Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
At the 13th meeting of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission, lawyers were heard on Oct. 2 and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş stated that the listening phase is about to end. Although not announced officially, women’s and children’s rights defenders as well as the intelligence service are expected to be heard in the coming days, before concluding the listening phase.
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.
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.
The word of the week is kedi, or cat, the agile, intuitive feline who is supposed to have nine lives. The Turkish word kedi ultimately goes back to Late Latin cattus (“cat”), with an intermediate form in Byzantine Greek gati (γ α τί, “kitten”) from which it passed into Ottoman Turkish as kedi. So why is it the word of the week? Because of the Istanbul Biennial, the must-see flagship event of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV) that continues until the end of November.
The Turkish Presidency spent more than 32 million lira per day in 2024, according to financial records shared by the Court of Accounts. The annual total reached 12.57 billion lira, a significant increase over the previous year, BirGün reported.
Turkey and Italy signed a joint venture agreement for landing-gear maintenance, starting with T129 attack helicopters produced by Turkish Aerospace Industries, and aiming to expand capacity for military and civilian aircraft.The Military Factory and Shipyard Management Corporation of Turkey and Italy’s Magnaghi Aerospace will establish a joint maintenance center in Turkey. The Turkish side plans to extend services to civilian platforms, aiming to make Turkey a regional hub for landing gear maintenance and exports. The deal was signed during the technology and defense festival Teknofest Istanbul, on Sept. 19.
Three different remarks increased the tension prior to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s meeting with the U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. During an interview with FOX TV, Erdoğan challenged Trump’s main motto that he ended seven wars.
After the CHP pushed back against a wave of lawsuits aimed at annulling its 2023 congress, some AKP-affiliated pundits—occasionally critical of their own party’s leadership—called for an end to the judicial crackdown.
U.S. President Donald Trump will host Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House on Sept. 25, shortly after both leaders attend the UN General Assembly in New York. Their talks are expected to focus on defense and trade, including Boeing aircraft sales, a major F-16 package, and the potential revival of discussions on the suspended F-35 program.
Religious Affairs Directorate head Ali Erbaş’s term has come to an end. He held the post for eight years. In other words, during the last eight years of the ruling party’s 23-year tenure, Turkey’s religious life was under Erbaş’s administration. Heads of the directorate, known as the Diyanet in Turkish, have always been subjects of debate, but Erbaş has been at the very peak of this controversy.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has appointed Istanbul Mufti Professor Safi Arpaguş as the new head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet), replacing Ali Erbaş, whose term has ended after the completion of his term, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette.