecosocialist reconstruction. Rather than summits where powerful actors conduct major political and economic negotiations, we value structured, well-organized forums that take place not once a year, but every day.”
“The problem is that energy is produced for profit”
Nayir stressed that, contrary to popular belief, the term “renewable” does not automatically mean clean, environmentally friendly, or beneficial to the public. Rather he explained the word simply refers to energy sources whose underlying materials can be naturally replenished within the timescale of human societies.
According to Nayir, the central issue is not the source of energy itself, but the fact that energy is produced for profit rather than to meet social needs.
“Every technology is a product of a class society and therefore finds its place within existing social relations of production. There is no universal rule that renewable energy automatically serves the public interest.”
Referring to the laws of thermodynamics, Nayir argued that it is impossible to generate usable energy with zero environmental impact. Nayir maintained that renewable energy could genuinely benefit society only within an ecosocialist system, where it would be organized through small-scale, decentralized, and locally appropriate forms of production.
“We know that contemporary renewable energy projects are rooted in a new process of commodification and resource appropriation. Rather than replacing fossil fuels, renewable energy investments within the existing capitalist system have simply been layered on top of fossil fuel consumption, further expanding ecological destruction. In response, those who must defend their lives, the land they live on, the air they breathe, the animals they share the world with, and the water they drink have every right to do so. We must defend ourselves against the forms of domination that increasingly seek to encompass every aspect of life. We must become nature’s self-defense. We need to be far more organized and far stronger in preventing the Earth from becoming a laboratory for capitalists. To liberate both nature and labor, all sectoral struggles should unite around the common foundation of defending life and ecology.
Specifically in the field of renewable energy, as a first step we can study and attempt to implement energy cooperatives and communal energy initiatives that replace capitalist private ownership with energy sovereignty and eliminate energy poverty. Developing alternatives to coal-fired power plants in this way would offer a genuinely labor-centered ecological alternative. At the same time, our demands should extend beyond energy production alone. We must also address transmission, distribution, and consumption, working toward the social or collective ownership of entire energy systems.”
*The responses by Cemre Nayir were prepared with contributions from the Polen Ecology Collective.
Written and directed by Tony Gatlif, Children of the Stork places an injured stork at the film’s center as the main character, alongside three young people living in Paris who are also cast as that stork’s children. Because all of us are the settled, assimilated children of a wounded, nomadic stork.
Otto is an unemployed young man living with his mother, making his living selling newspapers on trains. Launa, whom he meets while selling papers on the trains, is a hairdresser whose constant lateness worries her boss on commercial grounds, but she is also a free spirit who will soon join the rebellious union of the unemployed. Ali, also living in Paris with his family, is an intellectual living with his assimilated family, who will soon be thrown out by his father for refusing to assimilate himself. The condition that will bring these three characters together is their resignation from the roles and duties assigned to them by their families and employers within the established order.
Setting out with nothing left to lose, these three young people, without starting from anywhere in particular or arriving anywhere in particular, present the very possibility and course of being on the road.
In the film, Otto’s unemployment is emphasized in particular. Unlike the way unemployment tends to be seen in today’s conditions — as uselessness, almost as a plague — here it is highlighted with pride and praise. Unemployed Otto does not live as someone perpetually dependent on another, instead, like Launa, he turns his unemployment into a protest, an opposition to the established order.
A mocking gaze at the system
In the film, law and the state are briefly represented — without any need for elaboration — through the figure of the police officer and bailiff who come to seize a home. The serious, tense, emotionless face of the mechanism of discipline and surveillance is loosened and rendered absurd by a series of anarchist hammer blows. Before the disorderly uprising launched by the three unemployed young people against the established order, the film underscores that having a job and conforming to the system produces distress, stress, and unhappiness. In this sense, the film is, in a way, a praise of idleness. But the principle of this idleness is not inaction, since what makes the difference is action, and since difference is affirmed, it is action that produces neither commodity, exploitation, nor alienation.
Parrots, the sovereign’s echo
In anarchist ethics, theft is not absolute evil; done out of need — without requiring courtesy — it becomes a kind of borrowing: a gun becomes not a symbol of massacre but of unemployment, a tool that breaks a lock opened by wages; the nomadism of storks becomes a symbol of freedom, and the hunters who wound the stork become a symbol of fascism. The parrots being symbolized as fascists lies in their repeating their owners. The parrot that squawks, as its owner’s voice, phrases like “foreigners go home!” and “dirty Arabs” ends up — fittingly, with Launa’s modest contribution — in a trash bin along with its cage; meaning, all fascists belong in the dustbin of history.
