TRT World Research Centre

TRT World Research Centre is a non-profit research and policy institute, providing thorough analysis and understanding on regional and international issues.

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

Wondering what's really shaping Türkiye this week?

In each week, Türkiye in Focus brings you the key developments, expert perspectives, and context from Türkiye.

Join our free weekly newsletter to learn more about the latest developments in Türkiye: https://t.co/QN8xdtki4O

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Our latest newsletter is out:
• Nationwide backlash over Rahmi Koç’s remarks
• Deepening internal strife within the opposition CHP
• Aziz Yıldırım’s dramatic return as Fenerbahçe president

Read the full newsletter here: https://t.co/HOmenVIBWH

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

The Iran war is not only a geopolitical crisis; it is a semantic one. Understanding modern conflict requires new media narratives and new analytical frameworks.
Read more: https://t.co/is4MBte4MF

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The US-Israel war on Iran has exposed a deeper crisis: the language of International Relations is struggling to explain contemporary warfare. Terms like "deterrence," "self-defence," and "security" increasingly conceal more than they reveal.

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Terms such as "decapitation strikes" and "degrading capabilities" sanitise violence and obscure the human and political costs of war.

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

For a granular breakdown of these institutional shifts and geopolitical developments, read our latest weekly newsletter.
Analysis by the TRT World Research Centre: https://t.co/deRjMrf6sY

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

The annulment of the 38th CHP Ordinary Convention has plunged the main opposition party into an unprecedented institutional deadlock. While Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has reasserted de facto and de jure control over the headquarters and established a new 19-member Central Executive Board, this institutional consolidation faces immediate resistance. The party structure is effectively fractured, caught between legal reclamation and active internal revolt.

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

Weekly Briefing:
• Institutional Deadlock: The CHP enters a severe crisis as a legal annulment returns Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to the helm, triggering an intense, unresolved battle for party control.
• Dual Leadership: The party is effectively split; Kılıçdaroğlu commands the official headquarters, while the Özel-İmamoğlu faction maintains a powerful counter-stronghold in parliament.
• Structural Risk: The ongoing paralysing gridlock and potential breakaway scenarios risk alienating voters, threatening a fundamental vacuum in Türkiye's opposition landscape.

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

🎙️ A new podcast by Çağdaş Yüksel (@YukselCagdas) is now live.

Missing scientist Melissa Casias, who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, was found dead after disappearing in 2025. Her case is now part of a broader FBI investigation into the deaths and disappearances of multiple scientists connected to sensitive U.S. defence, aerospace, energy, and advanced technology programmes in recent years.

Most theories focus on China, Russia, or secret Pentagon projects. But another possibility is quietly emerging in strategic discussions:

Could Israel also have an interest in America’s strategic scientists?

In the age of AI warfare, quantum systems, hypersonic technologies, and directed-energy weapons, scientists are no longer just researchers — they are strategic assets capable of shaping future military power. And for a country whose security doctrine depends heavily on technological superiority, that reality matters.

🎧 Now available on Spotify: https://t.co/YsrAhWRfJR

🎧 And available on Apple Podcasts: https://t.co/UnZygdNNSx

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

Given the legal finality of the CHP nullity verdict and the parallel calls for an extraordinary transition congress, will the opposition centre-left manage a stable structural reorganisation, or are we witnessing the definitive fragmentation of the current coalition bloc?

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

The AK Party has stepped up its outreach to young voters, recognising the growing importance of Türkiye’s younger generation in shaping future elections. Large youth gatherings, such as the recent Kocaeli festival, suggest an effort to move beyond traditional ideological messaging and build a stronger emotional connection with first-time and younger voters, while countering narratives of growing youth discontent.

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

These developments underscore the volatile interplay of domestic consolidation and forward-facing foreign policy in contemporary Turkish politics.
Read the full analysis in our Weekly Newsletter: https://t.co/sSJh0BsDER

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

Domestically, the definitive nullity verdict regarding CHP’s leadership has abruptly reignited an intense factional struggle for the centre-left's direction. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s immediate re-assertion of leadership following the court ruling—coupled with calls for party "purification"—directly collides with Özgür Özel’s faction and Mansur Yavaş’s manoeuvres for an extraordinary congress, plunging the main opposition into a precarious period of structural self-examination.

[TRT World Research Centre @TRTWorldRC]

Elsewhere in regional security, the Israeli military’s interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters has triggered acute diplomatic and domestic reverberations for Ankara. The unlawful detention of humanitarian activists—including 78 Turkish citizens—and subsequent leaked footage of degrading treatment have mobilised mass domestic demonstrations across multiple Turkish provinces following the successful diplomatic repatriation of the volunteers on Thursday.