Biden Administration’s green light to F-16 sale to Turkey, Ankara to push for the extradition of 33 terror suspects “within the framework of the memorandum signed”, top court’s rule that imprisoned former HDP co-leader Demirtaş’s rights were violated, contentious draft media law’s parliamentary session postponed, retailers to be fined…
Here is what you need to know what happened in Turkey Today
1- USA hints its support to Ankara’s F-16 bid
The Biden administration supported the potential sale of F-16’s to Turkey, a day after Ankara lifted its veto of NATO membership of Finland and Sweden.
Celeste Wallander, Assistant Secretary for Defense for International Security Affairs at Pentagon, told reporters on a call that strong Turkish defense capabilities would reinforce NATO’s defenses.
“The United States supports Turkey’s modernization of its fighter fleet because that is a contribution to NATO security and therefore American security,” she said. Reuters
2- Ankara argues that it will push for the extradition of 33 terror suspects from Finland and Sweden after Erdoğan signed the memorandum that lifts Türkiye’s veto to the two countries’ NATO membership bids.
“We have applications to the relevant countries regarding the extradition of terrorists. We will ask them (Finland and Sweden) to fulfill the requirements of our applications within the framework of the newly signed memorandum of understanding” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on June 29.
Ankara was blocking the two countries’ NATO membership on the ground that they support outlawed PKK and FETÖ. The Nordic states agreed late on Tuesday to “address Turkey’s pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously”. BBC
3- The top court rules violation of rights of imprisoned former HDP co-leader. The Constitutional Court ruled that Kurdish-issue focused People’s Democracy Party’s (HDP) former co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş’s detention period exceeded the pre-trial detention limit and related authorities did not duly carried out detention review. The top court ruled that Demirtaş’s constitutional right was violated and awarded him 50 thousand Turkish Liras for non-pecuniary damage. Bianet
4- The contentious draft media law that stipulates a new crime of “dispersing false information” postponed to the new legislative year, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Group Leader Mahir Ünal said. The journalists, professional associations and opposition protested the bill after it was proposed in the parliament last month arguing that it will criminalize journalism and paves the way for further censorship of the internet and social media. YetkinReport
5- Turkey Eyes New Fines on Retailers Accused of Price Gouging Turkey’s official anti-trust watchdog expects to impose a new raft of fines on some of the country’s top retailers and wholesalers after an investigation found they were colluding to drive up prices. Bloomberg
