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WOUNDS BANDAGED, SCARS REMAIN: WHERE IS THE PEOPLE’S ALLIANCE HEADED?
Capital Currents Nov 7, 2025

WOUNDS BANDAGED, SCARS REMAIN: WHERE IS THE PEOPLE’S ALLIANCE HEADED?

Excluding their early courtship phase, the AKP and MHP have now completed seven years of formal partnership. In their partnership, branded the “People’s Alliance,” the two parties have gone through five electoral contests — one referendum, two general elections, and two local elections. Like any relationship, this one has had its ups and downs. Many of the rifts that the public interpreted as “cracks” or “crises” within the alliance were quickly smoothed over through mutual statements. But, the crisis of the past two weeks has been among the deepest since the alliance was formed.

Nergis Demirkaya
NUMBER OF COMPANIES FILING FOR CONCORDAT RISES BY 72%
Economy and Finance Nov 7, 2025

NUMBER OF COMPANIES FILING FOR CONCORDAT RISES BY 72%

The financial crisis facing companies in Turkey is deepening as the amount of non-performing loans from banks exceeded 519 billion lira as of the week of Oct. 24. In the January-October period of 2025, the number of companies granted a temporary moratorium on debt repayment rose to 2,326, a 72% increase year on year.

Editorial Team
DEFENSE HUB, AIRFIELD RENOVATIONS SHAPE ANKARA’S NATO PREP
Security and Defense Nov 7, 2025

DEFENSE HUB, AIRFIELD RENOVATIONS SHAPE ANKARA’S NATO PREP

As the countdown continues for the NATO Summit to be hosted by Ankara on July 7-8, 2026, preparations are accelerating in the capital. Activity focuses on sites along the approximately 17.5-km route from the Presidential Palace, where the leaders' summit will take place, to the military airfield in Etimesgut.

Editorial Team
FORMER HDP MPS RELEASED
Inside Turkey Nov 7, 2025

FORMER HDP MPS RELEASED

As expectations grow for the release of former HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, former HDP MPs Semra Güzel and Hüda Kaya have been released, taking into account the length of their detention.

Editorial Team
EKREM İMAMOĞLU: “NOT TOMORROW, NOW”
Portrait of the Week Oct 31, 2025

EKREM İMAMOĞLU: “NOT TOMORROW, NOW”

We’ve borrowed the headline from a famous Turkish pop song of the 1970s, “Çilli Bom Bom.” One verse goes: “Don’t leave today’s work for tomorrow / Seize the moment, don’t hesitate / The world turns fast, life is short / Tomorrow won’t do—it has to be now.” Ekrem İmamoğlu could be said to be “impatient.” Like in the song, he’s in a hurry. But to explain this as a mere character trait would be insufficient. Some attribute his impatience to being from Trabzon — in other words, a typical Black Sea temperament — but geography alone cannot explain it either.

Anonymous
THREE DECADES IN THE MAKING: ALTAY TANK FINALLY ROLLS OUT
Security and Defense Oct 31, 2025

THREE DECADES IN THE MAKING: ALTAY TANK FINALLY ROLLS OUT

The first Altay tank was delivered to the army on Oct. 28, crowning a three-decade push to develop and produce a domestic main battle tank. The project, launched by a 1996 decision of the Defense Industry Executive Committee, aimed to build an indigenous tank using locally developed technologies. However, the finalized model relies on South Korean-made engines and transmission systems.

Editorial Team
BERLIN’S DEFENSE TURN WARMS TIES WITH ANKARA, COOLS CONCERN FOR DEMOCRACY
Deciphering Turkish Diplomacy Oct 24, 2025

BERLIN’S DEFENSE TURN WARMS TIES WITH ANKARA, COOLS CONCERN FOR DEMOCRACY

Turkish democracy is the casualty of Europe’s rediscovery of Turkey’s strategic value. To better understand the context of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to Ankara next week, one has to go back to the end of the Cold War. Whereas European countries have benefited from the peace dividend, the contrary happened for Turkey in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain. After enjoying the relative stability of the bipolar order of the Cold War era, Turkey found itself in the midst of several conflict zones. While most European countries downsized their defense budgets, Turkey had no such luxury. The fight against separatist terrorism, the turbulence created by the Gulf War, and regional conflicts like the ones in the Caucasus dictated the maintenance of a big and well-equipped army.

Barçın Yinanç
CYPRUS VOTE TRIGGERS NATIONALIST FURY IN TURKEY
Foreign Affairs Oct 24, 2025

CYPRUS VOTE TRIGGERS NATIONALIST FURY IN TURKEY

Recent election results in Northern Cyprus have stirred visible unease within Turkey’s ruling alliance, particularly in the far-right MHP, even as the AKP maintained a controlled response, delivering expected statements despite its apparent preferences.

Editorial Team