Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Selçuk Mızraklı and Selçuk Kozağaçlı. The similarity between these two men is not limited to their first names. Both remain in prison despite having completed their sentences and becoming eligible for conditional release. It’s a story of Turkey. Let’s tell it.
Former İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer and former İZBETON General Manager Heval Savaş Kaya were ordered released at the fourth hearing of the case involving allegations of corruption by subcontractors at İZBETON AŞ, a subsidiary of the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality.
Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of the HDP, has been sentenced to one year, five months and 15 days in prison over speeches he delivered in 2015–2016 despite a final and binding European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling calling for his release.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) released its Poverty and Living Conditions Statistics for 2025, showing a limited decline in the relative poverty rate while material deprivation and social exclusion remain widespread, meaning millions are unable to meet basic needs such as heating.
MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli said there was no problem with the rally calling for the release of Abdullah Öcalan to be held by the DEM Party in Diyarbakır on Jan. 4, 2026.
The withdrawal of a secret witness’ testimony — and the prosecution’s disregard for that fact — in the Istanbul probe is raising questions about the credibility of the indictment against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, CHP Chair Özgür Özel said. Newly released supplementary documents reveal serious contradictions in how secret witnesses were handled by prosecutors, although the government calls it “the largest corruption file of the century.”
The newly released U.S. Strategic Security paper signals the most significant shift in American grand strategy since the end of the Second World War. Its defining features are the explicit identification of China as a peer competitor, the reaffirmation of Russia as a principal adversary, and—perhaps most striking—the retreat from the ideological mission that once sustained “the West” as a political and civilizational project.
Furkan Karabay, 29, is a journalist and has been detained three times in the past two years. On the 201st day of his latest imprisonment, he was sentenced but released. He refused to present a defense, tearing up the indictment in the courtroom.
The Defense Ministry’s budget, 623.9 billion lira in 2025, is set to increase 31.9% to 822.9 billion lira in 2026, according to figures released during parliamentary budget talks Nov. 26. This allocation does not cover Turkey’s latest procurement of Eurofighters.
A new case has been opened against former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş on charges of insulting the president, days after the European Court of Human Rights upheld its ruling that he should be released.
The ruling AKP submitted its 11th Judicial Package to Parliament, reviving a pandemic-era execution rule that could lead to the release of up to 115,000 inmates. The clause concerning juvenile offenders was removed from the final draft. Although the bill originally included prison sentences for LGBT+, this was also dismissed.
Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) released new data covering the first nine months of 2025, revealing the country’s debt landscape by province. The capital, Ankara, recorded the highest total credit debt, while the central Anatolian province of Karaman had the largest share of citizens unable to repay their loans and facing collection proceedings.