Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
The AKP has begun laying the groundwork for the 2028 presidential and parliamentary elections, with plans to formally launch its campaign on Aug. 14 — the 25th anniversary of the party’s foundation.
At the 41st hearing of the sweeping Istanbul Municipality corruption trial, nine more defendants were released ahead of Eid al-Adha, bringing the total number of remaining detainees to 68.
Diplomacy, at its best, is the art of managing appearances. At its worst, it is the art of mistaking those appearances for reality.
The way Donald Trump was received in Beijing by Xi Jinping showed China’s increased power and confidence in its relations with the US. Trump’s flattery of his host was a clear indication that China will no longer be regarded as an underdog that Trump can push around with arbitrary tariff increases.
A city’s cultural field does not stop at its administrative boundary. If Ankara reveals itself in layers, some of its most telling ones begin once the city has thinned into road, valley and plateau.
The pace of the Kurdish peace process, and the model it will follow have now become intertwined with Abdullah Öcalan's lifespan.
A private company near Çorum with a history of only six years, ARCA Defense, has become the hidden leader of the sector.
Ahead of the AKP’s inaction, MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli has outlined a detailed institutional framework to advance the peace process, urging all three branches of government to take concrete steps — while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared his government's determination to see it through without giving up caution.
Burcu Köksal, the CHP mayor of Afyonkarahisar, joined the AKP this week. With her addition, the number of mayors who have left the CHP and joined the ruling party since the 2024 elections has reached 17.
The PKK’s disarmament, which has now stretched beyond a year and a half, has stalled at precisely the most critical stage — the point at which the state is expected to take action. Unless the government softens its precondition that “the disarmament process must first be fully completed,” the expected legal steps will likely be postponed until the new legislative year in October. The risks posed by delay are being discussed and meanwhile it also appears set to derail the transformation plans of the DEM Party, which has already started the countdown to a congress.
A wave of resignations has swept through Halk TV, a broadcaster with close ties to the main opposition CHP, as prominent on-air personalities and editors publicly cited internal grievances as their reason for leaving.
A sweeping operation targeting illegal online gambling and money laundering networks led to the detention of 128 people across 21 provinces on May 14, including polarizing media figure Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı and two senior executives from İş Bank, one of Turkey's largest private banks.