Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Sinem Dedetaş, the elected mayor of Istanbul’s Üsküdar district, was released to house arrest on Oct. 29, offering the Yeni Party a rare reprieve as prosecutors press ahead with operations against opposition-run municipalities.
Muğla and Manisa mayors denied switching to the AKP as operations against CHP and Yeni Party municipalities continued and courts delivered a string of rulings.
Operations targeting opposition municipalities continued at full speed as six more operations were launched in eight municipalities, ending with the arrest of five mayors.
Turkey and the United States have signed a grant agreement to evaluate next-generation nuclear energy technologies, expanding bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.
After years of demonizing rhetoric against LGBTQ+ people, Turkish authorities launched a nationwide operation named 'My Family Is Safe,' detaining hundreds of people from civil society. The crackdown continued with arrests and access bans targeting dissidents, media outlets and civil society organizations' X accounts, widening to include broader opposition voices who spoke out against the operations. The main charge in the investigation was 'obscenity.'
Authorities have launched a judicial operation against major produce distributors, detaining scores of executive-level figures for artificially inflating wholesale fruit and vegetable prices amid high food inflation.
Before me is the “LGBTQ+ Rights Monitoring Report” on the 2023 elections, prepared by University Queer Research and LGBT+ Solidarity Association (ÜniKuir) whose website was blocked as part of the “My Family Is Safe” operation.
Zülfü Livaneli made a clear decision this week. The musician and novelist put an end to the playing of his celebrated composition at opposition rallies protesting the operations that have targeted Ekrem İmamoğlu — and subsequently numerous other mayors and municipal officials — since March 19, 2025.
The Mecca Joint defense Agreement signed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan at the beginning of last month came as a surprise to many, although Turkey was interested in joining the defense agreement signed by the latter two a year ago. The new agreement goes further than defense cooperation due to a collective security pledge modelled on NATO’s famous Article 5.
Thirteen more Istanbul Municipality staff were detained on Sept. 3, as prosecutors widened their operation against the metropolitan authority.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Bishkek and signaled a new nuclear partnership as the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant nears operations.
The central bank has resumed one-week repo auctions after a nearly six-month pause, an operational shift that effectively lowers market funding costs and paves the way for official policy rate cuts.