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RAKI AND DIPLOMACY OF WHO “WE” ARE
Guest Voices Nov 28, 2025

RAKI AND DIPLOMACY OF WHO “WE” ARE

When basketball player Alperen Şengün told an international audience that “rakı is our national drink,” he walked straight into a long domestic war over who is allowed to say “we” in Turkey. The outrage from certain commentators, demanding that the 23-year-old Houston Rockets center be punished for “promoting alcohol,” was predictable, not because of rakı itself, but because symbolic ownership of the drink has become a proxy for symbolic ownership of the nation.

Editorial Team
İYİ PARTY CONDEMNS ÖCALAN TALKS
Inside Turkey Nov 28, 2025

İYİ PARTY CONDEMNS ÖCALAN TALKS

İYİ Party Chair Müsavat Dervişoğlu condemned the parliamentary visit to İmralı, calling it a “national disgrace” and asserting that there is no statute of limitations for what he described as betrayal. İYİ Party deputy Alpaslan Yüce resigned from his party, saying it had abandoned its founding centrist ideals.

Editorial Team
KARAHAN: INFLATION IS LIKE A VIRUS—ERADICATING IT TAKES TIME
Economy and Finance Nov 27, 2025

KARAHAN: INFLATION IS LIKE A VIRUS—ERADICATING IT TAKES TIME

Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan has likened inflation to a virus, saying it becomes harder to eliminate the longer it lingers in the economy. “We are applying the right prescription,” he said. “We’ve achieved positive results so far, and we have no doubts about our ultimate goal. But the effect of the prescription varies from case to case.”

Editorial Team
FATİH ALTAYLI CONVICTED OF THREATENING PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN, SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS
Media, Internet and Culture Nov 26, 2025

FATİH ALTAYLI CONVICTED OF THREATENING PRESIDENT ERDOĞAN, SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS

A Turkish court has handed a four-year prison sentence to journalist Fatih Altaylı after he was convicted of threatening President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Altaylı, known for his popular YouTube programs, denies the charges and plans to appeal, after prosecutors accused him of physically threatening the president based on remarks he made on his channel. He was arrested on June 22 and appeared before the judge for the second time at this week’s hearing. He was sentenced to four years and two months in prison for threatening the president. The court ruled that judicial control would be insufficient and ordered that his detention continue. Altaylı threw the notes and files in his hand after hearing the decision and left the courtroom.

Editorial Team
ÖZEL ESCALATES ATTACKS ON ERDOĞAN
Inside Turkey Nov 20, 2025

ÖZEL ESCALATES ATTACKS ON ERDOĞAN

Rallying frequently since the arrest of CHP’s presidential candidate and Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in March, CHP Chair Özgür Özel has continued directing sharp criticism at President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in each major political debate.

Editorial Team
ZEHİRLENME/POISONING
Word of the Week Nov 20, 2025

ZEHİRLENME/POISONING

In Turkish, zehirlenme or poisoning is one of those words that lands with a sting. Its genealogy stretches back through Ottoman Turkish to Persian zahr (poison), but the word has given birth to colorful idioms: zehir saçmak (to scatter venom), zehir zemberek sözler (barbed words that blister on impact), ağzı zehir gibi (a tongue sharp enough to wound).

Nazlan Ertan