Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
This week, Yerevan is not a distant capital at the edge of Europe’s map. Armenia has hosted the European Political Community summit at a moment when its political direction, its European ties and the regional peace process are all under scrutiny at once.
The European Union will begin implementing a ban on the destruction of unsold clothing as of July 19, 2026, and the Turkish textile sector, due to its geographic proximity and flexible production capabilities, expects the ban could be beneficial.
When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listed Turkey alongside the bloc's strategic rivals, both Brussels and Ankara moved quickly to contain the fallout.
The sixth week of the mass corruption trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and more than 400 co-defendants produced some of its most dramatic courtroom exchanges. İmamoğlu and the presiding judge continued sharp exchanges while the municipality’s housing company, KİPTAŞ, chair Ali Kurt implicated senior government figures in a land scheme, and the European Court of Human Rights formally demanded answers from Ankara.
The European Union has requested full access to Turkey’s public procurement market as a condition for including Turkish goods under the 'Made in Europe' initiative.
In response to the reinforcement of defense in Southern Cyprus by Greece and some European countries due to the Iran conflict, Turkey deployed F-16 fighter jets and additional air defense systems to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) for the first time in 28 years.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos succeeded in angering both the government and the opposition with her stance towards the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, 2025.
The free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and India has reopened an old wound in Turkey–EU relations, once again exposing the long-standing impasse over trade integration with Ankara.
The EU’s draft “Made in Europe” proposal to support European producers of green technology excludes Turkey from “Europe” but allows the European Commission to determine which non-EU countries can be included in the scheme on a sectoral basis. The Turkish business community is alarmed at the new rules aimed at strengthening European manufacturing against rising competition from China and the U.S., Turkey in Depth learned. Fearing this would create a new hurdle in Turkey’s trade with the EU, business leaders have been lobbying in Brussels, urging officials to consider Turkey as part of Europe. Turkey in Depth has learned that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen regarding the decision.
The European Union’s push to conclude free trade agreements (FTAs) is reshaping the economic landscape around its periphery. Chief among these is the long-negotiated EU–Mercosur Trade Agreement, alongside accelerating talks with India. While these agreements are formally bilateral between the EU and third parties, their implications extend well beyond signatories. For Turkey, which is bound to the EU through a customs union covering industrial goods, these deals carry direct consequences—despite Ankara not being a negotiating party.
Baykar will begin manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles in Italy for the European market, a move that will allow its systems to carry a “Made in EU” label and gain customs advantages across the bloc, while the company also plans a logistics base and service network in the United States.
Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of the HDP, has been sentenced to one year, five months and 15 days in prison over speeches he delivered in 2015–2016 despite a final and binding European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling calling for his release.