{"id":200113,"date":"2026-08-24T13:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T13:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/200113\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T13:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T13:40:13","slug":"erdogan-to-bring-cabinet-back-near-historic-battlefield","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/200113\/","title":{"rendered":"Erdo\u011fan to bring cabinet back near historic battlefield"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANKARA
\n\"Erdo\u011fan <\/p>\n

President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan and MHP leader Devlet Bah\u00e7eli visited the Ahlat Seljuk Cemetery to mark the 954th anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert last year.<\/p>\n

President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan<\/a> will convene his cabinet in the eastern district of Ahlat on Aug. 25 as T\u00fcrkiye marks the 955th anniversary of a pivotal clash, with the government expected to highlight what it calls the \u201cterror-free T\u00fcrkiye\u201d initiative.<\/p>\n

The cabinet meeting will be held for the third time in Ahlat, a rare move that underscores the symbolic importance the government attaches to the anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert<\/a>, which is widely regarded in T\u00fcrkiye as a turning point that opened Anatolia to Turkish settlement.<\/p>\n

Erdo\u011fan and his close ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bah\u00e7eli<\/a> are expected to attend commemorations in Ahlat, near the historic battlefield, where the Seljuk forces defeated the Byzantine army on Aug. 26, 1071.<\/p>\n

The president attended the anniversary celebrations in Ahlat in each of the past two years, along with several ministers.<\/p>\n

The Ahlat meeting is expected to include discussions on the government\u2019s anti-terror campaign, with Erdo\u011fan likely to highlight national unity and solidarity.<\/p>\n

Erdo\u011fan delivered a speech in Ahlat two years ago that was seen as signaling the beginning of the latest process aimed at ending the decades-long conflict with PKK.<\/p>\n

Parliament on Aug. 10 overwhelmingly approved a law establishing the legal framework for the initiative. The bill was backed by 467 lawmakers.<\/p>\n

The process began in late 2024 after Bah\u00e7eli called for a new initiative to end the PKK issue. It reached a major turning point in February 2025 when jailed PKK leader Abdullah \u00d6calan called on the terror group to end its armed campaign and dissolve itself.<\/p>\n

PKK subsequently announced in June 2025 that it would disarm and disband, followed by a symbolic weapon-burning ceremony by members in northern Iraq a month later.<\/p>\n

The new law establishes an eight-member board chaired by Vice President Cevdet Y\u0131lmaz to oversee implementation of the initiative. The board includes the foreign, defense, interior and justice ministers, along with senior intelligence and military officials.<\/p>\n

A separate parliamentary commission has also been tasked with monitoring the process.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 13, Erdo\u011fan described parliament\u2019s approval of the framework law as a \u201chistoric step\u201d toward resolving the deadly conflict.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will permanently resolve this issue, which has cost tens of thousands of lives and 40 years of our country, through the joint efforts of the state and the nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The commemoration comes during \u201cVictory Week,\u201d when T\u00fcrkiye also observes the start of the 1922 Great Offensive against occupying forces and celebrates Victory Day on Aug. 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANKARA President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan and MHP leader Devlet Bah\u00e7eli visited the Ahlat Seljuk Cemetery to mark the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[16467],"tags":[30052,7241,89474,7098],"class_list":["post-200113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-recep-tayyip-erdogan","tag-devlet-baheli","tag-erdogan","tag-manzikert","tag-recep-tayyip-erdogan"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117150772615120636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}