Fidan Pushes EU Integration as CHP Evidence File Grows

Türkiye's foreign-policy and Istanbul political tracks both moved on Monday, framing a day in which Ankara argued for fuller European integration while the Erdoğan camp tightened its evidentiary case against the previous CHP era in the country's largest city.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan used a joint Berlin press conference with German counterpart Johann Wadephul — the visible close of the third Turkey-Germany Strategic Dialogue Mechanism meeting first announced on May 17 — to press for an EU accession track "handled independently of political motives" and inclusion in the bloc's defence and industrial policy. "Excluding Türkiye from the European Union's defense and security initiatives contradicts Europe's stated security objectives," Fidan said. Wadephul went further, telling reporters that "if Türkiye wishes to join the European Union, it will find a friendly and reliable partner in Germany" and that Ankara had the geographic and economic weight to exert "significant influence" over the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

Fidan turned his strongest language on the Gaza-bound Global Sumud aid flotilla. "It is estimated that 25 ships have been intercepted. The term for this in international literature is piracy," he said, calling Israel's operation a "clear violation of international law and maritime security." He said the safety of activists aboard was Ankara's top concern and that Türkiye was coordinating with every country whose nationals were on the ships. Italian journalist Alessandro Mantovani, a correspondent for Il Fatto Quotidiano on the flotilla, separately appealed for European public support before Israeli forces boarded; his message, recorded ahead of interception, framed the operation as part of the wider Gaza siege Türkiye has placed at the top of its diplomatic agenda. On Iran, Fidan said the immediate practical threat was contained but warned that any resumption of fighting "would bring serious economic and political consequences for the region and beyond"; "I do not think the Iranian side has a principled problem with accepting the necessary conditions in nuclear negotiations," he added.

At home, two new evidentiary files reframed the seven-year CHP era under former Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu. The reports detail widespread corruption, mounting municipal debt and severe service failures across the city, sitting alongside a 3,809-page indictment that has been working through the courts. The framing matters politically: Imamoğlu remains the CHP's national-level figurehead and the file is being aired as the AKP–MHP camp builds a case voters can take to the next ballot box.

Police executed a parallel piece of the same investigation on Monday: 57 suspects were detained in a corruption probe into procurement at Boğaziçi Facility Management Services, a subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The probe targets contract-awarding processes; arrests included managers and contractors who, prosecutors say, formed a tender-rigging ring under the previous administration. Together with the broader Imamoğlu report, the day's two files position Istanbul as the central battlefield in the national contest over municipal governance.