Analysis

In-Depth Analysis

Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.

COMPLAINANT, WITNESS, AND DEFENDANT — ALL CHP
Inside Turkey Apr 23, 2026

COMPLAINANT, WITNESS, AND DEFENDANT — ALL CHP

A recent judicial operation that placed the CHP-run Ataşehir municipality under trustee administration has exposed something more damaging than any prosecutor's indictment: the party is being undone, in part, by its own.

Editorial Team
KURDISH PEACE PROCESS DOMINATES PARLIAMENT'S FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY
Inside Turkey Apr 23, 2026

KURDISH PEACE PROCESS DOMINATES PARLIAMENT'S FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY

The steps expected to be taken on the Kurdish peace process dominated discussions at the 106th anniversary of parliament's founding. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that the process was proceeding 'honorably' in reply to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party’s demand for bolder legislative action, while the parliament speaker blamed delays on missed disarmament deadlines.

Editorial Team
ERDOĞAN’S ELECTION PLAN
Capital Currents Apr 23, 2026

ERDOĞAN’S ELECTION PLAN

The CHP is seeking to win power but is trying to do politics while caught in a major judicial clampdown. Operations target municipalities on one front, and the threat of an “absolute nullity” ruling persists against the party center.

Nergis Demirkaya
SİGARA / CIGARETTE
Word of the Week Apr 17, 2026

SİGARA / CIGARETTE

Sigara (and its unruly cousin, cigara) comes to Turkish via Italian — a linguistic clue that matches the prevailing historical account: tobacco reached the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century through Genoese trade routes, though some credit goes to the British. Origins aside, the word now points to a habit so entrenched it once traveled abroad as cliché: “smoke like a Turk.”

Nazlan Ertan
NEPOTISM, OR HOW TO DISMANTLE A FOREIGN MINISTRY
The Third Desk Apr 17, 2026

NEPOTISM, OR HOW TO DISMANTLE A FOREIGN MINISTRY

Each time political appointments in diplomacy are criticised in Turkey, the same defence appears with the reliability of a reflex: “Other countries do it too”. Perhaps they do. But mediocrity does not become wisdom once imported.

Editorial Team