Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Turkey's political agenda is expected to pivot sharply from diplomacy to domestic maneuvering as post-NATO scenarios dominate the discussion from July 9 onward. The conclusion of the NATO Ankara Summit, widely seen as an international success for Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally, has triggered intense political speculation amid increasing pressure on dissidents.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has signaled that the long-awaited framework bill aimed at ending the PKK's decades-long armed struggle will be submitted to parliament soon.
Questions about the future of Turkey-Armenia normalization have grown after Turkish Foreign Ministry removed key wording from its statement on Armenian elections, putting pressure on Armenia rather than also pushing Azerbaijan and it took President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan four days to congratulate the Armenian prime minister on his election win.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to inaugurate Ankara's newly overhauled Etimesgut airfield on June 15, just weeks before the NATO Leaders Summit. But whether Air Force One can use it — particularly for takeoff — may depend on which way US President Donald Trump is headed.
MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli’s call to grant the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan a title involving the word “peace” drew support from the DEM Party and sharp criticism from the right-wing opposition, as all eyes turned to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has fueled hope for progress in the Kurdish process but his stance doesn’t amount to real movement, according to the DEM Party. Soon after dismissing claims of a deadlock in the "Terror-Free Turkey" process as "noise" at the April 23 reception, Erdoğan reiterated that the process is advancing as intended and urged all actors to act responsibly during a turbulent regional period.
Fifteen more pre-trial defendants were released in the corruption case targeting the Istanbul Municipality, including Adem Soytekin, a businessperson who applied for leniency under Turkey's remorse law, as the war of words between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition CHP Chair Özgür Özel showed no signs of abating over the case.
As the CHP’s criminal court case on its 2023 party congress nears, speculation that the former administration under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will replace the chairmanship of Özgür Özel has resurfaced. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks fueled the flames, as did Kılıçdaroğlu’s snub of Özel at a funeral.
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.
An operation by the Syrian army targeting Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo has fueled tensions in Ankara between the two main actors of Turkey’s peace process, even as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan says he remains optimistic for a resolution in the southern neighbor.
From Donald Trump’s perspective, he has just one interlocutor in Turkey: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. No criticism of the United States — no matter how harsh — coming from presidential advisors, the AKP spokesperson, the Foreign Ministry, or the MHP chair matters in the slightest to Trump.