Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
As millions of retirees await a long-promised pension hike, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek appeared to downplay the pressure caused by rising rents. Speaking at the ruling AKP’s Kızılcahamam retreat, Şimşek said: “72% of the population owns their home, 28% rent, and only 14% of retirees are renters,” according to pro-government columnist Abdulkadir Selvi.
A Turkish ambassador serving in a Central Asian country before 2016 was criticized for not showing enough interest in the Gülenists schools. The envoy received several phone calls from AKP officials complaining he was not, for instance, visiting the schools frequently enough.
ASELSAN, which led Borsa Istanbul (BIST) in trading volume in April, closed the first half of 2025 as the exchange’s most valuable company.
On the ninth anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, Turkish authorities launched a new wave of raids targeting the Gülenist movement, which Turkey officially labels as the terrorist group “FETÖ.”
Jailed Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was acquitted of charges of “targeting public officials involved in counterterrorism” but was convicted of “publicly insulting a public official due to his duty” and “making threats” in the case concerning Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek. The court sentenced İmamoğlu to one year and five months in prison for the insult charge and an additional two months and 15 days for the threat charge, totaling one year and eight months. If upheld by the appeals court, the ruling could result in a political ban.
An Ankara court has suspended a 10-day broadcasting blackout imposed on Halk TV, but SZC TV, which received the same penalty, has gone off air after a separate court upheld the sanction.
The PKK’s disarmament is set to begin, two months after the group announced its dissolution on May 12—marking the symbolic end of nearly half a century of armed conflict. Attention is now turning to Turkey’s Parliament, which political parties across the spectrum have identified as the proper venue to address the Kurdish issue.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a lawsuit against CHP Chair Özgür Özel, seeking 500,000 lira (12,500 USD) in damages for alleged defamation and moral harm stemming from accusations that Erdoğan both enabled and continues to support governmental misconduct.
“We’re from Adana, we’re God’s men.” If you ever visit Adana, you’ll hear this phrase—it’s on the lips of nearly every local. It’s like a common slogan, spoken across party lines, and always in the distinct Adana dialect. Adana Mayor Zeydan Karalar, arrested in this week’s wave of detentions targeting CHP municipalities, often uses this saying himself. He even printed posters featuring the phrase and released a video claiming it originated among troops from Adana during the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli.
After shaping Turkey’s Pravda-style media landscape as head of the Directorate of Communications since 2018, Fahrettin Altun has been appointed chair of the Human Rights and Equality Institution, a move that looks like a demotion.Deputy Foreign Minister Burhanettin Duran replaces Altun.
Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD) President Burhan Özdemir said exporters want the lira to weaken by more than 10% against the dollar.
The Defense Ministry announced that 12 soldiers died on July 6 from methane gas during a search of a cave previously used as a hospital by the PKK in northern Iraq. Opposition parties called for a parliamentary commission to investigate whether the necessary precautions, including the use of gas masks and detectors, were taken when the soldiers entered the cave, but this proposal was rejected by AKP and MHP votes.