Borders exist even for storks
The film’s central character, the stork named Muhammed, is in fact a free bird pursuing its own course within its own nature, unaware of bourgeois borders — the very kind of bird we were told as children brings us into the world. But its journey is interrupted when it is wounded by a hunter while migrating over France. The hunter is called a fascist; the stork, transformed into a symbol of freedom, is wounded in the eyes of all nomadic souls and migrants. Three young people, having abandoned themselves to chance encounters without map or purpose, encounter the stork while traveling in their stolen/borrowed vehicle, and after bandaging its wounds, they take it upon themselves to smuggle it back to its migratory path through illegal routes. In a world where even storks get caught up in borders and wounded because of hunters/fascists, what state is human freedom in?
For migrants whether for political, economic, or educational reasons, the options awaiting them in our age are limited: either a deep-rooted integration and assimilation, felt as a perpetual pressure, meaning walking around perpetually wearing a mask, or else the threat of being disregarded and sent back.
As the film discusses the phenomenon of migration, it also problematizes today’s relatively milder form of assimilation — integration/adaptation — through the impression: “what if the thing we are adapting to is itself sick?”
The low-level acts of violence set off by Laura spray-painting “burn it, tear it down” on a wall are presented — if we look at it from Fanon’s perspective — as a purifying force at the individual level, a gain in self-confidence, in the face of the pressure of assimilation and exploitation.
Through the character of Ali who constantly reads Che Guevara, Guy Debord and anti-colonial writers, and who despises bourgeois cinema, the perception of migrant identity is scattered apart. Ali, as a migrant, is someone who knows what exploitation and assimilation are, and is engaged in an act of rebellion against them.
There are also scenes in the film where characters argue with the camera, flee from it, and speak directly to the audience. This too is a blow against mainstream cinema’s structure of producing representation and alienation. Industrial cinema, which produces entertainment through representation, spectacle, and commodification, is defeated both technically and through the screenplay.
Through its emphasis on nomadism, the film can be read as a colorful, joy-filled gypsy air — or equally, as a loose salute of respect.
*The film is dedicated to Muhammed, an Algerian who crossed from Morocco to France underneath a truck at the age of 22.
Film credits: Director: Tony Gatlif Screenplay: Tony Gatlif Year of release: 1999 Film title: Children of the Stork (Je Suis né d’une Cigogne)
The Kurdish word game “Peyv Link,” which contains more than 200,000 words, is waiting for Kurdish language enthusiasts on Google Play.
The digital word game “Peyv Link,” created as the Kurdish version of the famous game Scrabble, is available for players on the Google Play platform.
The game includes more than 200,000 Kurdish words and their meanings in its dictionary. Users can play either against artificial intelligence (AI) or compete against other players online.
A great workout for the Kurdish mind
Peyv Link is not just a word game; it also serves as a mental exercise to strengthen memory and develop mother-tongue awareness. The connections made between Kurdish words systematically expand players’ vocabularies and keep their minds active.
Users who want to install the game on their mobile devices can search for “Peyv” or “Peyv Link” on Google Play to download it.
Iranian forces attacked Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, this morning with more than 5 drones and missiles. As a result, 8 Peshmerga were killed and many people were injured. Iran also attacked Kuwait, Bahrain, and Syria.
Photo: Rûdaw
The United States (USA) and Israel declared war on Iran on February 28, 2026, and began attacks. In response to the attacks by the US and Israel, Iran also attacked US bases in Gulf countries and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and Iran continues these attacks to this day.
On the first day of the attacks, many high-ranking Iranian officials were killed, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The United States named its attacks against Iran “Operation Historical Fury,” and Israel named its attacks “Operation Lion’s Roar.” Iran also launched retaliatory attacks under the name “Operation True Promise-4.”
Since February 28, the start of the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran, hundreds of attacks have been carried out against the Kurdistan Region before the ceasefire.
On April 8, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that they had accepted a two-week ceasefire with Iran on the condition that the Strait of Hormuz be completely reopened.
