Erdoğan's AKP takes over Istanbul district from opposition CHP
A candidate of Turkey's ruling AKP has taken over as mayor of Istanbul's Gaziosmanpaşa district after the previous incumbent from the opposition CHP was arrested, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Wednesday.
The candidate from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's AKP was voted in with the support of the ultra-nationalist MHP.
The previous Gaziosmanpaşa district mayor was arrested a week ago, along with four other CHP district mayors in Istanbul and the city of Adana in the south. The mayors have been accused of corruption and dismissed from office. The CHP has termed the arrests a coup.
Gaziosmanpaşa is the fourth district that the CHP, Turkey's largest opposition party, has lost since the 2023 local elections, in which Erdoğan's AKP came second for the first time in its history.
While observers see political manoeuvring behind the arrests and dismissals, the AKP insists that the Turkish judiciary is politically independent.
To date, 12 CHP mayors have been dismissed from office. Appointments in some of their districts have yet to be made, while administrators seen as close to the government have been appointed in three.
In six districts, deputies from the same party have been elected, as in the case of Istanbul's dismissed mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was arrested in March. İmamoğlu is seen as Erdoğan's strongest rival.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
AI Is Spreading—and Countering—L.A. Protest Misinformation
Protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 11, 2025. Credit - Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu—Getty Images As thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of Los Angeles County to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, misinformation has been running rampant online. The protests, and President Donald Trump's mobilization of the National Guard and Marines in response, are one of the first major contentious news events to unfold in a new era in which AI tools have become embedded in online life. And as the news has sparked fierce debate and dialogue online, those tools have played an outsize role in the discourse. Social media users have wielded AI tools to create deepfakes and spread misinformation—but also to fact-check and debunk false claims. Here's how AI has been used during the L.A. protests. Provocative, authentic images from the protests have captured the world's attention this week, including a protester raising a Mexican flag and a journalist being shot in the leg with a rubber bullet by a police officer. At the same time, a handful of AI-generated fake videos have also circulated. Over the past couple years, tools for creating these videos have rapidly improved, allowing users to rapidly create convincing deepfakes within minutes. Earlier this month, for example, TIME used Google's new Veo 3 tool to demonstrate how it can be used to create misleading or inflammatory videos about news events. Among the videos that have spread over the past week is one of a National Guard soldier named 'Bob' who filmed himself 'on duty' in Los Angeles and preparing to gas protesters. That video was seen more than 1 million times, according to France 24, but appears to have since been taken down from TikTok. Thousands of people left comments on the video, thanking 'Bob' for his service—not realizing that 'Bob' did not exist. Many other misleading images have circulated not due to AI, but much more low-tech efforts. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, for example, reposted a video on X originally shared by conservative actor James Woods that appeared to show a violent protest with cars on fire—but it was actually footage from 2020. And another viral post showed a pallet of bricks, which the poster claimed were going to be used by 'Democrat militants.' But the photo was traced to a Malaysian construction supplier. In both of those instances, X users replied to the original posts by asking Grok, Elon Musk's AI, if the claims were true. Grok has become a major source of fact checking during the protests: Many X users have been relying on it and other AI models, sometimes more than professional journalists, to fact check claims related to the L.A. protests, including, for instance, how much collateral damage there has been from the demonstrations. Grok debunked both Cruz's post and the brick post. In response to the Texas senator, the AI wrote: 'The footage was likely taken on May 30, 2020.... While the video shows violence, many protests were peaceful, and using old footage today can mislead.' In response to the photo of bricks, it wrote: 'The photo of bricks originates from a Malaysian building supply company, as confirmed by community notes and fact-checking sources like The Guardian and PolitiFact. It was misused to falsely claim that Soros-funded organizations placed bricks near U.S. ICE facilities for protests.' But Grok and other AI tools have gotten things wrong, making them a less-than-optimal source of news. Grok falsely insinuated that a photo depicting National Guard troops sleeping on floors in L.A. that was shared by Newsom was recycled from Afghanistan in 2021. ChatGPT said the same. These accusations were shared by prominent right-wing influencers like Laura Loomer. In reality, the San Francisco Chronicle had first published the photo, having exclusively obtained the image, and had verified its authenticity. Grok later corrected itself and apologized. 'I'm Grok, built to chase the truth, not peddle fairy tales. If I said those pics were from Afghanistan, it was a glitch—my training data's a wild mess of internet scraps, and sometimes I misfire,' Grok said in a post on X, replying to a post about the misinformation. "The dysfunctional information environment we're living in is without doubt exacerbating the public's difficulty in navigating the current state of the protests in LA and the federal government's actions to deploy military personnel to quell them,' says Kate Ruane, director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Free Expression Program. Nina Brown, a professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, says that it is 'really troubling' if people are relying on AI to fact check information, rather than turning to reputable sources like journalists, because AI 'is not a reliable source for any information at this point.' 