Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The intended target of the ballistic missile launched from Iran and intercepted on Turkish airspace on March 4 remains disputed. While Turkey said the missile was heading toward the eastern Mediterranean, NATO said the target was Turkey, and U.S. officials pointed to the location, Incirlik Air Base. Iran, however, denied that Turkey was the intended target.
Parliament will take up legislation in response to the PKK’s decision to dissolve and lay down its arms agenda after the Ramadan holiday.
Turkey needs more long-range and defensive missiles, according to the National Security Academy (MİA), a branch of the Turkish intelligence agency MİT.
In peril since the breakdown of the first Kurdish peace process in 2015, Turkish democracy is at a new threshold. On the one hand, the Parliament is expected to take up legislative measures to address the Kurdish problem and, on the other hand, the appointment of Akın Gürlek as the minister of justice suggests judicial suppression and anti-democratic measures are here to stay.
Photographs from two separate locations in Germany taken in mid February reveal the ambiguous and intriguing position of Turkey in Europe’s geostrategic landscape.
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.
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Orhan Pamuk. “The Museum of Innocence.” A television series. With its release, months later, the public agenda shifted. Justice, legal troubles, and the deepening, ever more painful economic crisis were suddenly pushed aside. This series — along with the book of the same name and its author, Orhan Pamuk — took center stage, especially on social media.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Ankara, but his visit was kept off the public schedule until the last minute.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğıan’s decision to appoint Akın Gürlek, a bogeyman for the main opposition CHP, as justice minister is the clear indication of a more bruising domestic politics ahead. The first sign of that came during the oath ceremony in Parliament. For the first time, a minister took the oath of office amid scuffles that escalated into pushing and shoving. AKP lawmakers formed what opposition deputies described as a “human wall” to shield the podium.
Akın Gürlek, the prosecutor who has overseen several high-profile cases involving members of the CHP, became justice minister four days after European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos visited Ankara.
Efforts by conservative and right-wing parties to build a “third way” outside the ruling and main opposition blocs are gaining momentum, as Saadet Party and YRP — both rooted in Turkey’s first political Islamist tradition, the National View (Milli Görüş) shaped by Necmettin Erbakan — step up talks on election cooperation. The renewed contacts signal a shift in relations between the two parties, which had previously been at odds over the movement’s legacy following the founding of YRP in 2018. This time, the talks focus on bringing together Saadet Party, YRP, Gelecek Party and DEVA Party under a common framework, with a broader alliance that could also include the İYİ Party.
Hearings have begun in a corruption probe involving municipalities run by the main opposition CHP, following investigations launched in March 2025. The case marks the first major trial stemming from the allegations, ahead of a separate prosecution involving Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu that is set to begin on March 9. The CHP’s legal strategy and the court’s approach to the defendants are expected to shape Turkey’s political agenda over the many years the trials are expected to take.