Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
President of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) Şekip Avdagiç has triggered a wave of criticism after suggesting the government should introduce policies to limit Turkish citizens’ spending on vacations abroad.
The television drama industry is facing an unprecedented crisis as soaring inflation and domestic regulatory pressures threaten its global standing, alongside suppressive measures, including the detention of manager Ayşe Barım and the ongoing detentions in a drug and prostitution case that has labeled many figures from the sector.
Forty Cleavers or Forty Mules for Iran? No information has leaked from the U.S.-Iran talks in Oman other than the statements from the two sides portraying them as positive. But it is no secret that Iran is faced with an impossible choice, like a thief in a Turkish fairy tale.
The Turkish main opposition, the CHP, has been shaken by the resignation of Ankara’s Keçiören Mayor Mesut Özarslan, who is expected to join the ruling AKP soon. The move has added to growing signs that the CHP’s post-election momentum is under strain, compounded by profane WhatsApp messages sent by party Chair Özgür Özel shortly before the resignation was announced and later leaked online.
Economic hardship has long been measured through the humble simit -— the sesame-covered circular bread sometimes called the Turkish bagel. Now the ruling AKP is being accused of shrinking even that symbol. Once used by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to show that a family could not afford a single simit and tea with the minimum wage, the calculation has taken a new turn: a simit divided into three.
January inflation came in higher than expected, raising concerns that price pressures remain stubbornly high and that progress toward the government’s disinflation targets is faltering.
A report regarding the privatization of the bridges on the Bosphorus and public highways has revived a debate in Turkey. The plan reportedly involves the sale of operating rights for the two Bosphorus bridges and at least nine major highways.
Fahrettin Altun, who was removed in July from the Directorate of Communications he founded and from his role at the Center for Combating Disinformation, is expected to be appointed Turkey’s ambassador to the Vatican, according to several diplomatic sources.
While Ankara has taken steps to reassure Tehran that it is a trustworthy interlocutor, those efforts appear to have fallen short. The United States and Iran have again agreed to meet in Muscat, the capital of Oman, rather than in Istanbul — highlighting Iran’s reluctance to accept Turkey as a venue for nuclear talks.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos succeeded in angering both the government and the opposition with her stance towards the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on March 19, 2025.
With the “Terror-Free Turkey” process on one hand and the row over operations targeting CHP-run municipalities on the other, it’s easy to forget that the country’s main problem is deepening poverty and social decay.
MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli raised the bar this week in the Kurdish peace process he launched in October 2024. He proposed the “right to hope” for Abdullah Öcalan. What do we mean by the right to hope?