After Ankara's Regional Court of Appeals on May 21 declared the CHP's November 2023 congress "absolutely null and void" — reinstating Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu as leader of Turkey's main opposition, suspending Özgür Özel's leadership team along with the party's Central Executive Board, Party Assembly and High Disciplinary Board, and rolling the CHP back to its pre-congress structure pending appeal — Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli intervened on CNN Türk to urge Kılıçdaroğlu to "undertake a historic responsibility," waive his return, and negotiate a joint formula with Özel. Bahçeli framed the call as protecting the CHP from chaos and preserving President Erdoğan's "Terror-Free Türkiye" roadmap ahead of the NATO summit, signalling a backroom plan in which both Kılıçdaroğlu and Özel would step aside in favour of a compromise candidate at a fresh congress. Özel rejected what he called the "comfortable, eternal opposition seats" being offered, with the ruling open to appeal before the Court of Cassation within two weeks.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday said Türkiye has proven to be a reliable energy transit partner and key actor for peace, speaking at the second Istanbul Natural Resources Summit. He outlined plans to raise daily LNG regasification capacity to 200 million cubic meters and boost Black Sea gas output to 20 million cubic meters per day in 2026. Erdoğan reiterated that achieving full energy independence remains a strategic priority, citing domestic discoveries in the Sakarya and Gabar fields.

Libya and Syria have deployed troops to Turkey's EFES-2026 Combined Joint Live-Fire Field Exercise near İzmir, marking the first time either country has participated in a military exercise on foreign soil. The live-fire phase concluded on May 21, involving over 10,000 personnel from 50 nations. Libyan forces from rival eastern and western factions trained together under a single flag for the first time, while Syria's contingent of about 50 personnel represented the newly reconstituted Syrian army's first exercise abroad.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revoked the operating license of Istanbul Bilgi University on Friday, effectively closing the private institution with an estimated 20,000 students in the middle of the academic year. The decree, published in the Official Gazette, cited insufficient education standards and the placement of the founding foundation under trusteeship. The university was seized by the state in September 2025 as part of a money laundering and tax fraud investigation into its parent company, Can Holding.

At the 2nd Istanbul Natural Resources Summit (INRES 2026), Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated that the recent Iran-centered conflict highlights the fragility of the global economy and the critical importance of energy security. He outlined Türkiye's new energy architecture, including plans to maximize capacity of pipelines such as TANAP, TurkStream, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, and the Iraq-Türkiye Crude Oil Pipeline; extend the Iraq-Türkiye Oil Pipeline to Basra; transport Turkmenistan's natural gas via the Trans-Caspian Natural Gas Pipeline; develop LNG infrastructure for higher volumes to Southeast Europe; invest $30 billion in grid infrastructure; advance nuclear power with Akkuyu, Sinop, and Trakya projects targeting 20 GW nuclear capacity by 2050 including small modular reactors; and boost rare earth elements and critical minerals production with a pilot facility in Beylikova. The panel included energy ministers from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Libya, Moldova, Nigeria, Sudan, and Somalia, discussing regional cooperation on energy security and connectivity projects.

At the Istanbul Natural Resources Summit, President Erdoğan and Energy Minister Bayraktar announced Türkiye's plans to develop alternative energy corridors, including extending the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline to Basra, a Saudi Arabia-Jordan-Syria-Türkiye electricity interconnection, and expanded green energy transmission from Azerbaijan to Europe. Bayraktar cited an 'age of uncertainty' and the need for diversification. Erdoğan highlighted Türkiye's growing domestic gas production (Sakarya field) and the Gabar oil discovery as transformative for energy security and regional development.

Israel has previously obstructed Turkish humanitarian aid to Gaza, including baby formula and shelter materials. In a new development, Israel's COGAT ordered the WFP to immediately suspend fuel transfers and all activities with the Turkish aid organization IHH, alleging links to Hamas and accusing IHH of supporting flotilla challenges to Israel's blockade. The WFP warns this will cut off assistance to over 166,000 Palestinians, including 111,000 daily meals and nutrition support for 55,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women and young children. The IHH denies the allegations and has been a WFP partner since January 2024.

Background: Turkey previously criticized Cyprus's plan to host French troops, viewing it as part of a geopolitical rivalry and encirclement threat amid deepening defense ties between Cyprus, Greece, and Israel. Today, Greece is moving toward a deeper strategic partnership with Israel, including defense, energy, and intelligence cooperation. Turkey sees this as a dangerous escalation that could transform bilateral disputes into a broader regional confrontation, while questioning Israel's reliability as a long-term ally due to its transactional foreign policy and domestic extremism, including attacks on Christians. Athens may be overestimating Israel's strategic durability, which depends heavily on U.S. support.