TURKISH F-16s STRIKE AL-SHABAAB IN SOMALIA AS MOGADISHU SCRUBS ANKARA'S NAME FROM STATEMENT
Turkey has taken another remarkable step in its military support to the African nation
Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Turkey has taken another remarkable step in its military support to the African nation
Bilateral ties with the United States have seen many ups and downs. Currently, the Turkish-US relationship is going through one of those up periods, according to a high-level Turkish official.
After the reactions of Turkish journalists and media organizations over the refusal to grant them credentials to cover the NATO Summit in Ankara, some member states conveyed their concerns at NATO headquarters.
A judicial crackdown on Turkey's largest poultry producers has ignited debate over government intervention in the free market, temporary corporate takeovers, and soaring food inflation.
Halkbank, the state lender and fourth-largest bank in Turkey by assets, announced that a nine-year-old US criminal case against the bank is getting closer to a complete end. The bank and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York submitted a joint plea to the court on June 10, 2026, requesting the dismissal of all charges.
After the toppling of Nicolás Maduro by the United States, Delcy Rodríguez, who was installed as Venezuela’s interim president, paid her fourth abroad visit to Turkey on June 8.
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.
Allegations of ill-treatment, strip searches and prosecutorial threats dominated this week's hearings at the Istanbul Municipality corruption trial, as defendants described abusive detention conditions and coerced statements.
The Istanbul corruption trial completed its 12th week as plaintiffs continued to withdraw their previous statements and jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu celebrated his 55th birthday at the courtroom.
Turkey's oldest and main opposition party, the CHP, is now effectively divided in two after a court annulled the party's November 2023 congress and reinstated former chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in place of Özgür Özel. The split became more visible when both camps held rallies simultaneously at 2 p.m. on May 30. Kılıçdaroğlu returned to party headquarters to chants of 'Kılıçdaroğlu, the people's hope' — a stark reversal from just days earlier, when another crowd had branded him a 'traitor' and 'the AKP's hope' on May 24, reacting to the court-ordered change in the party leadership carried out with police support. The first head-to-head show of strength between the two camps laid bare a simple reality: Özel commands greater grassroots support, but Kılıçdaroğlu holds the formal authority to run the party.
On March 26, the 11th hearing in the trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and his co-defendants on corruption charges was concluded, with proceedings shifting away from procedural debates toward the substance of testimonies. Discussions centered on statements by defendants and individuals who later withdrew their testimonies after invoking the remorse provisions, reviving debate over the strength of the indictment.
The trial of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on corruption charges began on March 9, with the main defendant’s plans to challenge the legitimacy of the trial muzzled by the court and the media. After waiting nearly a year, İmamoğlu and 402 co-defendants — 107 of whom are under pre-trial detention — finally got their day in court. The hearings began with a confrontation between the court and İmamoğlu over his desire to make his case. He was allowed to deliver only a short statement on the second day and may have to wait at least until mid-April — in the best-case scenario — to present his full defense.