FIRST WARSHIP EXPORT TO A NATO AND EU MEMBER
The first of the Hisar-class ships designed to meet the navy's patrol requirements, was sold and delivered without ever entering the inventory.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
ARMENIAN ELECTIONS AND TURKEY’S EXPECTED STEPS FOR PEACE
Nikol Pashinyan’s election victory on June 7, his third in a row since 2018, confirmed the strong desire of the Armenian people to live in peace and prosperity in a functioning democracy as part of the Western World.
JUSTICE MINISTER BETS ON COLD CASES TO REBUILD TRUST IN JUSTICE
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek has staked his reputation on a sweeping review of Turkey's unsolved murders — a calculated move that appears designed as much to rehabilitate the judiciary's battered image as to deliver justice.
IMAMOĞLU VOWS FOR COLLAPSE OF THE CORRUPTION PROBE
"This political case will collapse," Istanbul Mayor and the CHP's presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu declared repeatedly while delivering the last remarks on the 15th session of the corruption hearing. The courtroom was again full like the first days of the hearing as many were expecting a court ruling on release of several defendants. Only 18 of those under pre-trial detention were released, according to the midnight interim ruling. As expected, İmamoğlu’s executive assistant Kadriye Kasapoğlu and low profile figures like the drivers or workers were released but former CHP MP Aykut Erdoğdu was not on the list.
NEED FOR RULE OF LAW BECOMES MORE EVIDENT WITH THE START OF İMAMOĞLU TRIAL
The trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on corruption charges began on March 9, with the main defendant’s plans to challenge the legitimacy of the trial muzzled by the court and the media. After waiting nearly a year, İmamoğlu and 402 co-defendants — 107 of whom are under pre-trial detention — finally got their day in court. The hearings began with a confrontation between the court and İmamoğlu over his desire to make his case. He was allowed to deliver only a short statement on the second day and may have to wait at least until mid-April — in the best-case scenario — to present his full defense.
TRUMP’S BOARD OF PEACE MAY HAVE FATAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TURKEY
This year’s Munich Security Conference (MSC) held lively discussions on the global security environment, especially in Europe, and the collapse of the rules-based international order. Strained transatlantic relations, the Ukrainian War, and Iran, all burning matters for Turkey, were on the agenda. Figures such as Marco Rubio, Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy reached global audiences from the MSC. Turkey was not heard.
HOW İMAMOĞLU SR’S COMMUNISM NIGHTMARE CAME TO PASS
Hasan İmamoğlu is the father of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been jailed for nearly nine months. Ekrem İmamoğlu faces a staggering threat of up to 2,500 years in prison. Naturally, the İmamoğlu family had never, at any point in their lives, imagined facing such severe threats of imprisonment and punishment. For this reason, the family is, quite naturally, experiencing deep shock and bewilderment. As part of the case, Hasan İmamoğlu’s companies were also seized. So where does this “fear of communism,” this urge to “fight communism,” actually come from?
YAKIŞIR
Some Turkish words are as sharp and clear as a gleam of a knife. Others confuse you. Yakışır is a particular gem in the latter category. Literally, it means “befitting” or “suits well.” But intonation does all the heavy lifting here. With a twinkle in the eye, yakışır becomes high praise: a friend gets a long-deserved promotion? “Yakışır!” A suave female CEO in her sixties starts dating a younger man with abs and ambition? “Yakışır vallahi!” But delivered with a dry brow and pursed lips, the very same yakışır morphs into biting derision, the sort you might lob at a corrupt bureaucrat who gets caught rigging tenders again or the son of one of the president’s close allies landing an ambassadorial job.
COURT KEEPS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST BEHIND BARS
Esra Işık, an activist from the village of İkizköy in Muğla’s Milas district who has spent years fighting to save her community's olive groves and farmland from coal mining expansion, was brought to her first court hearing on April 27 in handcuffs, escorted by gendarmerie officers from Şakran Prison in İzmir — more than 100 miles from her hometown where her case is being tried.
MÜJDAT GEZEN COULD DIE ON STAGE
'Trees die standing.' That is the title of a play that has been staged in our theaters for many years. Müjdat Gezen is 83 years old and has been a performer for more than 60 years. Not just on stage — also a film actor and television personality. He has spent most of his life, in a sense, broadcasting live. His life is, in fact, a summary of Turkey's most turbulent era.
THE DEPARTURE OF YILMAZ ÖZDİL
'First the Bread Went Bad.' This was the first book by man of letters Oktay Akbal, a collection of stories about lives before and after World War II.
TURKEY PULLS CIVILIAN UNITS FROM SYRIA, TROOP WITHDRAWAL QUESTIONED
Turkey has withdrawn civilian administrative units from the Operation Olive Branch zone in northern Syria after seven years of activity, according to a statement by Şanlıurfa Governor Hasan Şıldak. The announcement prompted questions regarding the withdrawal of Turkish armed forces from the area.