Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) released new data covering the first nine months of 2025, revealing the country’s debt landscape by province. The capital, Ankara, recorded the highest total credit debt, while the central Anatolian province of Karaman had the largest share of citizens unable to repay their loans and facing collection proceedings.
In political terms, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is over, but in the socio-psychological dimension, it continues, according to the Armenian prime minister. 'When I talk about peace, it seems strange and even alien to many. Peace is an unfamiliar concept for Armenia and Azerbaijan,' Nikol Pashinyan said Nov. 4 at the annual forum of the Orbeli Center, which operates under the Prime Ministry.
The election of Tufan Erhürman as president of Northern Cyprus rekindled hopes for renewed negotiations with the Greek Cypriots.Erhürman’s opening statements — stressing democratic tolerance, representation and the need to reopen talks under UN auspices with political equality as his “red line” — set a constructive tone: “There are no losers in this election. The Turkish Cypriot people won, our children won, our brotherhood won.” Yet those words of unity sit alongside firm warnings: political equality cannot be treated as a bargaining chip, and any new process must have meaningful limits and commitments from the outset.
The first Altay tank was delivered to the army on Oct. 28, crowning a three-decade push to develop and produce a domestic main battle tank. The project, launched by a 1996 decision of the Defense Industry Executive Committee, aimed to build an indigenous tank using locally developed technologies. However, the finalized model relies on South Korean-made engines and transmission systems.
Turkey marked the 102nd anniversary of the Republic with fresh signs of political realignment — reminiscent of the symbolic gestures seen during Parliament’s opening earlier this month. While the chairs of Gelecek Party and DEVA Party, both breakaway movements from the AKP, attended the Presidential Palace reception for the first time, the MHP opted to stay away. Talks on a possible merger among conservative parties are also ongoing.
With the “change” endorsement from Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Özgür Özel became CHP chair and will mark his second year in office in just ten days. Many see this as the “most difficult two years” in the party’s 102-year history, as policies were revised and key positions changed. While also battling lawsuits to annul its congress and ongoing operations against municipalities, the CHP seems poised to fight on new fronts—starting with the possible lifting of parliamentary immunities—as the election calendar nears.
Tufan Erhürman became the new president of Northern Cyprus in Sunday’s election—winning twice as many votes as incumbent Ersin Tatar. Erhürman is a familiar name among Turkish Cypriots but not to the Turkish public. A seasoned politician who has served both as prime minister and party leader, he joins a line of Cypriot leaders whose names rarely surface in Turkey outside moments of crisis. Yet, like some of his predecessors, Mehmet Ali Talat and Mustafa Akıncı—both presidents from the same social-democratic tradition—his story also crosses paths with Ankara’s academic and political world.
A wave of asset seizures and prosecutions has shattered old certainties about which business groups are in favor with the government. The detentions and confiscations – some linked to the corruption probes into CHP municipalities – are raising hairs across the business world with observers uncertain whether it’s a genuine anti-corruption effort, a move to redistribute capital, or a sign of an internal power struggle within the presidency.
As the CHP-led Ankara municipality braces for a possible wave of prosecutions, Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş has pressed for charges to be brought against former Mayor Melih Gökçek and his son, Osman Gökçek, an AKP deputy and owner of Beyaz TV.
Trumpeting that Turkey is on the way to making its fighter jet Kaan, Turkey faced the reality that it was impossible to produce them by 2028, the expected election year, as promised to the public. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan acknowledged that the future of the project depends on the U.S. Congress and U.S. CAATSA sanctions imposed on Turkey. Fidan’s goals and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s knowledge of the situation topped the agenda.
As the Turkish Parliament begins its new legislative year on Oct. 1, attention will center on MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli—who launched the “Terror-Free Turkey” peace initiative a year ago—and on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks regarding its future. Following a 70-day recess, Parliament will convene with a special General Assembly session at 2:00 p.m. As usual, Erdoğan will deliver an opening address, though the CHP will boycott the ceremony in protest of recent mayoral arrests and crackdowns on municipalities. This year, the political spotlight will remain on post-PKK arrangements such as the “Return Home” law, the “right to hope,” and amendments to the penal code.
It was already known that the questions posed to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on board the presidential plane were pre-prepared by the Directorate of Communications. Media Ombudsman Faruk Bildirici has revealed, with concrete evidence this time, what has been an open secret. Bildirici received the full text of the questions and answers long before the conversation took place on the plane taking Erdoğan and journalists back to Turkey from Washington.