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Resignation of Erdogan’s Son-in-Law Reveals Crisis within Party, Family

Turkey’s new Finance Miniser Lutfi Elvan during his visit to the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 (AFP)
Turkey’s new Finance Miniser Lutfi Elvan during his visit to the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 (AFP)
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Resignation of Erdogan’s Son-in-Law Reveals Crisis within Party, Family

Turkey’s new Finance Miniser Lutfi Elvan during his visit to the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 (AFP)
Turkey’s new Finance Miniser Lutfi Elvan during his visit to the Ataturk Mausoleum in Ankara on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 (AFP)

The resignation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law Berat Albayra has revealed the deep crisis facing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Albayra's resignation came amid a decline in AKP’s popularity and the deterioration of the political and economic situation in the country.

He announced the decision to step down in an Instagram post on Sunday, which was denounced by AKP leaders who said the decision caused serious damage to both Erdogan and the party and considered it an “embarrassing” reaction to the President’s sacking of the Central Bank governor.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said Albayrak’s resignation via social media was unprecedented and amounted to a “state crisis.”

It took more than 24 hours for the government to respond to the decision through a brief presidential statement indicating that Erdogan has accepted Albayrak’s resignation.

Many people in Turkey, including some officials in Erdogan’s party, believed the president was grooming the 42-year-old former businessman as a future party leader and even as a possible successor.

Meanwhile, sources close to the ruling circles in Ankara revealed that the Albayrak’s resignation came after Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu informed Erdogan about the intention of between 30 and 40 AKP MPs to resign and join the opposition Democracy and Progress Party of former Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan and the Future Party of Ahmet Davutoglu.

Turkish political analyst Murat Yetkin said the resignation indicated double crises at the level of the AKP and his family.

He pointed out that Albayrak’s resignation is not like that of Soylu’s in July, who came back stronger.

“Albayrak’s step down did not create the impact of Soylu’s resignation move,” he stressed.

“When Soylu announced his resignation, within fifteen minutes his supporters began to hit the streets, while the letter of resignation published in the name of Albayrak on social media received 600.000 likes within a few hours.”

Babacan, for his part, said the resignation is a declaration of “bankruptcy” by Erdogan’s government, noting that Turkey’s economy won’t improve by replacing a figure or two.

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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Türkiye Presses PKK to Disarm ‘Immediately’

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

Türkiye on Thursday insisted the PKK and all groups allied with it must disarm and disband "immediately", a week after a historic call by the Kurdish militant group's jailed founder.

"The PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end all terrorist activities, dissolve and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons," a Turkish defense ministry source said.

The remarks made clear the demand referred to all manifestations of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has led a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, costing tens of thousands of lives.

Although the insurgency targeted Türkiye, the PKK's leadership is based in the mountains of northern Iraq and its fighters are also part of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key force in northeastern Syria.

Last week, Ocalan made a historic call urging the PKK to dissolve and his fighters to disarm, with the group on Saturday accepting his call and declaring a ceasefire.

The same day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that if the promises were not kept, Turkish forces would continue their anti-PKK operations.

"If the promises given are not kept and an attempt is made to delay... or deceive... we will continue our ongoing operations... until we eliminate the last terrorist," he said.

- Resonance in Syria, Iraq -

Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out three major military operations in northern Syria targeting PKK militants, which it sees as a strategic threat along its southern border.

Ankara has made clear it wants to see all PKK fighters disarmed wherever they are -- notably those in the US-backed SDF, which it sees as part of the PKK.

The SDF -- the bulk of which is made up of the Kurdish YPG -- spearheaded the fight that ousted ISIS extremists from Syria in 2019, and is seen by much of the West as crucial to preventing an extremist resurgence.

Last week, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call for the PKK to lay down its weapons but said it "does not concern our forces" in northeastern Syria.

But Türkiye disagrees.

Since the toppling of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in December, Ankara has threatened military action unless YPG militants are expelled, deeming them to be a regional security problem.

"Our fundamental approach is that all terrorist organizations should disarm and be dissolved in Iraq and Syria, whether they are called the PKK, the YPG or the SDF," Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's ruling AKP, said on Monday.

Ocalan's call also affects Iraq, with the PKK leadership holed up in the mountainous north where Turkish forces have staged multiple air strikes in recent years.

Turkish forces have also established numerous bases there, souring Ankara's relationship with Baghdad.

"We don't want either the PKK or the Turkish army on our land... Iraq wants everyone to withdraw," Iraq's national security adviser Qassem al-Araji told AFP.

"Turkish forces are (in Iraq) because of the PKK's presence," he said, while pointing out that Türkiye had "said more than once that it has no territorial ambitions in Iraq".