COMMENT: Turkey’s opposition leader scales water cannon. Round of applause, but autocracy looks here to stay

Will it all amount to more than a media circus? Things are not looking good. / @eczozgurozel\Facebook

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By Akin Nazli in Belgrade May 25, 2026

It’s a striking image that captures the surreal decay of Turkey’s political institutions. Ozgur Ozel, the embattled leader of the country’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), on May 24 scaled a police water cannon truck after police forced their way into the party’s HQ.

From atop the steel-plated vehicle, drenched in spring rain, Ozel chanted slogans together with a crowd of stunned supporters.

Video: Action Man Ozel drenched by rain, climbing on to a water cannon truck and chanting with a crowd.

Police burst in

Earlier in the day, riot police breached the perimeter of the CHP headquarters in Ankara. Armed with a controversial court order, security forces deployed tear gas and rubber bullets inside the building to forcefully evict party officials who had been holed up there for three days.

On May 21, the 36th civil chamber of the Ankara regional (istinaf) court (an appeals court that works above courts of first instance and below the supreme court (yargitay)) stripped Ozel of his post and reinstated his predecessor Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

In the evening hours of that day, the court-deposed Ozel held a press conference at the headquarters and addressed a crowd of supporters that gathered in front of the building. He said he would defy the ruling and declared that he would not hand over the headquarters. No incidents were observed.

On May 22 and May 23, the political atmosphere in the country remained calm, with both Ozel and Kilicdaroglu opting to not escalate tensions.

Kilicdaroglu’s petition

On May 24, dramatic scenes were circulated by world media after a lawyer (appointed on May 22 by Kilicdaroglu to replace the lawyers previously appointed by Ozel to legally represent the CHP) filed a petition at the Ankara provincial police directorate, demanding the immediate evacuation of the HQ and a handover to Kilicdaroglu.

Screenshot: The petition.

On paper, the enforcement mechanism for the police raid was not triggered directly by the government, but rather by the fractured rivalries inside the CHP. To seasoned observers of Turkish politics, the bizarre spectacle of state security apparatuses acting as executioners in an internal party feud is a sign of a deeper malaise taking hold.

Video: Police forces opened up a way into the CHP headquarters by firing tear gas.

Video: Outside view of the police entering the building.

Unending end of democracy in Turkey

The action movie-type scenes underline once again how thoroughly the government has co-opted both the judiciary and opposition politics. For many Turks inside and outside the country, any lamentation over a “sudden end” to Turkish democracy rings hollow.

The death of Turkey's democratic institutions is a narrative that is already more than a decade stale. The trajectory of Turkey’s autocracy was cemented long before the police raid at the CHP.

The definitive turning point can perhaps be traced back over a decade to the suppression of the Gezi Park protests in 2013 and to the subsequent consolidation of executive power following the 2016 attempted coup.

The weaponisation of the legal system to settle internal opposition scores has effectively neutralised parliament as a venue for meaningful resistance.

For Turks, the images of riot police patrolling the corridors of the CHP, one of the oldest political parties in the world that is still active, do not signal a new authoritarian dawn. Instead, they serve as a stark reminder of a long-established status quo where the boundaries enabling independent political activity have effectively ceased to exist.

Ozel shines

Ahead of the pitiful, wrong-headed requiems for Turkey’s democracy, Ozel on May 24 brought energy and action not only to the country’s politics but to media reports that spread across the globe.

Before being forced from his office, he staged a scene in which he ripped up the eviction notice. After the police raided the HQ, he led hundreds of supporters on an arduous, rainswept march to the parliament building.

Video: Ozel rips up the eviction notice.

Ozel then delivered a speech to his supporters in front of parliament before heading inside to his office.

Good action… but nothing else

With the CHP’s central apparatus effectively shut down by the government and its top figures bogged down in a mire of litigation, the path back to institutional relevance for the party remains unclear.

On May 22, Ozel gathered together the party MPs, who proceeded to elect him head of the parliamentary group.

