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The top news story out of Turkey this week is deeply unsettling. Read on for the details, and don’t miss Turkey versus Australia in its first World Cup match, which will take place at 12:00 a.m. EST on Sunday! 

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Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu protest outside Silivri Marmara Prison and Courthouse Complex during his first hearing over accusations leveled against him on March 9, 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Turkey was shaken by the testimony of an imprisoned woman executive who led the media arm of the opposition-run Istanbul municipality. She is among dozens of associates of jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu who are being tried on corruption charges in a case that critics say is overtly politicized. Turker, who has been held in Silivri prison for 15 months, said in her first courtroom hearing that during her initial interrogation she was told by the woman police officer to strip, squat and bend to fully expose her genitalia. The Istanbul police directorate denied the charges, but few are convinced. Turker, who has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, said that the prosecutor overseeing her case threatened to hand custody of her children over to social services when she asked to see her lawyer.

Kurdish rights activists rightly recalled that their ethnic kin have been subjected to similar — and worse — humiliations for decades.

Pressure on Imamoglu’s pro-secular main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), is continuing apace. The party’s perceived allies are getting caught in the dragnet, as I reported here.

The conventional wisdom is that once the NATO summit that is due to take place on July 7-8 in Ankara is out of the way, it........

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