TATLIOĞLU REMAINS ERDOĞAN’S INDISPENSABLE CHOICE
Naval Forces Commander Admiral Tatlıoğlu will remain a candidate for a cabinet post in any upcoming reshuffle by President Erdoğan.
Analysis
In-Depth Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
YENİ PARTY BECOMES MAIN OPPOSITION AS DETENTIONS CONTINUE UNABATED
The Yeni Party became Turkey's main opposition party soon after its founding, with 91 lawmakers among its founders. Mayors and municipal council members continued to join the party, while the crackdown against its supporters continued at full speed across the country.
CHP FACES INTERNAL REVOLT AGAINST KILIÇDAROĞLU FROM DAY ONE
Following the establishment of the new party, 44 lawmakers remained in the CHP — but it became clear from the first day that not all of them would support court appointed chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
COURT ENDS FIRST İMAMOĞLU TRIAL SESSION WITHOUT HIS DEFENSE
The four-month-long first session of the Istanbul Municipality trial ended on July 8 without the testimony of its main defendant: Ekrem İmamoğlu, the jailed Istanbul mayor and ousted CHP administration's presidential candidate, who is accused of being the leader of an alleged criminal organization.
PEACE PROCESS AWAITS THE LAW, THE LAW AWAITS ANSWERS
The peace process, dubbed the Terror-Free Turkey, now awaits the 'framework law,' expected to be submitted before parliament goes into its summer recess. There appears to be no consensus, however, on the bill's exact timing, scope and the conditions on the ground. While the process remains in the waiting room, the Interior Ministry took a concrete step, lifting thousands of search points and checkpoints in the terror-affected region. The pro-Kurdish DEM Party, through all its spokespeople, is asking 'what the law is waiting for.' But reading between the lines of AKP and DEM Party statements reveals disagreements at the draft stage.
RIFT INSIDE AKP SURFACES AS SOCIAL MEDIA FIGURE TARGETS PRO-GOVERNMENT MEDIA GROUP
A rift within the ruling AKP divulged to public view after Tamar Tanrıyar — a social media phenomenon, a Turkish-Armenian known mainly as the wife of a former celebrity journalist and the owner of a small television channel — released a video targeting pro-government Turkuvaz Media Group that owns Sabah newspaper and ATV television channel.
ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWS AS FORECASTS REVISED DOWNWARD
The Turkish economy grew by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, lower than the 2.7% growth expected by economists. TurkStat data showed that quarter-on-quarter GDP growth remained at 0.1%. Household consumption made the largest contribution to growth with 3.4 percentage points. However, industrial production contracted. Also, the negative contribution of net foreign trade expanded.
MORE THAN A CONGRESS: HIDDEN BATTLEGROUNDS OF THE CHP CRISIS
Since the court voided the CHP's 2023 party congress, the main opposition has been unable to untangle the knot — and each new court decision pulls it tighter. The question is whether the party can hold an extraordinary congress to break the deadlock. But the forces shaping what comes next run deeper: when and how the CHP headquarters under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, 77, will move to press disciplinary charges, expelling some figures; whether the parliamentary immunity of ousted chair Özgür Özel, 51, and his allies — implicated by recent testimonies from Antalya and Uşak — will be lifted; and when a new party will be established.
TRUMP COMES TO ANKARA —BUT AT WHAT COST FOR NATO?
According to some, NATO has to become more European in order to remain more Transatlantic. The “Europeanization” of NATO will certainly be the key focus of the Ankara summit in July.
ÖZEL HAS THE CROWD, KILIÇDAROĞLU HOLDS THE SEAL, THE EXIT IS ANYONE'S GUESS FOR THE CHP
Turkey's oldest and main opposition party, the CHP, is now effectively divided in two after a court annulled the party's November 2023 congress and reinstated former chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in place of Özgür Özel. The split became more visible when both camps held rallies simultaneously at 2 p.m. on May 30. Kılıçdaroğlu returned to party headquarters to chants of 'Kılıçdaroğlu, the people's hope' — a stark reversal from just days earlier, when another crowd had branded him a 'traitor' and 'the AKP's hope' on May 24, reacting to the court-ordered change in the party leadership carried out with police support. The first head-to-head show of strength between the two camps laid bare a simple reality: Özel commands greater grassroots support, but Kılıçdaroğlu holds the formal authority to run the party.
STOCKS COLLAPSE FOLLOWING CHP NULLITY DECISION AS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS INJECTED INTO MARKET WITHIN HOURS
Selling pressure intensified on Istanbul’s stock exchange today following a court ruling of "absolute nullity" regarding the main opposition CHP congress. The benchmark BIST 100 index plunged over 6%, triggering a market-wide circuit breaker. The banking index took an even heavier hit, dropping more than 8% to close at 13,163 points.
TURKEY TO UNVEIL COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY FOR CRITICAL MINERALS
Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the government will soon announce an official National Critical Raw Materials strategy, with the Beylikova rare earth elements project to serve as its main pillar.