So as things stand, Kilicdaroglu is the party chairman and Ozel is the head of the parliamentary group. The CHP is fractured and exposed. Its presidential candidate, Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, has been behind bars since March last year.

More than two dozen CHP mayors, along with many other party and municipal officials, are also in prison.

Mass protest in Serbia ends in violent clashes with police

Crowds packed Slavija Square, one of the capital’s main junctions, in one of the largest rallies in months, part of a wave of anti-government protests that began after a deadly infrastructure collapse in 2024. / Lazar Novaković, Glas ŠumadijeFacebook

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By Tatyana Kekic in Belgrade May 24, 2026

Police fired teargas and clashed with protesters in the Serbian capital late on May 23 after tens of thousands gathered peacefully to demand early elections and an end to the more than decade-long rule of President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Crowds packed Slavija Square, one of the capital’s main junctions, marking one of the largest rallies in recent months, part of a wave of anti-government protests that began after a deadly infrastructure collapse in 2024. 

Authorities put turnout at just 34,300 people, while photos and drone footage suggested a crowd comparable to a March 15, 2025 protest that drew nearly 300,000. The independent Archive of Public Gatherings initially estimated more than 100,000, saying the final figure would likely be higher.

The rally, which began around 1800 local time and ended shortly before 2000, followed marches from multiple points across the city. Protesters travelled from across Serbia, with columns of cars and motorcyles entering Belgrade during the day.

Clashes broke out later in the evening near Pionirski Park, where SNS supporters have routinely gathered, and along central streets including Kneza Miloša and Resavska. Riot police formed cordons and moved in to disperse groups of protesters. Witnesses reported an enormous police presence, including plainclothes officers, and multiple arrests.

Police in riot gear cordoned off key institutions, including city hall and areas near the presidency building, as clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government protesters and police. Officers used teargas, stun grenades and pepper spray to push back groups of people throwing flares, rocks and bottles. 

Opposition media and student organisers said the violence was initiated by hooligans and provocateurs, while authorities blamed protesters for attacking police.

Vucic called for dialogue, while the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office said those who attacked police officers would be identified and prosecuted.

The demonstrations are part of a broader anti-corruption movement led by university students that has driven months of protests, strikes and road blockades since late 2024, after the collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad killed 16 people.

Student organisers say the tragedy exposed systemic corruption and mismanagement in state infrastructure projects, allegations the government denies, saying those responsible have been held to account. The unrest forced the resignation of former prime minister Milos Vucevic in January 2025.

Vucic, whose Serbian Progressive Party has dominated Serbian politics for over a decade, said earlier this week that early parliamentary elections would be held between late September and mid-November, ahead of schedule. Elections are otherwise due in 2027.

 

Thousands rally in Prague in support of public media

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By Albin Sybera in Prague May 25, 2026

Thousands of protesters rallied in Prague in support of the country's public media and against the move by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš' radical populist cabinet to curtail financing for Czech Television (CT) and Czech Radio (CRo).

The rally held under the slogan “Hands Off Media” organised by the Million Moments for Democracy platform, which was behind the 2018-2019 mass protests against the previous cabinet led by Babiš, also criticised Minister of Culture Oto Klempíř of the anti-green and Eurosceptic Motorists for Themselves party for staff and culture funding changes at the ministry.

“Instead of protecting Czech culture, he has been repeatedly harming it,” the platform’s head Mikuláš Minář said at the Old Town Square in the historic centre of Prague, and called for another rally on May 25 when the cabinet opens its session.  

Earlier this year, the ruling coalition consisting of Babiš' Ano, the far right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and Motorists parties agreed to scrap the funding of public media through concession fees, renewing fears it may try to suffocate the independence of public media.

Babiš and SPD leader and parliamentary chairman Tomio Okamura back the move, expecting it to come into effect by January 1, 2027 and plan to have public media funded directly from the state budget by then.

Even the partial scrapping of the concession fees proposed by the ruling coalition this spring would amount to one third of CT’s and CRo’s income with CT losing more than CZK2bn (€81mn) and CRo losing CZK800mn, Czech Press Agency reported earlier, referring to information from the public broadcasters which warned this would impact the financial stability of the media.

