Morning papers opened with 17 million students returning for 2026-2027, Istanbul traffic jams and free public transport, followed by President Erdoğan's opening message defending PISA 2025 gains against opposition criticism and touting education spending.
Attention quickly shifted to the Interior and Justice ministries' coordinated 'Sokaklar Güvende' sweep timed to the first bell: Justice Minister Akın Gürlek cited 151 operations, 1,613 detentions and billions in illegal betting, plus a seven-point circular to 175 chief prosecutors on child protection, cyber gangs and obscenity, which included blocks on hundreds of betting and LGBT-related sites and detentions in Izmir that drew an EP rapporteur rebuke.
Foreign Minister Fidan's Damascus talks on the SDF and a possible Erdoğan visit to Syria ran alongside renewed testimony by Kurtlar Vadisi writers in the Kozinoğlu probe. The evening closed with Erdoğan meeting youth in Samsun.