According to investigative reporting by Ali Ufuk Arikan published in Haber Sol on October 17, 2025, the conflict encompasses multiple fronts: "The arrest of Epözdemir, the Can Holding operation, the MKE operation, the Ciner operation, the Papara operation, the Paramount step, and again Can Holding, this time with the Cuneyd Zapsu parenthesis... So what's happening? Let's put it briefly: AKP is experiencing an internal fight of the kind that can get out of control at any moment."
The crisis intensified following the August 10, 2025 detention of prominent lawyer Rezan Epözdemir on charges including bribery, armed terrorist organization membership, aiding FETÖ (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization), and espionage. The arrest triggered a public confrontation between AKP factions, with former party executive Şamil Tayyar openly accusing Mehmet Uçum, a senior advisor to President Erdoğan, of attempting to interfere with the investigation.
At the heart of the conflict lies the question of succession planning for the post-Erdoğan era. Multiple power centers have emerged, including factions aligned with Erdoğan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak, former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Intelligence Chief İbrahim Kalın, and another son-in-law, Selçuk Bayraktar.
The Can Holding operation has become particularly contentious, with allegations that the media assets acquired by the holding group were connected to Fidan's efforts to build his own media power base. The investigation has since expanded to include major business figures like Turgay Ciner and, reportedly, Cuneyd Zapsu, a influential figure from an earlier AKP era.
The removal of Communications Director Fahrettin Altun from his position preceded the current wave of operations. Reports suggested that Altun, once among Erdoğan's closest confidants, fell victim to a power play involving İbrahim Kalın and the Albayrak circle, though the government issued no official explanation for his dismissal.
Further complicating the picture is the Paramount Hotel investigation, which resurfaced after four years of dormancy. This case involves a constellation of controversial figures including mob boss Sedat Peker, former officials Mehmet Ağar and Tuğrul Türkeş, and businessman Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, whose connections span multiple AKP factions.
The MKE (Machinery and Chemical Industry) case saw the arrest of former chairman İsmet Sayhan on organized crime charges, while the Papara financial technology operation revealed connections to betting baron Halil Falyalı and extended to figures with ties to Erdoğan's tenure as Istanbul mayor.
Political observers note that these seemingly disparate operations share common threads: business conglomerates, media ownership, and competing networks within the AKP establishment. The conflicts have exposed alliance networks ranging from the president's immediate family to intelligence services, from business magnates to organized crime figures.
As investigations continue to widen, uncertainty grows about whether President Erdoğan can maintain control over the escalating factional warfare. The stakes extend beyond political positioning to encompass Turkey's largest corporations, media landscape, and the fundamental stability of the ruling coalition.
What appears as complex intrigue, analysts argue, represents the normal functioning of Turkey's current political-economic system—a system now threatening to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions.
Photo: Imaginary depiction of the Turkish presidential complex, Külliye, Gemini AI