Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
While Ankara is seeking to strengthen its ties with the Washington administration, U.S. Ambassador to Ankara and Special Envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack has dusted off an old project aimed at transforming Turkey and Syria into a hub for energy security as an alternative to the Persian Gulf, caught in the crossfire for a month.
Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar denied media reports that Iran stopped natural gas exports to Turkey following an Israeli military strike on the South Pars gas field on March 18.
Turkey has reintroduced the “sliding scale mechanism” to prevent dramatic pump hikes from feeding inflation after the Iranian War pushed global oil prices higher.
Tanıl Bora, who quietly reads, translates, and writes books, suddenly became a target last week after Özgür Özel and Ekrem İmamoğlu announced that they were reading his book “Cereyanlar” (Currents of Thought).
In a rare diplomatic spat in the local language, the Russian and French diplomatic missions in Ankara traded barbs on social media over the ongoing war in Ukraine amid the war’s anniversary. The dispute, which drew attention from Turkish users, shifted from geopolitical accusations to historical insults and the use of emojis.
On Feb. 23, four separate courts in Istanbul and Ankara heard cases involving the CHP congress, corruption claims by businessperson and confessor Aziz İhsan Aktaş, accusations about its provincial chair, and the trial of a party bus driver.
The “process report” that charts the roadmap for Parliament toward solving the Kurdish question has been finalized. The document did not push the limits of the AKP and MHP too far; it received a cautious “hopeful” endorsement from the CHP on the grounds that accepted democratic demands “must not remain mere words on paper”; the DEM Party deemed it “better than nothing” despite its shortcomings; and the Yeni Yol group welcomed with a familiar “not enough, but yes.”
Seeking to capitalize on the rift in the NATO alliance between the U.S. and the EU, Ankara is seeking common ground with Europe through cooperation on military issues and the defense industry.
The CHP was shaken by the resignation of Ankara’s Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan, but the political momentum shifted after the AKP did not move forward with his expected transfer, leaving him politically isolated. CHP Chair Özgür Özel challenged President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to publicly pin an AKP badge on Özarslan amid speculation he would join the ruling party.
British energy giant BP became the third high-profile petroleum partner of state-run Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in the past month, highlighting Ankara’s efforts to increase upstream production while diversifying its alliances.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Ankara, but his visit was kept off the public schedule until the last minute, Turkey in Depth has learned.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met in Ankara on the 30th anniversary of the Kardak (Imia) crisis, serving as a reminder that the fundamental disagreements that nearly brought the two NATO allies to war 30 years ago remain unresolved.