The Levant Files

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Kıbrıs Sandık Başında: DISY ve AKEL Başa Başa; Yeni Partiler Meclis Haritasını Karmaşık Hale Getiriyor

Kıbrıs Yayın Kurumunun (KRYK) pazar akşamı yayımladığı ilk çıkış anketine göre 2026 Kıbrıs Temsilciler Meclisi seçimlerinde geleneksel iki büyük parti DISY ile AKEL'in omuz omuza yarıştığı görülüyor. Örneklemin yüzde 80'ini kapsayan ve saat 18.00'de açıklanan ankette DISY yüzde 22,5-25,5, AKEL ise yüzde 21-24 oranında yer alıyor. Aşırı sağcı ELAM'ın yüzde 10,5-12,5 ile üçüncü sıraya yerleştiği tahmin ediliyor; bu sonuç, partinin yeni Temsilciler Meclisindeki konumunu güçlendireceğini öngören seçim öncesi anketleri doğrular nitelikte. DIKO ise yüzde 8-10 civarında seyrediyor; bu tablo, dördüncü sıra için çetin bir mücadeleye işaret ederken Cumhurbaşkanı Nikos Christodoulides'i destekleyen merkez güçler üzerindeki baskıyı da gözler önüne seriyor. Çıkış anketi, analistlerin seçim öncesinde öngördüğü parçalanmayı doğrular biçimde yeni siyasi oluşumların da güçlü bir çıkış yaptığını ortaya koyuyor. ALMA yüzde 4,5-5,5 ile tahmin edilirken Direct Democracy yüzde 5,5-7,5 ar...

“Police Storm Turkey’s Main Opposition HQ as ‘Judicial Coup’ Crisis Erupts in Ankara”

Police forces have stormed and surrounded the headquarters of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Ankara, using tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse crowds resisting the enforcement of a court ruling that annulled the party’s last congress and reinstated former leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The dramatic scenes outside the building mark a dangerous escalation in what CHP leader Özgür Özel and his supporters describe as a “judicial coup” aimed at seizing control of the country’s oldest opposition party through the courts and the police. In the early hours around the CHP’s Ankara headquarters, police units were heavily deployed after the Ankara appeals court declared the party’s 38th Congress invalid, overturning Özel’s 2023 election and ordering Kılıçdaroğlu restored as chairman. As tensions climbed, Ankara’s Governor’s Office announced that it had instructed security forces to implement the court’s decision, framing the operation as the simple execution of a bin...

US and Iran Edge Toward Historic Deal — But the Finish Line Remains Elusive

After months of war, blockades, and back-channel diplomacy, the United States and Iran appear closer than ever to a negotiated end to their conflict — yet a final agreement continues to slip just out of reach, as both sides acknowledge progress while flagging unresolved disputes that could still derail the process. The latest round of talks, mediated by Pakistan and with China playing a supporting role, has produced what sources describe as a draft framework circulating between negotiating teams. Both delegations have characterized recent sessions as "constructive," a word that in diplomatic parlance signals movement without commitment. The Optimism — With Caveats President Donald Trump told reporters he believes the two sides are "getting a lot closer," though he put the odds of a final deal at only 50/50. Iranian officials echoed that cautious tone, with Tehran's negotiators publicly cautioning that "significant gaps remain" even as they acknowledged...

Iran, US Edge Toward 60-Day Truce Deal, Iran-Linked Nournews Says

An Iranian state-affiliated outlet, Nournews, reports that Iran and the United States are edging closer to a 60‑day preliminary understanding that would link an end to ongoing regional hostilities with the partial unfreezing of Iran’s blocked assets and changes to the security regime in the Strait of Hormuz. According to Nournews, Iranian officials have conditioned any initial memorandum of understanding on the immediate release of at least part of Tehran’s frozen funds in a way that allows Iran practical access to those resources, citing past instances where Western parties failed to honor similar commitments. The reported framework would also seek a full lifting of the maritime blockade on Iran within 30 days, with Iranian authorities insisting that any changes to shipping conditions in the Strait of Hormuz remain tied to Washington’s implementation of its obligations. While some Western media have suggested a rapid return of the strait to pre‑war conditions, the article says the tex...