The move sparked country-wide protest, including the mass rally on March 21 when around 200,000-250,000 Czechs rallied at the Letná plateau in Prague against the policies of the Babiš-led cabinet and his Ano party, which they fear threaten democratic standards in the country, including the government-backed NGO draft bill, criticised as inspired by a similar Russian bill targeting civic society.

As IntelliNews reported last month, CRo and CT labour unions declared a strike emergency on April 22 in response to the cabinet proposals.

 “The government proposal to change the law on CT and CRo and particularly the parliamentary proposal to scrap concession fees for selected groups will lead already this year to budget shakeup of both institutions and mass layoffs,” Zuzana Bančanská stated at a press conference held in front of CT’s headquarters at Kavčí hory on April 22.

The Ministry of Culture and the cabinet members deny the public media, which are some of the most respected ones in the wider region, would be targeted, but the ruling coalition parties have regularly attacked the public media and accused them of biased reporting.

 

Can Chinese investors revive Nigeria’s troubled state-owned refineries?

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By bne IntelliNews May 22, 2026

Nigeria’s state oil company is considering an equity partnership that could give Chinese investors a controlling stake in the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries of about 51%, marking a potentially significant shift in the country’s downstream restructuring strategy.

The proposed arrangement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding on April 30 between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Chinese firms Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xinganchen (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co., Ltd. – neither of which has experience in large-scale refinery rehabilitations.

The framework extends beyond conventional refinery rehabilitation contracts in Nigeria in that it may involve long-term equity participation by the Chinese firms in the two refining assets. Previous rehabilitation contracts gave contractors fixed fees to complete the work, with little incentive tied to whether the refineries operated efficiently afterwards. A technical equity partnership would mean the Chinese firms collect returns based on the refinery’s commercial performance. 

Sources familiar with the discussions told The Punch that the structure is being modelled on the ownership framework of Nigeria LNG Limited, under which investors hold majority equity stakes, participate in governance, and retain long-term operational responsibilities.

Commonly known as NLNG, Nigeria’s liquefied natural gas export company was established in 1989 to monetise vast natural gas reserves by processing natural gas into liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export. Shell plc (LSE: SHEL) TotalEnergies (EPA: TTE) and Eni (BIT: ENI) collectively hold 51% and NNPCL the remaining 49%.

Under the proposal, the Chinese firms would support the completion of outstanding engineering and rehabilitation work at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, while also providing operations and maintenance services aimed at improving efficiency, reliability, and fuel quality standards.

The parties are also exploring expansion into petrochemicals and gas-based industrial projects through the development of co-located industrial hubs around the refinery complexes.

“The scope includes capacity expansion, yield optimisation, petrochemical integration, and compliance with clean fuel standards and exploration of gas-based industrial projects in Nigeria,” an NNPCL official told the outlet, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly.

Ojulari described the agreement as a major milestone after more than six months of engagement between NNPCL and the Chinese firms.

“All parties recognise mutually beneficial opportunities for the development and long-term sustainable profitability of NNPCL’s refining assets in Nigeria and the collective weight required for success,” he said.

He added that the arrangement represented “a significant step on the journey towards identifying potential technical equity partner(s) to restart and expand NNPCL’s refineries and to explore opportunities in co-located petrochemical and gas-based industries.”

According to the report, the MoU remains non-binding and any final agreements would still require regulatory approvals, as well as detailed technical, operational, financial, commercial, and legal due diligence.

An NNPCL source told The Punch the framework differs from traditional engineering, procurement and construction arrangements because it envisages long-term ownership and operational participation by the Chinese partners.

“Instead of a conventional contractor arrangement, the MoU suggests possible equity participation using an NLNG-type model of joint governance arrangements and a long-term partnership framework,” the source said. “This implies Sanjiang/Xinqianchen may take ownership or operational participation rather than acting solely as an EPC contractor.”