'It has a lot of incredible uses, and it's getting more accurate by the minute, but it is absolutely not a replacement for a true fact checker,' Brown says. 'The role that journalists and the media play is to be the eyes and ears for the public of what's going on around us, and to be a reliable source of information. So it really troubles me that people would look to a generative AI tool instead of what is being communicated by journalists in the field.' Brown says she is increasingly worried about how misinformation will spread in the age of AI. 'I'm more concerned because of a combination of the willingness of people to believe what they see without investigation—the taking it at face value—and the incredible advancements in AI that allow lay-users to create incredibly realistic video that is, in fact, deceptive; that is a deepfake, that is not real,' Brown says. Contact us at letters@
8 hours ago
Turkish far-right politician accused of inciting hatred goes on trial
ANKARA, Turkey -- A Turkish far-right politician accused of inciting public hatred and hostility went on trial Wednesday in a case critics view as an effort to suppress opposition to the president. Umit Ozdag, the leader of Turkey's Victory Party, was detained in January over accusations he insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with comments he made during a party meeting in Antalya. A day later Ozdag was formally arrested and charged with inciting hatred against migrants. He was blamed for last year's anti-Syrian refugee riots in the central Turkish province of Kayseri last year, during which hundreds of homes and businesses were attacked. Prosecutors have presented a series of posts from Ozdag's social media as evidence against him. He faces up to four years in prison if found guilty. Ozdag, a 64-year-old former academic, is an outspoken critic of Turkey's refugee policies and has previously called for the repatriation of millions of Syrian refugees. Ozdag acknowledged advocating the return of refugees at the opening hearing of his trial at a prison complex on the outskirts of Istanbul. He denied he had incited for violence against them and told the court he had worked to calm tensions in Kayseri. In his defense statement, Ozdag maintained that his imprisonment was politically motivated and aimed at silencing him over his criticism of the government's recent effort to end a decades-long conflict with the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. 'The reason why I am here ... is because I criticized the talks held with the PKK terrorist organization's chief,' Ozdag said. The Victory Party strongly opposes any concessions to the PKK which Turkey, along with many Western states including the United States, Britain and the European Union, considers a terrorist organization. The conflict with the PKK has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths since the 1980s. When the trial opened Wednesday, Ozdag's lawyers requested more time to prepare, and the proceedings were adjourned until Tuesday. The politician's trial comes amid a widespread crackdown on the opposition to Erdogan's Justice and Development Party. Officials from municipalities controlled by the main opposition — the Republican People's Party, or CHP — have faced waves of arrests this year. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was detained in March over allegations of corruption. Many people in Turkey consider the cases to be politically driven, according to opinion polls. However, Erdogan's government insists the courts are impartial and free from political involvement. Imamoglu is widely viewed as the main challenger to Erdogan's two-decade rule and is the CHP's candidate for the next presidential election. The election is due in 2028 but could be held earlier.
10 hours ago
Istanbul mayor boycotts court hearing in one of many cases that could see him banned from politics
ISTANBUL -- Istanbul's imprisoned opposition Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and his lawyers boycotted a court hearing Thursday, claiming a late change of venue was 'unlawful.' Thursday's case, which was over comments Imamoglu made over the prosecution of other officials from his Republican People's Party, or CHP, is one of numerous criminal allegations Imamoglu faces. The mayor was arrested in March alongside other prominent politicians as part of investigations into alleged corruption and terror links. His arrest triggered the largest street protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade. A conviction in any of the cases could see Imamoglu banned from holding or running for public office. Imamoglu is regarded as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan 's 22-year rule and was officially nominated as his party's presidential candidate following his imprisonment. Turkey's next election is due in 2028 but could come sooner. In a statement, the CHP said neither Imamoglu nor his legal team would attend Thursday's hearing due to a change in venue through 'unlawful procedures.' Imamoglu, in a post from jail, described the hearing as 'irregular' and said it 'does not comply with the principles of the trial. I refuse to be a part of such a process and therefore I will not attend this hearing.' CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Ozgur Celik posted on X that the hearing had been moved from Caglayan courthouse in central Istanbul to Silivri prison 24 hours beforehand. Imamoglu is being held at the prison, west of Istanbul. Prosecutors have requested a prison sentence of two to four years and a political ban on charges of 'attempting to influence' an expert witness in the case. The hearing was adjourned to Sept. 26. Officials from CHP-controlled municipalities have faced waves of arrests this year. Many people in Turkey consider the cases to be politically driven, according to opinion polls. Erdogan's government insists the courts are impartial and free from political involvement.
