ÖZEL FACES NEW REQUEST TO LIFT IMMUNITY
Yeni Party Chair Özgür Özel faces a new effort aimed at removing his immunity from prosecution, one that looks more serious than 60 other such applications already filed in parliament.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
TURKEY'S DEFENSE EXPORT SUCCESS NEEDS A RESPONSIBILITY CHECK
The NATO summit in Ankara provided an important opportunity for Turkey to showcase the progress of its defense industry. By now, few can have missed the fact that Turkey has become the world's 11th-largest arms exporter.
TEN YEARS ON, JULY 15 IS STILL AN OPEN FILE
Ten years after tanks rolled onto the Bosphorus Bridge and F-16s bombed parliament, Turkey marks the anniversary of the failed July 15 coup attempt with a holiday named 'Democracy and National Unity Day' — in a country more polarized, less democratic and no closer to answering the fundamental questions of that night than it was a decade ago.
MORE THAN A CONGRESS: HIDDEN BATTLEGROUNDS OF THE CHP CRISIS
Since the court voided the CHP's 2023 party congress, the main opposition has been unable to untangle the knot — and each new court decision pulls it tighter. The question is whether the party can hold an extraordinary congress to break the deadlock. But the forces shaping what comes next run deeper: when and how the CHP headquarters under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, 77, will move to press disciplinary charges, expelling some figures; whether the parliamentary immunity of ousted chair Özgür Özel, 51, and his allies — implicated by recent testimonies from Antalya and Uşak — will be lifted; and when a new party will be established.
TURKEY SEEKING POSITION AS SECURE ENERGY HUB
As the war between the US-Israel and Iran disrupts global energy routes, Turkey is trying to transform the regional crisis into an opportunity to offer security of supplies.
BAHÇELİ STANDS BY VICE PRESIDENT PROPOSAL AMID FAILED-STATE MODEL DEBATE
Amid renewed calls for unity during the ongoing peace efforts with the PKK, and following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent emphasis on solidarity among Turks, Kurds, and Arabs, MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli has confirmed reports that he proposed appointing two vice presidents—one Kurdish and one Alevi—in a closed-door party meeting.
THE PEACE NEXT DOOR
This week, Yerevan is not a distant capital at the edge of Europe’s map. Armenia has hosted the European Political Community summit at a moment when its political direction, its European ties and the regional peace process are all under scrutiny at once.
COURT KEEPS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST BEHIND BARS
Esra Işık, an activist from the village of İkizköy in Muğla’s Milas district who has spent years fighting to save her community's olive groves and farmland from coal mining expansion, was brought to her first court hearing on April 27 in handcuffs, escorted by gendarmerie officers from Şakran Prison in İzmir — more than 100 miles from her hometown where her case is being tried.
‘MADE IN EUROPE’ PROPOSAL: BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS FOR TURKEY
The EU’s draft “Made in Europe” proposal to support European producers of green technology excludes Turkey from “Europe” but allows the European Commission to determine which non-EU countries can be included in the scheme on a sectoral basis. The Turkish business community is alarmed at the new rules aimed at strengthening European manufacturing against rising competition from China and the U.S., Turkey in Depth learned. Fearing this would create a new hurdle in Turkey’s trade with the EU, business leaders have been lobbying in Brussels, urging officials to consider Turkey as part of Europe. Turkey in Depth has learned that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen regarding the decision.
SYRIA OUTLOOK OF ANKARA: FORCE NEEDED TO DRIVE NEGOTIATIONS
As negotiations between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stalled following the loss of two Aleppo neighborhoods from its control, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the Syrian government would take steps to exercise its sovereign right to ensure unity and order within the country if needed.
THE WALK OF MANSUR YAVAŞ
Let us begin with a very old and very familiar anecdote. The famous poet Yahya Kemal was once asked: “What do you like about Ankara?” His answer: “The return to Istanbul.” Mansur Yavaş thinks the exact opposite. Wherever he is, he wants to return to Ankara at the first opportunity, and he likes it when everything returns to Ankara. Not out of anxiety to make it to work on time. But because he is a man of the land. Because he is from Ankara.
U.S. SEIZURE OF MADURO RAISES “INTERNAL FRONT” CONTROVERSY IN TURKEY
The abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States has reignited a fierce debate in Turkey over the concept of the “internal front,” a term increasingly used by the government to call for national unity amid shifting global dynamics. The notion of “fortifying the internal front” — defined by the government as acting in unison on national issues — gained prominence alongside changes in the international order. It was President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who first introduced the phrase in August 2024, and has repeatedly emphasized it over the past year as a shield against foreign policy challenges and a necessity for “national survival.”