Industry analysts said the proposed structure could reflect concerns within NNPCL over the sustainability of previous refinery rehabilitation efforts.

Clement Isong, executive secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, said bringing in technically competent partners with equity stakes could improve operational efficiency and accountability.

“This is an innovative way of getting the assets to work in an efficient and sustainable way,” Isong told The Punch. “The key difference is that the third party they have brought is taking equity. He’s a part-owner of the refinery and so would want the refinery to work so he can get returns on his investment.”

Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited is a petrochemical firm primarily focused on ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol and surfactants rather than crude refining. Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park is focused on industrial park management, investment facilitation and infrastructure development. Both are private entities rather than major Chinese state-owned engineering firms with specialized refinery rehabilitation experience

If concluded, the arrangement would deepen Chinese involvement in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum and gas sectors, while potentially transforming the refineries into broader petrochemical and industrial processing hubs.

Refinery capacity and operational problems

The Port Harcourt refinery has a combined installed refining capacity of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) across its old and new plants, while the Warri refinery has a nameplate capacity of 125,000bpd. Although neither is officially classified as fully idle, they have struggled with repeated shutdowns, low utilisation rates, and incomplete rehabilitation despite billions of dollars spent on repairs.

The Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation project was previously awarded to Italian engineering group Maire Tecnimont (BIT: MAIRE) in 2021 under a roughly $1.5bn programme financed largely through Afreximbank support.

NNPCL repeatedly announced progress milestones and, in late 2024, declared that the old refinery section had resumed operations. However, several issues later emerged, including questions over actual throughput and intermittent shutdowns, and the facility has reportedly been idle since May 2025.

The Warri refinery has had an even more troubled recent history than Port Harcourt. It was officially restarted in December 2024 after more than a decade of limited or no meaningful operations following a rehabilitation programme that reportedly cost about $897mn.

At the restart, NNPCL said the refinery was operating at about 60% of installed capacity and producing products including kerosene, diesel and naphtha. However, the restart quickly ran into problems, and the facility was shut down again by January 25, 2025, reportedly due to safety and technical issues related to the crude distillation unit heater system.

The federal government spent an estimated $2.39bn trying to fix these two refineries under the previous administration. Some estimates put total rehabilitation expenditure across Nigeria’s state refineries at $25bn between 2010 and 2023.

Africa’s largest oil producer continues to rely heavily on refined-product imports and increasingly on supply from the 650,000bpd Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which is one reason NNPCL is now considering a deeper equity-partnership model rather than continuing with state-led rehabilitation alone. Nigeria officially became a net exporter of petrol this March, thanks to Dangote, which aims to boost output to 1.4mn bpd in less than 30 months.

 

Ebola outbreak threatens African economies, World Cup football plans

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By bne IntelliNews May 25, 2026

Health authorities across Central and East Africa are racing to contain a rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak centred in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, as the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that insecurity, weak health systems and the absence of an approved vaccine for the current virus strain are complicating containment efforts.

The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus disease, a variant for which there is currently no approved vaccine or specific treatment. WHO on May 17 declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), its highest global alert level.

According to the UN agency and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the outbreak was first officially confirmed in Ituri Province in northeastern DRC, near the borders with Uganda and South Sudan. Uganda later confirmed imported cases linked to cross-border transmission.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned last week that he was concerned by the “speed and scale” of the outbreak as case numbers continue to rise.

As of late May, WHO, CDC and regional health agencies were reporting hundreds of suspected cases and well over 100 suspected deaths across affected areas in DRC and Uganda, although officials caution that figures remain fluid because surveillance and laboratory testing are still expanding.

Conflict and mistrust complicate containment

The outbreak is unfolding under particularly difficult conditions in eastern DRC, where armed conflict, population displacement and attacks on health facilities are hampering response efforts.

According to the Associated Press, angry residents in northeastern Congo last week stormed a hospital treating Ebola patients demanding the release of relatives’ bodies, while several treatment centres have been attacked in recent days amid growing mistrust toward health authorities.

