Man in custody after torching car outside Turkish Parliament, evoking memories of 1990s Kurdish disappearances

US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack on Monday visited a branch of a coffee chain that is on a protest-linked consumer boycott list initiated by Turkey's main opposition party, posing for a photo with founder Esat Kocadağ, according to local media.

Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in March put EspressoLab on a boycott list due to the owners' alleged government ties following the March 19 detention and subsequent arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's main rival.

EspressoLab says it has no political ties and operates mostly through franchises, stating, "We make coffee, not politics."

The Turkish coffee chain was founded in 2014 by Kocadağ. It belongs to the Kocadağ family businesses, opened its first store at İstanbul Bilgi University and grew via franchising.

Debate over alleged ruling-party links centers on kinship between the Kocadağ family and the late former İstanbul mayor Kadir Topbaş from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

AKP figures and pro-government groups organized visits to EspressoLab branches after the boycott call, turning the brand into a political signal in street-level messaging.

Protests and sit-ins targeted some outlets and campuses. Student actions included the symbolic "sealing" of a store and campaigns against campus branches.

Barrack currently serves as US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria.