In this week’s Türkiye in Focus:
• The legislation, one of the most vital milestones in the terror-free Türkiye process, passed parliament with a record vote.
• Researcher Burak Elmalı assessed the recent Mecca agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
• The operation targeting the Alihan Kuriş criminal network is high on the public agenda.
A Historic Step Towards Permanent Resolution: Parliamentary Consensus and a New Era
In a significant step for the “Terror-Free Türkiye” initiative, the legislation passed with broad cross-party support in one of Parliament’s final sessions before the summer recess.
Although the enactment process is not yet fully completed—pending the final National Security Council report on the dissolution of the terrorist organisation and the President’s signature—the regulation stands at the heart of public expectations. Approved by an unprecedented 467 out of 600 MPs, the legislation is particularly striking for having secured the backing of a significant portion of the opposition alongside the ruling bloc. At such a strategic juncture, this broad-based support demonstrates that the process of public persuasion has been built on solid ground and that politicians collectively embrace the decision.
Meanwhile, the stance adopted by the New Party during the vote sparked various interpretations within political corridors. Despite statements of support from Chairman Özel and the executive cadre, the fact that 54 MPs voted against the bill while 35 voted in favour highlighted a degree of indecision within the party. While some commentators interpreted this picture as a disconnect between the leadership and the deputies, it appears more likely to reflect a balancing act—a strategy aimed at appealing to sensitive nationalist sentiments while avoiding alienation from key voter groups, particularly Kurdish voters. However, maintaining such a delicate balance at a critical juncture raises broader questions about the party’s long-term direction and the effectiveness of its leadership.
Nevertheless, this parliamentary regulation is regarded both as the concluding chapter of a critical process and the starting point of a constructive societal restructuring. The primary focus of the terror-free Türkiye initiative—the disarmament of the PKK—will largely be completed with this law, to be followed by the social reintegration of former organisation members.
However, there are also signs of renewed attention to the socio-political grievances that helped fuel the conflict in the first place. Highlighting this aspect in a statement following the passage of the framework law, MHP leader Bahçeli emphasised that there is no time to lose and conveyed a clear message regarding the need to tackle the root causes of terror. His remarks suggest that the next phase of the process may extend well beyond disarmament, with greater attention turning to the political and social grievances that have underpinned the conflict.
The Mecca Joint Defence Agreement as a Concrete Step Towards Stability Amid a Fracturing Middle Eastern Security Architecture
Researcher Burak Elmalı evaluated the security agreement between Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.
The trilateral defence pact signed last week in Mecca by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emerges as a concrete and constructive response to a Middle Eastern security architecture that has found itself engulfed in a profound wave of instability and insecurity in the post-7 October era. The pact, formally known as the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, stipulates that an attack against any one of the three states will be regarded as an attack against all, while also placing the already strong bilateral defence cooperation among the three countries on a more formal framework.
The process leading to the Mecca pact had actually been underway for some time, particularly as the agreement remained in the negotiation phase earlier this year, as Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated. While the three states had already been pursuing bilateral relations in the fields of defence and security through separate channels, the emergence of such a framework is, therefore,hardly surprising. In other words, the objective is to preserve the existing momentum while taking cooperation to a more advanced level. At the same time, Israel’s expansionism, which can be regarded as a root cause of instability and insecurity in the region, has arguably encouraged Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan to act according to a principle of regional ownership and responsibility. Indeed, given that regional security is an essential precondition for regional development, the Mecca pact can be seen as a manifestation of a shared vision to lay the groundwork for a win-win formula in the region’s economic trajectory. In this sense, the objective of advancing prospective economic cooperation should not be overlooked alongside the immediate security crises facing the region, as all three states have common interests in fostering economic cooperation and regional connectivity in an era of weaponised interdependence.
Finally, it is important to avoid misguided analyses by seeing this trilateral pact through the lens of NATO. As with any defence alliance, the operation of this agreement will ultimately be determined by the constitutional frameworks of its members, much as NATO’s Article 5 is subject to the respective constitutional and political processes of its members. Indeed, asking whether the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement is “like NATO” is ontologically misplaced, since NATO’s own implementation mechanisms likewise leave important aspects of the response process to the legislative and political authorities of its member states. Therefore, searching for a direct equivalence or distinction between the two is of limited analytical value. What is more important is that wars and conflicts involving both states and non-state actors no longer concern only the parties directly engaged in them, given their wider regional and international repercussions. Regional peace is a common good, and its absence affects everyone. In short, the step taken through the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement represents a potentially ground-breaking development in demonstrating that insecurity in the Middle East cannot be addressed in isolation, but requires multilateral solutions.
Operation Against the Alihan Kuriş Criminal Network
Barely a week passes without Turkish authorities announcing another operation againstorganised crime. Yet, the latest sweep stands out for setting its sights on a religious community widely known in the public eye as the “Süleymancılar”. Alihan Kuriş, the leader of the community, alongside dozens of other figures, was detained as part of an investigation where financial audits and official reports serve as the primary evidence.
Türkiye’s religious communities have no separate legal status and typically organise throughassociations or foundations. Decades of restrictions on religious activity, however, pushed some towards informal and less transparent structures—a historical legacy that continues to complicate questions of governance and accountability.
As some of these networks grew in scale and financial influence, their limited transparency created governance vulnerabilities that have, at times, carried significant political and social costs. The 2016 coup attempt by FETÖ remains a vivid reminder of these systemic risks. AlihanKuriş and his followers had also been on the radar of official authorities for some time as one of the most well-known and insular religious groups.
This latest operation must also be evaluated within the broader context of recent government policies, particularly the series of investigations initiated by the newly appointed Minister of Justice and the Ministry of Finance’s ongoing crackdown on the informal economy. Bothinformal financial flows and unregistered interest groups are firmly in the crosshairs. According to the Interior Minister, the community had been constructing a $70mn headquarters in Germany and preparing to move part of its operations abroad before the authorities intervened. This disclosure points to a broader challenge for regulators: the ability of well-funded networks to develop organisational and financial footprints that extend well beyond national borders.
Highlights
• President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted Palestinian State President Mahmoud Abbas, reiterating Türkiye’s steadfast and resolute support for the Palestinian cause.
• Holding high-level talks in both Tripoli and Benghazi, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan underscored Türkiye’s ongoing commitment to maintaining its constructive and mediating role in the region.
• Turkish Trade Minister Ömer Bolat met with Iraqi Ambassador Majid Abdul Ridha Hassan Al-Lachmawi in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss steps to increase bilateral trade to $30 billion, follow up on agreements from the Iraqi prime minister’s recent visit, and enhance cooperation on the Development Road Project.
Recent Publications by TRT World Research Centre
Building Interdependence: The New Logic of Türkiye-Iraq Relations by Burak Elmalı
The New Conformity: What Vince Gilligan’s Pluribus reveals about the digital age Podcast Episode by Berfe Yaşar
No Edition for Next Week
Please be informed that there won’t be an edition of Türkiye in Focus next week, as we take a short break. We’ll be back afterwards with fresh perspectives and updates on the latest developments in Türkiye. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