“The more the outbreak spreads, the harder it becomes to control,” WHO officials warned during emergency briefings this month, while Africa CDC called for stronger regional coordination and cross-border surveillance.

The Bundibugyo strain presents additional complications because no licensed vaccine currently exists, unlike previous outbreaks involving the Zaire strain of Ebola.

WHO officials said promising vaccine candidates are under development but may not be ready for deployment for six to nine months.

“There is no vaccine available for the Bundibugyo strain currently spreading,” health officials told reporters as neighbouring countries intensified screening and preparedness measures.

Uganda has so far confirmed a limited number of cases linked to infected travellers from DRC. Authorities said aggressive contact tracing and border surveillance operations are underway to prevent wider community transmission.

Meanwhile, governments across the region have tightened health screening procedures at airports and border crossings. The US CDC has also introduced enhanced Ebola screening measures at selected international airports for travellers arriving from affected countries.

Medical groups including Médecins Sans Frontières warned that insecurity and shortages of protective equipment remain major obstacles to containing the outbreak.

“The outbreak is occurring in a challenging context,” WHO said, citing “humanitarian crisis”, insecurity and high population movement across affected regions.

Economic risks mount across affected countries

Beyond the immediate public-health emergency, economists warn the outbreak could inflict significant economic damage across affected countries if transmission accelerates further.

Previous Ebola outbreaks in West and Central Africa severely disrupted trade, tourism, mining operations and cross-border commerce as governments imposed movement restrictions and international investors delayed projects.

The World Bank estimated that the 2014-2016 West African Ebola epidemic cost Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone more than $2.8bn in lost economic output, while airlines, hotels and transport operators across the region suffered sharp declines in business activity.

Tourism operators in East and Central Africa are already monitoring the latest outbreak closely because of concerns that international travellers may avoid parts of the region if the crisis escalates. Airlines and border authorities have meanwhile increased health-screening procedures at several African airports.

African football calendars face disruption threat

The outbreak could also affect African football and regional sporting calendars if transmission spreads into major urban centres. During previous Ebola crises, Confederation of African Football (CAF) tournaments, World Cup qualifiers and domestic league fixtures were postponed, relocated or played behind closed doors because of health concerns and travel restrictions.

CAF and FIFA calendars over the coming months include multiple international windows that could be affected by any escalation in travel restrictions or cross-border health controls. African qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup are scheduled to continue during the September and October international windows, with decisive fixtures and playoff rounds due later in the qualification cycle.

Several African teams are scheduled to participate in high-profile 2026 FIFA World Cup fixtures beginning in June, increasing scrutiny around health protocols and cross-border travel measures.

The tournament opens on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with African representatives including DRC, Morocco, Senegal and Nigeria national team expected to begin group-stage matches between June 12 and June 18, depending on final fixture allocations.

FIFA schedules also include African teams travelling across multiple North American host cities throughout June and July, raising logistical and health-monitoring concerns if the Ebola outbreak expands further across Central Africa.

The outbreak is already beginning to affect preparations linked to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The DRC national team cancelled a planned pre-World Cup training camp in Kinshasa and moved preparations to Belgium because of the Ebola outbreak, according to FIFA and multiple media reports.

A FIFA spokesperson said the organisation was “aware of and monitoring the situation” and remained in “close communication” with the Congolese football federation regarding medical and security guidance.

US authorities have meanwhile imposed strict health protocols on the Congolese delegation ahead of the World Cup, which begins on June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“We’ve been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days,” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup, told ESPN. “They need to maintain that bubble or they risk not being able to travel to the United States.”

According to FIFA schedules, DR Congo are due to play pre-tournament friendlies against Denmark on June 3 in Belgium and Chile on June 9 in Spain before entering the World Cup group stage later in June.

Health authorities in World Cup host cities are also preparing additional surveillance measures around the tournament. Toronto Medical Officer of Health Michelle Murti said officials were increasing infectious-disease monitoring ahead of the influx of international supporters.

“We are going to be doing extra wastewater surveillance at the games,” Murti said, while urging symptomatic supporters to avoid attending matches.

