Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
With the start of the new legislative year on Oct. 1, the main agenda will be the ongoing peace process concerning the Kurdish issue, which faces gridlock about the timing of demands over disarmament, legal guarantees, and the official status of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
For over a week, a single issue was on Turkey’s agenda: What happened to the money in the funds? Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, who had stayed silent on the crisis since it began and faced growing speculation that he would be fired, broke his silence on Sept. 24 to deny that he was leaving.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released its 5th Round Mutual Evaluation Report for Turkey, confirming that the country faces no risk of returning to the grey list, the Finance Ministry said.
Clouds are gathering over opposition politicians. Each new development makes them darker. Judicial rulings block opposition parties at every turn.
An investigation into the death of Turkish intelligence official Kaşif Kozinoğlu also reached into one of the country’s most watched television series, 'Valley of the Wolves.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks during a meeting in his hometown of Rize sparked debate over an early election, though officials quickly downplayed the likelihood of an imminent vote.
“In an age when artificial intelligence does data analysis,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan asked assembled ambassadors at the 2025 Ambassadors Conference in December, “is there still such a need for the classical diplomat and for classical diplomacy?”
The central bank and other regulator bodies stepped in to stabilize financial markets after alleged market manipulation, fraud and fund mismanagement sparked a major equity sell-off and corporate defaults.
Authorities have launched a judicial operation against major produce distributors, detaining scores of executive-level figures for artificially inflating wholesale fruit and vegetable prices amid high food inflation.
Before me is the “LGBTQ+ Rights Monitoring Report” on the 2023 elections, prepared by University Queer Research and LGBT+ Solidarity Association (ÜniKuir) whose website was blocked as part of the “My Family Is Safe” operation.
Zülfü Livaneli made a clear decision this week. The musician and novelist put an end to the playing of his celebrated composition at opposition rallies protesting the operations that have targeted Ekrem İmamoğlu — and subsequently numerous other mayors and municipal officials — since March 19, 2025.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş for the first time since the opposition took control of the capital amid rumors the mayor could be the next target of the judicial assault on opposition municipalities.