Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The government has put the lucrative Bosphorus bridges and major state highways back on sale 14 years after cancelling a similar tender. The move comes as medium-term plans include significantly higher privatization revenue in the coming years.
The government revealed its new Medium-Term Program (OVP) covering 2027–2029, outlining macroeconomic targets that analysts view as unusually realistic while hinting at election preparations for 2027.
Turkey's central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady on Sept. 10, matching market expectations as energy cost pressures continue to pose risks to the inflation outlook.
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.
In Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove, the American president interrupts a scuffle between General Buck Turgidson and the Soviet ambassador with an appeal to institutional dignity. “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.”
The Trump administration has handed NATO allies a list of questions within the framework of an ongoing six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe.
International outrage erupted following the state-supported funeral ceremony for convicted Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic in Serbia. Critics worldwide denounced the honors as an attempt to glorify a perpetrator of genocide. Turkey joined the global backlash on Sept. 8, a day after the ceremony.
US authorities have designated a Turkish investment bank and three Istanbul-based logistics companies under targeted sanctions for allegedly facilitating illicit Iranian financial transfers and supporting Tehran's aviation network.
Joel Lion, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi and close associate of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, presented his credentials in Ankara on Sept. 9 and left the same day after attending a US Independence Day reception.
Kurdish politics is preparing for a major structural overhaul as Turkey is expected to move forward with its peace initiative, referred to by the government as the 'Terror-Free Turkey' process.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said a supplementary indictment is being prepared in the Istanbul Municipality corruption case, as the court’s agenda shifted from hearing detained defendants to hearing those on trial who are not in detention.
In a surprising move, former Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek — long accused of corruption but never prosecuted — has been summoned to testify before the Organized Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Sept. 4.