The Confederation of African Football is also preparing qualification campaigns and tournament schedules across several competitions during the second half of 2026, increasing pressure on football authorities to coordinate closely with regional health agencies over travel, crowd management and player safety protocols.

Several African football federations are reportedly reviewing contingency plans for upcoming CAF and FIFA fixtures, including the possible use of neutral venues, expanded medical screening and tighter travel protocols for players, officials and supporters travelling from affected countries.

Memories of the 2014-2016 Ebola crisis

Public-health specialists say the current outbreak is reviving memories of West Africa’s devastating 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, which killed more than 11,000 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and exposed severe weaknesses in global outbreak preparedness.

However, WHO and Africa CDC stressed that the current outbreak does not meet the criteria for a pandemic and that the overall global risk remains low for now, despite elevated regional risk levels.

  

Philippines construction disaster leaves four dead, 17 missing

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By IntelliNews May 25, 2026

The death toll rose to four after a nine-storey building under construction collapsed in Angeles City, Pampanga, regional fire bureau spokeswoman Maria Leah Sajili reported on May 24, ABS-CBN News reports.

The incident highlights the perennial safety risks shadowing the Philippines’ regional construction boom, where regulatory oversight in rapidly expanding urban hubs outside Manila frequently lags behind the pace of development.

Emergency teams discovered two workers alive beneath the wreckage after the structure gave way and struck an adjacent hotel, killing a Malaysian guest, on May 24. However, both trapped labourers later died despite intensive rescue efforts.

The first worker was extracted alive but his body gave out and doctors could not resuscitate him, Sajili said. The second worker suffered cardiac arrest at approximately 3:00 am while still pinned down, preventing medical staff from treating him.

Another 17 people, mostly construction workers who were sleeping at the site when the disaster struck, remain missing. While up to 70 people were employed at the development, the majority had gone home for the weekend, preventing an even higher casualty count. The cause of the collapse is currently unknown.

"I have two cousins who are still trapped there," said construction worker Alfredo Albis, 55, who was sleeping in a barracks five metres from the structure when it collapsed. "They were working here to earn for their families and are missing. There's a possibility that my relatives are dead."

Rescue operations remain slow and dangerous. Any sudden shift triggered by rescuers can cause the debris to move and crush those trapped underneath, whilst also threatening to bury responders, Sajili noted. Consequently, this phase of the operation is being handled manually. Search teams will deploy thermal scanners to check for signs of life. If no further survivors are found, mechanical diggers and heavy equipment will be brought in to clear the debris and recover bodies.

Philippine Coast Guard Helps Fight Major Fire Next to its Headquarters

Courtesy PCG

Published May 24, 2026 10:28 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

On Saturday, the Philippine Coast Guard played a part in responding to a major waterfront fire in the Tondo  district of Manila, providing support from the water side and helping administer first aid on shore. 

At about 1450 hours on Saturday afternoon, a large-scale conflagration broke out in the Parola district of Tondo, Manila, located in between the Philippine Coast Guard's Manila station and the Manila International Container Terminal. The Parola Compound is a tightly packed low-income neighborhood, walled off from the road network and largely inaccessible by car, and firefighters spent hours attempting to contain the spread. 

PCG servicemembers provided a physical bucket brigade to move water to the front lines of the fire. From the water side, three PCG RIB boats, two inflatable boats and a Metal Shark patrol boat responded to the scene, along with a local ferry boat and a fire boat from nearby Mandaluyong City. 

Courtesy PCG

The blaze was declared out at last at about 0015 hours on Sunday morning. Despite the high population density of the area, no fatalities were reported.

The fire has affected more than 7,000 people and 1,200 structures, according to Manila's fire inspectors. The city's mayor has pledged to provide housing for as many of the displaced residents as possible. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has also promised government aid; early deliveries include hygiene kits and about $160 in emergency food aid, and more assistance is coming, he said during a site visit Sunday. 

The cause of the fire is not yet known, and an investigation is under way.