Also, despite the ceasefire being announced, Iran has not stopped its attacks against the Kurds in any way. From February 28, 2026, until the ceasefire on April 8, Iran and its affiliated organizations attacked the Iraqi Kurdistan Region with more than 700 drones and missiles. After the ceasefire, Iran continued its attacks against the Kurdistan Region.
There are dead and wounded
According to RojNews this morning, Iran attacked the border of Hewlêr, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, with more than 5 drones and missiles. The attack was also intercepted by the air defense system.
According to reports, explosions were also heard near the border of the city of Halabja this morning. The official cause has not been confirmed, but it is said that the attack was carried out by a drone.
Also, according to Rudaw news this morning, bases of Eastern Kurdish parties on the Rêzgûz border in Sulaimaniyah were attacked with drones, and a fire broke out.
An official of the Revolutionary Association of the Workers of Kurdistan in Iran announced that they have had dead and wounded from this morning’s attacks on one of their bases in the Sulaymaniyah province.
A member of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Association of the Workers of Iranian Kurdistan spoke to Rudaw about the drone and missile attacks on their camps, saying:
“Our main headquarters in Zirgiwêzeleya, Silêmaniye, was bombed with 6 missiles and caught fire. According to initial information, we have at least 8 martyrs, and it is likely that this number will increase. There are also a number of wounded, but due to the ongoing fire, the details are not yet clear.”
Iran also attacked Kuwait, Bahrain, and Syria
The Kuwaiti Army released a statement on its official X account regarding the Iranian attacks on their country, saying:
“Kuwait’s air defense is now responding to hostile missile and drone attacks resulting from Iranian aggression.”
In Bahrain, citizens were urged to take shelter Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior announced that warning sirens have been activated in the country. The ministry urged citizens to quickly go to shelters and safe places to protect their lives. Iranian state media confirmed that their country’s military had targeted an airbase in Bahrain that housed American aircraft and helicopters.
Tehran also claimed that the attack was “in response to the enemy’s hostile actions against the country’s urban infrastructure and innocent people.”
Syria
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that in response to the attack in the city of Bampur in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, they targeted an American military base in Syria.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement on the attack on the Tenef military base.
According to the statement, many American soldiers were killed in the attack. The statement indicated that they “suddenly” attacked the headquarters of the American special operations command in the Tanf region of Syria.
According to the statement, the attack was carried out in retaliation for an American attack on an army military base in the city of Bampur in Sistan and Baluchestan, in which 7 soldiers were killed.
The Public Relations Department of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that in addition to destroying a radar system and several helicopters, a large number of American soldiers were also killed in the attack.
The CHP’s elected leadership has asked Ankara Civil Court of Peace to appoint a three-member convening committee that would take the party to an extraordinary congress.
Özgür Özel, Photo: Agos
The leadership of Özgür Özel, the elected chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), filed a petition with the Ankara Civil Court of Peace on Tuesday (14 July), seeking to convene an extraordinary party congress. In its application, the Özel leadership requested that a three-member convening committee be appointed to call the congress.
According to an information note released after the filing, the process dates back to June. A total of 833 congress delegates submitted a joint, notarised petition for an extraordinary congress, citing the need to “restore democratic legitimacy within the party and convene the congress, the party’s highest decision-making body.” The figure represents more than two-thirds of the congress’s full membership.
The signatures were gathered within the 15-day period stipulated by the CHP’s charter and delivered to the party headquarters on 17 June 2026. As no congress has been called since, the Özel camp argues that the delegates’ collective will has been left without effect.
“Not a matter for the leadership’s discretion”
The case rests on Article 75 of the Civil Code, which allows a civil court judge to authorise three members to convene a general assembly if the executive body fails to do so, upon application by any member. The petition asks that three congress delegates, whose names are to be disclosed at a later stage, be tasked with calling the extraordinary congress.
The information note also cited rulings by the Constitutional Court and the Court of Cassation, arguing that once a sufficient number of delegates demand a congress, the matter is not left to the leadership’s discretion and that this demand is legally binding on the party’s executive. The stated purpose of the case is to enable the 833 delegates to exercise the rights granted to them under the law and the party charter, to uphold democratic functioning within the party, and to secure the convening of the congress.
Emre: “Committee’s sole task will be to convene the congress“
CHP spokesperson Zeynel Emre outlined the limits of the committee’s powers in remarks on Monday (13 July). According to Emre, the three-member convening committee will be tasked solely with calling the congress and will not be able to authorise any spending or carry out any administrative action beyond salary payments.
