Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Turkey froze the assets of 18 institutions and 20 individuals linked to Iran, including the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, a day before hosting Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Aziz Nasirzade in Ankara.
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.
Northern Cyprus’s presidential contest is more than a domestic struggle for the island’s Turkish-Cypriot leadership: it is a referendum on identity, economic survival and the shape of relations with Ankara, the EU and the Greek Cypriot.
Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan said that if the inflation target is missed, monetary policy will be tightened.
The Ankara Municipality became the latest target of the crackdown against CHP-run municipalities, and CHP Chair Özgür Özel once again started highlighting Mayor Mansur Yavaş’s presidential candidacy. “Mansur Yavaş is seen as the strongest possible candidate if Ekrem İmamoğlu cannot run for presidency. Polls show he would beat (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan,” Özel said. “It is clear that Yavaş is also being targeted with the same intent.”
Access to Turkish pop singer Mabel Matiz’s song Perperişan has been blocked following a court order issued by the Ankara Criminal Court of Peace. The move came at the request of the Family and Social Services Ministry, which claimed the song violated public order and general health regulations.
It is not unusual for a Turkish citizen visiting China to receive a knock on the door in the middle of the night by a police officer. On my third day in China, I received a call from the reception telling me a police officer wanted to come up to my room to ask a few questions. I said that I would come down and while I was trying to get in touch with the German think-tank that had invited me to China, the receptionist and the police officer were at the door of my hotel room.
A surprising development could break the six-year impasse between Turkey and the United States over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems. According to diplomatic and defense sources, Moscow has proposed to take the systems back.
When I say Turkey is a European power, pro-government pundits often react with visible discomfort. Yet, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s message on European security is a testament to Turkey’s geostrategic positioning as a European power.
Turkey’s main opposition party, the CHP, is set to hold an extraordinary congress on Sept. 21, after more than 900 delegates submitted signatures to Ankara’s Çankaya District Election Board on September 5. The move comes amid a growing legal standoff that has rocked the party’s Istanbul branch. Among the signatories, the 196 Istanbul delegates suspended by court order were not included.
Turkey’s main opposition CHP suffered a fresh blow as a court dissolved its largest provincial board in Istanbul over cash payment claims. The party now awaits either a Sept. 5 ruling by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) or a Sept.15 court hearing that could unseat Chair Özgür Özel’s administration. The CHP, which came to power at a November 2023 congress with the slogan “Change,” now risks being replaced by the team of former chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. The 45th Civil Court of First Instance ruled that irregularities in the October 2023 Istanbul provincial congress were “approximately proven.” The court suspended provincial chair Özgür Çelik, the executive and disciplinary boards, and 196 delegates. Attention has now turned to another court set to review the CHP’s 2023 congress in Ankara. “The Istanbul decision is null and void. We do not recognize it,” said Özel, vowing not to hand over CHP’s Istanbul building to the appointed administration. The Istanbul administration also started a stage-in protest in front of the building for 24 hours.
İsmet Sayhan, the former head of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation (MKE) and a close associate of MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli, was arrested in Ankara. Amid speculation that the detention was a sign of cracks in the ruling alliance, Bahçeli and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met in Bitlis’s Ahlat and Malazgirt on Aug. 25–26, posing for cameras to signal the strength of their alliance in their first meeting since July 10. They even listened to folk songs together.