WITH INFLATION AT 5-YEAR LOW, MARKETS EYE MODEST RATE CUT
For the first time in nearly five years, Turkey’s annual inflation rate slipped below 30%, giving the central bank room to consider easing monetary policy at its meeting on Oct. 22.
Analysis
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CALLS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO OVERTURN INTERNET BLOCKS
Scores of journalists, activists, and politicians gathered outside the Constitutional Court Oct. 7 to protest censorship of social media accounts.
OPERATIONS AGAINST OPPOSITION MAYORS REACH MERSIN
Fresh judicial action hit opposition-run municipalities on Oct. 1, the day parliament reopened. Mersin Metropolitan Mayor Vahap Seçer, Yenişehir Mayor Abdullah Özyiğit and Mezitli Mayor Ahmet Serkan Tuncer were among 59 people detained.
OCTOBER HOPES FADE AS MGK STAYS SILENT ON PKK DISARMAMENT
Expectations that the Framework Law on the Terror-Free Turkey process would take effect in October have shifted to December.
JAILED ATALAY STARTS HUNGER STRIKE AS OPPOSITION PROTESTS ERDOĞAN AT PARLIAMENT'S OPENING
Can Atalay, stripped of his parliamentary seat and held in prison since 2022, began a hunger strike as parliament reconvened on Oct. 1, while the main opposition Yeni Party walked out when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the floor during the opening speech.
PACE: 'REPRESSION IS THE OPPOSITE OF FAMILY PROTECTION'
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Oct. 1 condemning what it called a coordinated campaign against LGBTQ+ people and rights defenders in Turkey.
STEPS ON DISARMAMENT AND ÖCALAN’S STATUS ARE EXPECTED
With the start of the new legislative year on Oct. 1, the main agenda will be the ongoing peace process concerning the Kurdish issue, which faces gridlock about the timing of demands over disarmament, legal guarantees, and the official status of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION BRING DIFFERENT AGENDAS TO NEW PARLIAMENTARY YEAR
After the summer break, the parliament opens its new legislative year on Oct. 1 and the General Assembly will convene on Oct. 6 to discuss a nine-article bill on the Turkish Red Crescent.
ARMENIA TO HOLD INDEPENDENCE DAY RECEPTION AFTER A DECADE
Armenia will host its 35th Independence Day reception in Istanbul on Oct. 14. The event marks a rare diplomatic event in Turkey as the two neighbors work to normalize long-strained ties.
AFTER CORRUPTION CASES, ESPIONAGE CHARGES KEEP PRESSURE ON CHP
The brief respite after a court rejected a bid to unseat main opposition CHP Chair Özgür Özel and annul the party’s 2023 congress has now given way to a widening espionage probe. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his campaign director Necati Özkan were rearrested on espionage charges, while a trustee was appointed to TELE1 television channel and its editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardağ, was also taken into custody on Oct. 24.
BULDAN’S ÖCALAN COMMENTS SPARK POLITICAL FIRESTORM
Pervin Buldan, head of the DEM’s İmralı delegation, faced strong backlash after relaying PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s criticism of media rhetoric and voicing a proposed delegation visit to İmralı Island, Oct. 10.
CHP FACES INTENSIFYING CRACKDOWN DESPITE LEGAL REPRIEVE
The CHP has received a brief reprieve from ongoing legal turmoil as a lawsuit seeking to annul its 38th Ordinary Congress—held on November 4–5, 2023—was postponed to Oct. 24. The delay offers the party a short breathing space. Now it is preparing for a new extraordinary congress on Sept. 21 that might address some of the legal challenges it faces. But the crackdown against CHP municipalities is pressing on. In the latest development, Bayrampaşa Mayor Hasan Mutlu became the 12th CHP mayor arrested in Istanbul—and the 18th nationwide—since the crackdown began in October 2024.