Kılıçdaroğlu’s “Cleansing” Video Fuels Talk of Legal Return and Purge in CHP

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s latest video message on X, reported by Yetkin Report on 20 May 2026, has shaken Turkish political circles by hinting at a possible court‑ordered return to the Republican People’s Party (CHP) leadership and a subsequent “cleansing” of the current team around Özgür Özel and Ekrem İmamoğlu. In his midday video, Kılıçdaroğlu framed his intervention as a call for “clean politics,” warning that allowing the CHP to be “contaminated” would amount to a betrayal of Atatürk’s legacy. He stressed that the party is an “ancient plane tree” that knows how to “purify itself” and conduct “inner reckoning” when necessary. The video was quickly amplified within the party: 19 CHP MPs shared it in the first hours, a number that later rose to 22, underscoring that Kılıçdaroğlu still commands a visible faction inside the organisation. At the same time, social media reactions were largely critical, with many users posting harsh comments despite the show of parliamentary support. Hint of “...

Cyprus Votes Today as The Levant Files Closely Monitors a Potential Political Shake-Up

As Cyprus heads to the polls today for parliamentary elections, The Levant Files is closely monitoring developments amid expectations of a potentially transformative outcome. According to the latest surveys, the two traditionally dominant parties—center-right DISI and left-wing AKEL—are projected to suffer notable losses. Both parties are expected to secure approximately 14 to 15 seats each, marking a historic low and signaling growing voter fragmentation. In contrast, the ultra-right nationalist party ELAM appears poised to emerge as one of the election’s major winners, with projections suggesting it could capture up to nine parliamentary seats. This would represent a substantial gain and further underline shifting political dynamics. New political entrants are also making a strong showing. The centrist ALMA movement and the populist Direct Democracy party are each expected to secure between six and seven seats, reflecting voter appetite for alternatives to established forces. The tra...

The Ailing Turkish Democracy: An Essential Reading to Decode Turkey’s Explosive Democarcy Crisis

Turkey’s rapidly unfolding political drama has thrown fresh light on the structural weaknesses of its democracy – and made “The Ailing Turkish Democracy: The Transformation and Perpetuation of a Hybrid Competitive System” indispensable reading for anyone seeking to understand what is happening now. As courts intervene in the internal affairs of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), annulling its 2023 leadership election and triggering an unprecedented leadership crisis, analysts and citizens alike are scrambling for deeper explanations that go beyond the daily headlines. Written by political scientist, historian and journalist Nikolaos Stelgias the book traces how Turkey slid into a “hybrid” competitive system in which elections still matter but are increasingly constrained by executive dominance, politicised institutions and systemic inequalities. It identifies core “diseases” of Turkish democracy – including socio‑economic underdevelopment, a dependent middle class and...

Turkey's Opposition in Freefall: Courts, Cops and a Comeback Nobody Asked For

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is facing the most severe institutional crisis in its modern history, with a court ruling striking at the heart of its leadership, police raids expanding the fallout, and a former chairman hovering in the wings — whether the party wants him or not. The crisis stems from an Ankara court's use of a rarely invoked legal concept: mutlak butlan — "absolute nullity." The court applied it to the CHP's 2023 party congress, effectively declaring it legally void from the outset. The consequences were immediate and sweeping: the entire leadership structure that emerged from that congress, headed by Özgür Özel, was stripped of its legitimacy. In its place, the court's ruling pointed back to the last legally valid leadership — that of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the veteran opposition figure who lost the 2023 presidential election to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. For Turkey's opposition and independent observers alike, the r...

Gaps Persist in US-Iran Talks as Tehran Demands Peace First, Washington Wants Nuclear Moves Now

Islamabad-mediated channel keeps diplomacy alive, but the two sides remain fundamentally split on sequencing Pakistan's mediation effort between the United States and Iran is holding together, but the talks show no sign of an imminent breakthrough, with the two sides locked in a fundamental disagreement over what comes first: a broader peace settlement or nuclear concessions. Iran has submitted a revised 14-point ceasefire proposal to Washington via Pakistani intermediaries, insisting that a permanent end to hostilities, the lifting of US sanctions, the removal of the naval blockade, and the release of frozen assets must all be agreed before any discussion of nuclear restrictions can begin. Tehran has also indicated it will seek war reparations and refuses to place uranium enrichment on the table as part of any initial agreement. Washington is pushing in the opposite direction. The Trump administration, led in these talks by special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kush...